Max Payne 3 - 8 action movie influences of Rockstars noir shooter

8. The Killer

You can’t talk about Max Payne and movies without mentioning John Woo. He arguably invented the modern action film’s use of slow motion death dealing. His classic shoot ‘em ups Hardboiled and A Better Tomorrow helped inspire The Matrix, and we likely wouldn’t have bullet time at all without those three films.

Now that Rockstar has upped the edginess of the Max Payne series and planted the character’s feet firmly in anti-hero territory, the John Woo movie to keep in mind is 1989’s The Killer. Chow Yun Fat stars as an assassin betrayed by his clients, forcing him to team up with a hard-nosed detective and fight for his freedom. The movie is full of slow motion dives through the air as bullets rip apart Fat’s foes.