REVIEW: Gamer

I've decided that Neveldine/Taylor, as they like to credit themselves, are two deeply stupid film-makers with very big imaginations. As anyone who's seen Crank will know they're films kind of gravitate toward a moronic excess. Taking high-concept ideas and running at such a speed with them that people are too caught up in the testosterone to realize they are watching a very bad movie. Gamer is worth less then their debut because it takes it self seriously far too often, and these guys just don't have the talent to make a movie like this work as anything else but a pure-blood action movie, which is what the movie descends into as the duo get bored with the sci-fi of it. It is not totally worthless, and it takes an adolescent like joy in killing of things, where many movies like this just seem to be going through the motions.

The plot, such as it was, see Kable (Gerard Butler) the best of band of death row inmates who compete in Slayers, in which they are controlled mind and body by gamers and go about killing each other. This is designed by billionaire evil genius Ken Castle (Michael C Hall) and while a separatist resistance group known as 'Humanz' try to bring him down, Kable makes a play for freedom. It all plays out just like you think it would really, with Butler being suitably action heroey whilst being a complete personality vacuum. Ludacris turns up for a while, as does for some bizarre reason Drag Me To Hell's Alison Lohman clearly slumming it a little. The only real performance to enjoy is Dexter's Michael C Hall's , who when not leading twenty mind-controlled prison inmates in a chorus of 'I've got you under my skin' adds a real energy to a somewhat lame Bond Villain type character. After watching him deadpan through three seasons of Dexter its pleasing to see him cut loose a little. But at its soul this movie is about necks being turned to a 270 degree angle, heads being blown off and faces being smashed in with a rock. If this sounds like fun then you will enjoy this movie, but even if you like mindless action movies, be warned that this is one of the more mindless examples.

Rating: 5/10