Search

Gamer (2009)

thereviewers
Jul 26, 2015
2 min read

Gamer bursts onto screen as Kable (Gerard Butler), a convicted criminal and death row inmate, competes in the ultimate multiplayer game called ‘Slayers’. In which the aim of the game is simple - survive 30 matches and be set free. However, there is one catch, another human will control every one of their actions. When Kable decides he wants out, with one game left, Ken Castle (Michael C. Hall) - the gamers creator - will stop at nothing to make sure that Kable doesn’t survive the match.

Overall Review Score

7 out of 10

Review

Gamer is a 2009 sci-fi action film that features an all-star cast including Gerard Butler, Logan Lerman, Chris Bridges, and Michael C. Hall. While the film features some high explosive, up-tempo and kinetic action set pieces, witty one-liners and a fluidity offered over looked by action films, its concept does not fresh or even original. Instead, the film comes across as a series of clichés thrown together around a couple of stolen ideas and action-driven firefight scenes that are guaranteed to please the audience watching. However, with that said, Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, the films co-writers and directors, clearly knew what they were doing when making this film. They have made a solid film that has scored reasonably well because they have managed to make the mind-controlled gamer concept feel real and organic and because they have coaxed a convincing, detailed and equally rather amusing on-screen relationship out of Gerard Butler and Michael C. Hall. Overall, despite its flaws and stolen concepts, Gamer is extremely well made. Yes, it could have scored higher if it had used some of original concepts and expanded upon the relationship between Kabel and Simon Silverton (Logan Lerman) but, in its current form, it is still fluid, energetic, and enjoyable throughout.

Reviewer 1's score & comments:

Score: 7 out of 10

Comments:

Gamer is an action packed sci-fi thriller that is delivered in fast-paced jittery segments. While this, could have easily made this film hard to watch, and ultimately unenjoyable, Gamer managed to keep me enthralled throughout its 91-minute runtime by providing an interesting story, great acting and visual effects. Gamer also provides an interesting, and potential future to gaming in which people can pay to control, or be controlled by other humans.

Reviewer 2's score & comments:

Score: 7 out of 10

Comments:

Gamer offers what you expect from a big budget action film. It features nothing more or less than a series of explosive, highly charged action scenes occasionally interspersed with dialogue. Gerard Butler delivers a good performance as criminal turned mind-controlled game character on a revenge machine to get his daughter and wife back, while Michael C. Hall offers a thrilling performance as an atypical Machiavellian bad guy complete with smooth, cheesy one-liners, an ego complex and extremely disastrous plan for the human race. Overall, Gamer suffers from some minor setbacks, most notably struggling to pull enough bandwidth to sustain its 91-minute run time and struggling to successfully balance all its multiple elements – probably because it needs a RAM upgrade. Although, despite these issues, it is a film that audiences can easily just power on and watch for some cheap thrills before upgrading to a newer, more sleek model.