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SYNOPSIS:
GAMER is an action thriller set in a near future when gaming and entertainment have evolved into a terrifying new hybrid. Humans control other humans in mass-scale, multi-player online games: people play people...for keeps. "Slayers," a first-person shooter game allows millions to act out their most savage fantasies online in front of a global audience, using real prisoners as avatars with whom they fight to the death. Kable (300's Gerard Butler) is the superstar and cult hero of "Slayers." Kable is controlled by Simon who continues to defy all odds by guiding Kable to victory each week. Taken from his family, imprisoned and forced to fight against his will, the modern day gladiator must survive long enough to escape the game to free his family, regain his identity and to save mankind from Castle's ruthless technology.
MOVIE
REVIEW:
From the directing/writing duo of the Crank series come "Gamer", a movie set in a future world where gamers control death-row inmates in multi-player online tournaments in the safety of their own homes. The brainchild of a reclusive techie billionaire Ken Castle (Michael C. Hall), 'Slayers' as it is known has its own superstar avatar, Kable (Gerald Butler). Controlled by a young prodigy gamer, Simon (Logan Lerman), the only way for Kable to escape the ruthless tournaments is to convince Simon to ‘free’ him so he can unravel Castle’s evil intentions and reunite with his family.
While the script by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor has the potential to travel further, it is ultimately a convoluted mess of science fiction and ultraviolent nonstop action pieces. 'Slayers' is akin to a futuristic version of contemporary stylized interactive games such as "The Sims" and "World Of Warcraft" and "Gamer" actually provides an interesting school of thought. 'What if someday the avatar you purchased and controlled on your computer screen is an existing real human being?' However, Neveldine and Taylor aren’t quite adept in balancing both the story and action thus the thematic elements are wastefully faltered.
"Gamer" expectedly came to a stall in the movie’s slower moments. There are virtually no emotions or enough backstory invested behind the characters. Gerald Butler’s Kable deserved more than being a mere 'man-on-the-run' rugged fugitive and other than his usual trademark "300" grunts, Butler has not much capacity in expanding his character. The main villain Ken Castle portrayed by Dexter’s Michael C. Hall turns from a confident, cool cat to a sudden cheesy bad guy towards the end. Other notable faces include Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges, Kyra Sedgwick, Aaron Yoo, John Leguizamo, Terry Crews and incredibly embarrassing Milo Ventimiglia, all in disposable underwritten parts which makes you scratching your head why everyone is scrambling to be in this movie.
For action junkies, "Gamer" will not disappoint. The highly choreographed action sets with lots of flying limbs and body parts are not for the squeamish for sure. The various locations where “Slayers” took place include believable FIBUA environments, Neveldine and Taylor proved that they knew how to grab the audience fast and furious given the frenetic pacing whenever a tournament takes place onscreen.
Similar to Paul W. Anderson’s Death Race (2008), "Gamer" is a wasted opportunity in presenting a statement on how virtual reality and gaming is posing a threat to today’s society given the high demand in reality programs in recent years on television. Instead, all we have is an all-out action flick with some naughty bits to act as fillers. It’s a shame no one has yet made a movie that beats the campy 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger film "The Running Man" which also involves a cop forced to take part in a 'gladiator' type television show. Really? Has it been 23 years already?
SPECIAL FEATURES :
NIL
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 contains enough ear-piercing gunshots and explosions to wake up your neighbors on a Sunday morning. There’s plenty of surround moments during the action sequences so everyone in your block will receive a piece of the aggressiveness. The gritty look on the whole is intended by the filmmakers perhaps to create a sense of realism of the online tournaments.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Linus Tee
Posted on 11 April 2010
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