By Sean Patrick Kernan
I was under the impression that actor Gerard Butler's career was going really well. That clearly is not the case after watching his new movie “Gamer.” If Mr. Butler has to pick up a role that Jason Statham obviously passed on, things cannot be going that well. Ok, admittedly, I cannot prove that Mr. Statham passed on “Gamer.”
However, the movie does come from the “Crank” team of directors, Mark Neveldine and Bryan Taylor.
Not to mention the fact that the role is pitched to Statham's vibe of brain free, bloody grit. “Gamer” just seems like Jason Statham's kind of movie. Gerard Butler picks up the role and one cannot escape the idea of a not so bad actor picking up another actor's scraps. What a shame.
“Gamer” is a dopey sci-fi actioner that thrusts its audience into the midst of a story in progress. In some not so distant future interactive gaming has evolved to an inhumane level. Real men and women are being incorporated into the gaming world through technology created by Ken Castle (Michael C. Hall). Castle is a malevolent version of Bill Gates.
Castle’s brain controlling technology allows gamers to control real people. His first breakthrough game, Society, allowed the gamer to live out debauched fantasies through real people. Castle's major breakthrough however is called Slayers, a game where death row inmates run about shooting at other death row inmates. If one inmate survives 30 battles he or she can be set free.
The star of Slayers is Kable (Butler). He has survived 27 battles when we meet him. Kable's real name is Tillman and he is surviving so that he can be reunited with his wife and daughter. Kable is controlled by a teenager named Simon (Logan Lerman) and when Simon is approached by a group opposed to Castle, Kable may find his way to escape.
I have brought some order to this story through my description of the plot but trust me when I tell you that the movie itself is much more of a mess than I let on. As with their two “Crank” movies, directors Neveldine and Taylor have little care for telling a story. The interests of these two low watt auteurs is playing with violent toys and reveling in human destruction.
Neveldine and Taylor have a low opinion of humanity and choose to appeal only to the base impulses. This cynical approach is expressed through misogynist imagery and hardcore violence. Women are treated as victims and sex objects and violence is exploited and glorified in a fashion that makes you worry for the director's private lives.
Movies like “Gamer” and both of the “Crank” films are like a psychological profile of the people who created them. What they show are a pair of adults who act out like teenagers. The unrestrained id, the out of control ego and finally the plain and simple immaturity of these films makes you wonder if regular therapy sessions would be a better use of time than filmmaking for Neveldine and Taylor.
Not only is “Gamer” ugly, immature and cynical, it's also derivative. Take a dash of “Running Man” cross it with “Death Race” and you get the bare bones of “Gamer.” Place big dumb action star in an inescapably violent future state and have him fight his way out; been there, done that. Finally, have big dumb action guy bring down the bad guy.
Whether Butler's Kable is successful in stopping the evil Bill Gates guy, I will leave you to discover should you choose to endure “Gamer.” It doesn't really matter whether he succeeds or not. It doesn't improve the awful, dirty mess that is “Gamer.” Really, nothing could.
BYLINE:
Sean Patrick Kernan is a film critic. Check him out at: http://www.myspace.com/number1ramjamfan. Email Sean at sean@zoiksonline.com.
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