REVIEW: Gamer (2009)
Gamer
Rated: R
Runtime: 95 minutes
Starring: Gerard Butler
My rating: 2 stars
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The screen was secreting something foul while "Gamer" played. It took some time to discern what it was, but finally it was clear: testosterone.
That's all there is to "Gamer," a film that could have been much more with actors who have done much more.
The movie's downfall comes in its script, written by Watertown native Mark Neveldine and business partner Brian Taylor. The two also teamed to direct "Gamer," which is still better than either "Crank" or "Crank: High Voltage" — the duo's two previous films.
"Gamer" is about a real life video game called Slayers, which is only accessible to the very wealthy. In Slayers, a human controls a death-row inmate through a series of war-like battles against other inmates also controlled by humans. The inmates are all real, and if they stay alive through 30 battles, are set free. Few have ever made it past 10 rounds. That was before Simon (Logan Lerman), a teenager, started playing as Kable (Gerard Butler). Kable is just three rounds from freedom when we meet him.
Isn't this idea a bit appalling to begin with? Apparently not to many humans in "Gamer." Every one just accepts the fact the rich can and do control the poor, drug addicted, or incarcerated. Free will is banished. That is barely explored save from the group of five underground rogues who call themselves Humanz.
The film does explain why only five humans object, but not believably enough. Instead it leaves us feeling that we, as human beings, are solely interested in sex and violence. That's basically all that's displayed in this futuristic action thriller.
"Gamer" is a film enjoyed by adrenaline junkies. It's pure escapism and its substance no more than skin deep, despite the brains, blood and guts splattered on the camera lens. It is not a thinking man's movie. In fact, it's more a movie to reassure one's manhood and make sure the 98 percent of men who pay to see it get their testosterone fill.
It's disappointing, too, because there are several moral and ethical issues raised, but not discussed. Top that with actors like Gerard Butler and Alison Lohman reduced to robot-like actions.
Lohman plays one of the Humanz. Her only role is to give information and keep the plot moving. The Humanz's leader is Ludacris (or Chris Bridges). He basically just yells information at everyone in case they didn't get it from the scene before or when Lohman said it.
And then there's Butler. Apparently he was sick of playing the heartthrob in romantic comedies, resorting to his character in "300" to play Kable. But even in "300," he spoke more and had some depth to the character. Here he's simply a killing machine and nothing more. We're told his only desire to live is to reunite with his wife and daughter, but it seems he's more on a personal vendetta against the game's creator, Ken Castle (Michael C. Hill).
Castle wants to control the world, and he's coming close with the hugely popular Slayers game and its predecessor, Society, which allows humans to control other humans in a world existing purely for sex. People pay to be controlled and pay to control others. It all makes Castle a rich, rich man. Again, no one seems to mind.
This type of film left a sour taste. I wanted moral arguments and something more than a lot of bullets flying. There is a touch of heart, but not enough to raise it above the average action flick.
Neveldine and Taylor are getting closer. Their next project, unless it's "Crank 3," should show maturity in the writing. Their ideas are good and their direction unique and thrilling, but their continued underdeveloped scripts plague each film. Two stars.
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Where it's playing:
Canton/PotsdamSHOWTIMES
Watertown SHOWTIMES
