10 Times Video Game Sequels EMBARRASSED Movies
7. Max Payne 3 > A Good Day to Die Hard
Who didn’t think Tony Scott should’ve directed a Die Hard movie? We got close with The Last Boy Scout, but the full dream never materialised. Unless, of course, you count Max Payne 3 - a sweaty, bloody, bullet-soaked sequel that feels like it fell right out of Scott’s late-era playbook.
While A Good Day to Die Hard dragged John McClane through Moscow in the most joyless way imaginable, Max Payne 3 dropped its washed-up hero into the chaos of São Paulo and gave us exactly what we wanted: brutal shootouts, hard-boiled narration, and a protagonist who’s broken, bitter, and still terrifyingly efficient with a pistol in each hand.
The neon-soaked visuals, smash-cut edits, and relentless pacing are pure Man on Fire energy - all kinetic fury and emotional damage. It’s not just a style choice; it feels like Payne is spiralling, and the game never lets you forget it.
Meanwhile, Die Hard 5 completely forgot what made McClane great in the first place. Max Payne 3 remembered. It gave us a flawed, cynical antihero in a world collapsing around him - and somehow made it all look cool as hell.
This was the Die Hard sequel we never got - and the better for it.