Review of Gamer (2009) by Mark F — 16 Nov 2010

This is one of those films that you treat much worse than you should because it doesn't measure up to expectation. Sadly, I'm not immune to this.

Gamer is a vessel that starts off strong, throwing you headlong into a brilliantly concieved and believable not-too-distant-future distopia where the cash-rich manipulate the moral-poor - literally, like marrionettes - for the entertainment of the middle class.

But what starts as an ingenious little concept quickly dissolves into a feature length episode of dumb-dumb-and-dumber with twice as many laughs, mindlessly excessive bloodshed, and porn.

Ah, the porn. Either writers/directors Taylor and Neveldine are trying to express some deep heartfelt tribute to the adult franchise, or they're trying to divert attention away from the film's laudable acting by putting something else on screen that will be more likely to draw our attention. It fills about 60% of the movie's plot, and is constantly referenced to by several major charecters.

As for the other 40% of the "film", it's divided up amongst heads exploding in fountains of blood, drab action sequences, and moments where the camera shakes so badly it's as if the cameraman had an epileptic seizure and was told to continue filming.

All in all, what's so frustrating about this tedious hour-and-a-half experience is that the filmmakers take every ounce of what could have been turned into an original, clever and deft stab at the action/sci-fi genre, and squander it in every way imaginable right in front of our gradually drooping eyes.