Max Payne is the story of the title character (Mark Wahlberg, who most recently appeared in M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening, in which he played a character with the last name of Moore)—a hard shell of a man seeking the truth behind the murder of his wife and baby. In true operatic fashion, there's love, death, angst, betrayal and redemption. And in true cinematic fashion, there are plenty of gunshots, explosions and lots of bullet-time.

While the movie brings to life some really creepy side effects of an insidious hallucinogen that's not exactly FDA-approved. The flying creatures that dominate the trailers for the movie are the mythic Valkyries, and they appear to people who use Valkyr, a drug made by the military to create super-soldiers.

At a press day in Beverly Hills on Oct. 12, Moore told SCI FI Weekly that he's excited, but nervous, about the film's premiere. "No matter how many times you tell yourself, 'There's nothing you can do now. It's finished,' you're going to be nervous. It's impossible not to be."

Wahlberg and co-star Mila Kunis were also on hand to talk about the movie.

Max Payne will be in theaters nationwide on Oct. 17, 2008.

John Moore, what feedback have you heard on message boards and the like?

Moore: I've heard mostly positive stuff. Some people have been a little nervous, like, "Is this going to go supernatural? Is this going to go into Constantine territory?" They're mostly people who are knowledgeable about the game, and while the trailer hints at that, I can assure you that the whole movie connects everything so that there isn't really a change in realm. We don't change into the supernatural realm in the movie.Were those angels of death not in the game?

Moore: There's mention of them, but they're not as fleshed out into the physicality as they are in the movie. [They are more cinematic now, and] they look cool. I thought it would be great to go into the mind of somebody who would be tortured by this drug and unable to handle the drug. I thought, "Wow. This could be really freaky."Do you think this drug could actually be developed? Would it be bad?

Moore: Yeah, absolutely. Any drug brings you up only to crash you down. I've played around in my mind ... It's not stated in the movie, but I'm fascinated by the idea that the drug in the move is a placebo. It has no effect, but you think it has an effect, so it has an effect. That would be a great idea for a drug for the military. Tell everybody that this will work, and they'll go charging over the hill and kill everybody else.Mark Walberg, you've returned to your more action-driven roles.

Wahlberg: My comfort zone. That's what I'm trying to tell people. I've always been looking for something that I can really go off on, you know, have a lot of fun and tear it up, get loud and aggressive and intense. After doing The Happening and The Lovely Bones, I was desperately searching for something like that, and I just thought that this was the perfect vehicle to do that and have fun. I think people enjoy, and it's not for everyone, but guys like myself enjoy this thing immensely. Did you do your own stunts?

Wahlberg: More than I would have liked. [I'm getting too old for this] is what I tried to explain to John Moore. I think after movies like Invincible, they think I'm the bionic man. That character was padded up and had a helmet on. This guy is out there without any of that. I want to do Fighter [my next project] now, so that I can grow old and enjoy myself.Mila Kunis, what was it like to shoot the guns and be an action star?

Kunis: Empowering. Scary. The first time—incredibly scary. I had never held a gun before. I'd never had a show with a gun. I don't go and shoot people or animals, so it was scary. My hand was shaking, and then by the end of it, I was like, "This is amazing!" Toward the end [of training], when I was shooting live fire outside ... I became very good with my little gun, like my Colt. The automatic is a little heavier. It's a little more cumbersome. Do you own one now?

Kunis: No! Oh my God. No. I don't want to get a gun. You know what it taught me? I fell in love with firearms, but I also fell in love with the idea that you need to respect it, and I don't think everyone should own one. I loved it so much that I learned what it can do. [Besides,] I don't hunt. It's not something that I'm particularly drawn to, but what I did learn was how easy it is to pull the trigger. Truly, it's incredibly easy to pull that little trigger, and you see the damage that it does. It's irreversible damage. But beating up Mark was really exciting!Mark Walburg, do you see Max Payne as a franchise?

Wahlberg: I don't know. I've never tried to find a franchise. They've always tried to get me to do sequels to films that I've done, and I told Ludacris [who portrays a cop in the film] he can play Max Payne. If we can make it better than the first and people really want to see it and the character can be on the drug the whole time, then I'll consider it. [But] no tattoo in the face. If he can stay crazed the whole time, I like that a lot. Do you read sometimes comic books?

Wahlberg: No. Nothing like this?

Wahlberg: I'm usually into much more reality-based stuff. Even with [Max Payne] there is this whole mythical element and stuff, but my character didn't buy into any of that until he experiences the drug himself and starts to hallucinate. Were you hesitant to take this part?

Wahlberg: No. I read the script first, and I thought it was a very cool story. Did you ever play the game?

Wahlberg: No. I let my assistant play the game, and he didn't want to let it go. He's addicted to that thing. He doesn't have kids, so he's just a gamer geek. But soon your kids will love to play video games.

Wahlberg: Yeah, hopefully we'll have them play Nintendo Wii, where they're more active.

You said before you wouldn't take on roles like Dirk Diggler because you are a family man and you have kids now.

Wahlberg: Well, in America, sex is not as accepted as violence. I don't care if my kids watch violent movies. I don't want them to be doing nothing that has to do with sex, especially my daughter. Is there a possibility that they might accidentally see this movie?

Wahlberg: No. They're still very young, and, of course, it's my job to continue to explain to them and help them understand what's real and what's not and what's entertainment. Did you say you didn't want your daughter to watch sex? You'd rather she watch violence?

Wahlberg: No, no. I don't want her to watch anything. Was that why it wasn't suitable for you that you had to turn down this beautiful woman in the movie?

Wahlberg: No, you can't compromise Max's integrity. This guy is fighting to avenge the death of his wife and child, and all of sudden because she's a hot-looking girl, he's going to say, "Oh, well, wait a second. Honey, don't pay attention to this part of it." No, he couldn't go there. Can you talk about the drugs in the movie that you use the most, and when you experiment with the drugs, it's almost that effect of the highs and the lows. You question whether you're going to die.

Wahlberg: Yeah, it's ultimately a bad thing. Can you talk about your experience there?

Wahlberg: I've experimented with drugs, and I've realized that, yes, it's definitely a dead-end street. It can lead to death or incarceration. But do you feel like that with the movie? That it's almost pulling it to the extreme, where it's showing people, maybe teens or the younger generation, who watch the movie ...

Wahlberg: Yeah. Why weren't you with me all day when I was explaining this to people? Because every time people ask me, "Oh, maybe people want to take the drugs now because they think it makes them powerful and invincible." Some people might.

Wahlberg: Yeah, exactly. Some people look at the glass being half empty, and some people look at it as being half full.