Mona Sax is a fictional character in the first two Max Payne video games (Max Payne and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne), as well as in the 2008 film and the series' third game entry Max Payne 3 during a flashback sequence and optionally in the multiplayer.

In video games[link]

This section requires expansion.

Mona Sax is a mysterious femme fatale, working as a contract killer and living in a derelict theme park. She is introduced in the first Max Payne game as the "evil twin" of her younger sister of Lisa, an abused wife of the Italian mob boss Angelo Punchinello. By the end of the first game, Mona disappears after having been shot in the head inside an elevator by corporate mercenaries after she refused an order to assassinate Max.

In The Fall of Max Payne, a larger focus is given on Max and Mona's relationship, as she becomes one of the game's two protagonists.^[1] Mona is suspected of being behind the murder of Senator Gate, the case assigned to Max Payne's partner Valerie Winterson. Despite their past, Max does not inform the authorities that he knows Mona nor does he inform them of her visit to his apartment. They work together until she is shot in the back by Vladimir Lem near the end of the game.

In Max Payne 2, Mona either dies or survives, depending on the game's chosen level of difficulty (she lives only on the hardest level, "Dead on Arrival").^[2] Rockstar's Dan Houser said that Max Payne 3 would "not continue that aspect of the story. We toyed with figuring out some way, or doing something clever, and then [decided] 'No, no, just move on from that bit of the story.' It really didn't work because there was no way of knowing the choices someone made."^[3]

Kathy Tong, Mona's visual actress in Max Payne 2, said she would have preferred to do her own voice, but when Rockstar Games cast it she was out of the country.^[4]

Gameplay[link]

Mona actually does not appear in the gameplay of the original Max Payne game, appearing only in its cutscenes. She became playable in three chapters of the sequel ("Routing Her Synapses", "A Losing Game" and "Love Hurts"). According to the first two games' writer Sam Lake, he "did want to switch to Mona ... but it was problematic. In the end, Max frames those sequences with his narration, saying that he doesn’t know exactly what happened, or what Mona did, but it must have been something like this. In other words, when you are playing Mona, you are actually experiencing Max’s guess of the events.”^[5]

Mona's moves are more acrobatic than Max's, and her sections involve many sniping sequences where Mona is using an exclusive Dragunov semi-automatic rifle as she provides covering fire for Max (her other weapon is a .50 calibre Desert Eagle pistol, a weapon that she was using in the first game too).

In film[link]

Mona was portrayed by Mila Kunis in the movie version of Max Payne,^[7] whose role was described as "an assassin who teams up with the title character to avenge her sister's death."^[8] In the film, she is a Russian mobster and Max is the main suspect behind the death of her sister Natasha (Olga Kurylenko). Eventually, however, Max and Mona join forces to uncover the vast conspiracy behind the Valkyr drug.^[9] The film credits end with Max meeting Mona at a bar.

As a self-described method actress, Kunis "took her job seriously" and "insisted on practicing a lot", but hated Mona's outfit in the film (which was very different than in the games): "The clothes sucked. Oh my God, it was awful. Mark was like bundled up in jackets and wet suits and coats and turtlenecks and I was in a leather bustier and black pants and 5 inch heels."^[10] Despite generally cold critical reception (Richard Corliss of TIME called her "not up to the task"^[11]), Kunis was nominated in the category "Choice Movie Actress: Action Adventure" at Teen Choice Awards 2009 for her portrayal of Mona in the film.^[12] Kunis was also ranked as the eight "hottest game girl" by GameFront in 2010, for this role that earned her "some digital street cred" as well for her playing World of Warcraft.^[13]

Merchandise[link]

Mona Sax was announced to be included as a playable multiplayer character in the Classic Multiplayer Character Pack of Max Payne 3 Special Edition.^[14][15] Mona's clothes for the Xbox Live Avatar were released also by Rockstar Games on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace.^[16]

Reception[link]

The character of Mona Sax was critically well-received, acclaimed for being one of "relatively complex, non-stereotypical female game characters."^[17] In 2007, she was included by Tom's Games among the 50 greatest female characters in video game history, described as "a stone-cold killer who's incredibly tempting but not entirely trustworthy, [and] the perfect female accomplice to Max Payne."^[18] According to Go!GamingGiant, "Mona Sax will always be remembered as a tough lady and an absolute equal to action heroes like Max Payne because of her laundry list of exploits."^[19]

Other positive reception came from her sex appeal. In 2004, TeamXbox ranked her as the tenth top "Xbox babe".^[20] In 2006, the Polish edition of GameStar had her competing in the poll for the title of "Miss of the Video Game World", in which she placed 17th.^[21] In 2008, PC Games Hardware listed her as one of the most important female characters in games.^[22] In 2009, MSN included her on the list of gaming's 12 "hottest babes" and wrote "smart, sexy and dangerous ... Mona was remarkably presented in the game, being given the cold feel of a hired gun, with no regret or remorse."^[23] She was also included on the list of nine "sexiest babes" of action games by The Times of India, with a comment that she "fits in perfectly in the dark world of Max Payne".^[24]

The sex scene between Max and Mona ("actually one of the most fitting ever seen in a video game") was ranked as the fifth top sexy moment in gaming by Games.net in 2007,^[25] while their affair was ranked at sixth place on the list of the most disastrous game romances by GamesRadar in 2011.^[26] In 2006, GamesRadar also ranked a cheat to undress Mona nude for her gameplay sections in Max Payne 2 as the fourth rudest cheat in video gaming.^[27]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Mona Sax - Max Payne Wiki
• Mona Sax at Giant Bomb
• Mona Sax at the Internet Movie Database