jasperan
I think camera scenes were too shaky and with too many cuts, as well as the motorcycle scene. It didn't give me the impression of 'action', it made me confused and I didn't know what I was looking at. But the movie is very nice, and Gerard Butler is a great actor.
NateWatchesCoolMovies
Neveldine/Taylor's Gamer is a grim, hedonistic blast of skullcrushing action and stinging social commentary that ruthlessly indicts the technological era with tongue in cheek precision. The duo are also responsible for the Crank films, which are similarly painted in broad strokes of brash, bratty attitude and kinetic, spare no limbs violence, but are pure fun. This one keeps that vibe, darkens it just a touch, and holds up a mirror that shows a sad but all too true vision of ourselves. What's scary is that it isn't even all that exaggerated. In the near future the prison systems have been privatized by corporations, including one led by the ambitious, evil Ken Castle (Michael C. Hall, even more unhinged than on Dexter). His program uses prisoners as virtual puppets, controlled by gamers out in the real world, and stages brutal all out warfare between them, observed, bet on and obsessed over the world over, like the NFL but with lethal firepower and exploding heads. The reigning champion, Kable (Gerard Butler proves again what a wicked action leading man he is), longs for freedom, and attempts to contact his controller, a stuck up rich brat (Logan Lerman is a little ball of sleaze), in order to plan his exodus from this most extreme of sports. On the outside, Kable's wife (Amber Valetta) and young daughter appeal for his release. She ends up getting entangled in a vile, R rated version of The Sims in a delightfully repulsive sequence. Kyra Sedgwick plays a morally bankrupt reporter, Ludicrous and Alison Lohman are freedom fighters raging against the powers that be, and Zoe Bell, Terry Crews, Milo Ventimiglia (playing, I kid you not, a spandex clad video game avatar named Rick Rape), Noel Gugliuemi and John Leguizamo all make memorable appearances as well. The movie, despite being ultra fast paced and often very funny, is not lighthearted fare. The action has a jarring, repellent quality that induces cringes, but is still a ton of fun to anyone who can stomach it. The irreverent tone helps as well, with rude, unmannered character interactions and smutty dialogue reflecting the filmmakers view on our spoilt, often sickening generation. Songs like Bloodhound Gang's Bad Touch and Marilyn Manson's Sweet Dreams inject additional, welcome atmosphere into the skeezy veins running through the film. Brutal. Kinetic. Sarcastic. A whole lot of fun. And you haven't lived until you've seen Butler slam a mickey of vodka and take a leak into a vehicle's gas tank, thus furthering his escape.
petra_ste
The kind of sci-fi dystopia Philip K. Dick would have written if he had been a talentless hack, Gamer destroys its high-concept premise - a future where people are paid (or forced if they are convicts) to be controlled by players in online games - with an awful script and flat performances. Beefcake Gerard Butler is once again a muscled non-entity, the poor man's Stallone. Valletta, who unsurprisingly manages to be believable when her character goes into "glassy-eyed automaton" mode, is otherwise terrible. The talented Michael C. Hall is saddled with a ridiculous, smug supervillain who sings and dances around with a group of his clones in a scene which looks like something out of Naked Gun.3,5/10
jfarms1956
Gamer is a movie best enjoyed by those 13 and older, primarily those who have high testosterone or enjoy fast paced blood and action movies. This is a good movie for a group of guys to enjoy together. Women who love lots of action will also enjoy this movie. Those adults who play action video games should also enjoy this flick. Gamer moves too quickly to enjoy much of any refreshments. It is a prime time movie and deserves your constant attention. The premise of the movie can lead to much debate; but the movie/story plot is not for me to judge, only the presentation and enjoyment value. I personally enjoy movies that are slow enough for me to enjoy what is going on. The movie moves a bit too fast for me. I do like the scifi aspect of the movie.
