WoW Moviewatch: Max Payne Noir Undercity - Chapter 1.
by Michael Gray 
Mar 18th 2009 at 12:00PM
Warning: Long movie is long!
While I'm clearly a WoW junkie nowadays, I wasn't always that way. On the list of games which defined my life as a geek, the classic "Max Payne" was top among them. That detective-noir feel and epic "Bullet Time" just went a long, long way to blazing a permanent fondness across my skull. So, you might be able to imagine my excitement when Varath released Max Payne Noir Undercity - Chapter 1: The darkness inside.
Varath has basically taken the premise and some sound from Max Payne 2, and laid it overtop World of Warcraft-style animations. This piece isn't based of in-game footage. Instead, since the middle of 2008, Varath has used custom editing and 3D models to completely reanimate the movie. The effects are astounding. The film style captures the gritty, noir feel of Max Payne, and his action is convincing and fun. Stylized freeze-frames and comic-book effects are clear homages to Varath's original material, but work well in the context of the brooding, ponderous script.
Any review of Varath's story would simply be a review of Max Payne 2's story, which isn't something I'm trying to do here. While I'm not normally a huge fan of genre mashups, I look at Noir Undercity in context of WoW-Noir. In that light, it works. The imagery is strong and effective, even if the overall viewing time is longer than your average effort.
If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.
Previously on Moviewatch ..
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Machinima, WoW Moviewatch
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dunia Mar 18th 2009 12:33PM
Holy crud, that was amazing. And a neat cliffhanger there, too.
Only downside was that the women were undead, but that might've just been to make them look old. Meh! Good overall.
SBKT Mar 18th 2009 12:33PM
I can really see the effort, yet.. I'm ashamed to say "I don't get it."
Kraan Mar 18th 2009 12:51PM
That was very good, the attention to detail was outstanding and pursuing the cleaners to their Mechanohog was easily the best scene of all.
McRaider Mar 18th 2009 12:58PM
Some extra non-WoW 3D... EXTREME!
RDPaul Mar 18th 2009 1:54PM
WoW! Almost makes me want to play Payne again! XD
Great work :)
Varath Mar 18th 2009 1:22PM
Hey there Michael,
thanks for this great review. I'm glad you enjoyed watching my Max Payne version and it's good to hear that an old MP fan was not disappointed. :)
I'll link this to my blog http://blackhandpictures.blogspot.com
Best wishes
Varath
Slog Mar 18th 2009 1:30PM
As a fan of the earlier Max Payne games, all I can say is WOW.
Nice job!!!!!!!!!
qoa Mar 18th 2009 5:40PM
That video host is garbage. I have yet to watch any video without it getting stuck 10 seconds in.
Extremo Mar 18th 2009 7:07PM
Compairing to recent Max Payne movie this is masterpiece.
Terrë Mar 18th 2009 8:33PM
My very good friend Perttu was the cellist for the theme music. Nice to see it used for something other than Max Payne. He's a great cellist and relatively unknown outside of his band.
The film is great. Really atmospheric and stylised. I enjoyed it.
Eruenion Mar 19th 2009 7:06AM
Wow!
That was incredibly well crafted.
Two of the best games of all times meet in one film.