Review: GAMER

Movie: Gamer
MPAA Rating: R for strong frenetic brutal violence throughout, sexual content, nudity and language
Running Time: 1 hour and 35 minutes
Stars: Gerard Butler, Michael C. Hall, Kyra Sedgwick, Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges, Terry Crews, Amber Valetta
Writers/Directors: Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor

Over-the-top action films have been around since the 80s when Schwarzenegger and Stallone were in their prime. The 90s toned down (some would say watered down but that's not completely true) the violence and overt sexual content. The late 2000s have seen a resuscitation of the 80s with testosterone fests like the "Crank" movies (also directed by Neveldine and Taylor), "Shoot 'Em Up", "300", "Rambo", etc. "Gamer" is another one of those movies that are aimed for men and mostly men (although I won't say it's not girl-friendly, it stars Butler after all).

Now if you have seen the trailers and TV spots for it, or watched "Death Race" or "The Running Man", then you know what the overall plot is. The only real changes are that the "games" are more interactive, and instead of Jason Statham or Ahhnuld playing the hero, we have beefcake Butler. He does a serviceable job as Kable, the big star of the game within the film. Also in the film is Michael C. Hall (TV's "Dexter" and "Six Feet Under) as Castle, the zen-like creator of the simulation games in the film "Slayers" and "Society". The rest of the cast kinda just pops in every once in a while for some exposition and plot-explanation. In fact, two actors just pop in to collect paychecks (I won't say who, you'll see once you go watch the movie, I'll just tell you one of the characters they play is named Rick Rape....waits while many of you go on IMDb to search).

The movie itself is quite a mess. With such a "high concept" idea, it doesn't really delve into that portion of it too much. All the film is concerned with is showing intense graphic violence at a frenzied pace, which can be okay, if backed up with a well-told story. Then again, who am I to go see a movie called "Gamer" and expect Oscar-worthy story. The dizzying cinematography (while it looks spectacular in digital projection) leaves you wondering what the H-E-double hockey sticks is going on (especially in the first few minutes) for a majority of the running time. I wanted to walk out during the first 25 minutes but as the film progresses it gets a little more interesting (albeit more disturbing at times) and concludes with one of the most hilarious scene stealing moments I've seen in years involving Hall and Butler. The performances in the movie won't be winning any awards in the future, but don't ruin the picture at all. Now if only Butler had been given more dialogue.

I think if the story had been worked on more, we would have had a solid 90-minute time waster. Maybe if we're lucky an extended version will hit DVD/Blu-ray (definitely the way to see it once it hits home video). But with what I witnessed on screen, I can only give it:

2 out of 5 stars.

I'd personally recommend seeing this in a discount theater if you must see it theatrically, but if not wait for home video or cable.