Gamer

This movie gets a ‘boo’ from me for it’s complete and thorough misunderstanding of gamer culture.

Interesting.

The Story sounds like a kind of cyberpunk version of a roman gladiator story.

I was immediately turned off by this film’s premise as it seemed to be trying to cash in on gamer culture, like Gren said. I am also getting fairly tired of Science Fiction’s increasing over-reliance on nano technology as an “explain-all” or plot device. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Neal Stephenson’s The Diamond Age, but nano-tech now seems to be the savior for the lazy SF writer.

Getting more details about the plot, it sounds a lot like Schwarzenegger’s Running Man. Which makes me want to see it a bit more. I just worry that the references to gaming and the outsider’s perceived obsession with the “extreme-ness” of gaming are going to be cringe inducing.

I am much more interested in seeing Turbo http://www.turbothemovie.com/ which seems much more self-aware/self-deprecating and less pandering.

Gamer culture == buy the newest and flashiest instead of being creative. How a movie can misunderstand that, I don’t know.

And what about gamers who play old games and make thousand of very creative levels for their communities ?
Jokes aside, I’ll give a try for this movie, thanks for this review.

Nothing to do with the movie but… adding Ludacris is like adding nannites… overexposed and lame… and I can’t help but think of his Crank Yankers face when I see him. Amber Valetta does look like an old crackwhore there though, good casting on that front.

Although it’s, as you say, a “boom boom” movie, I was disappointed in the lack of camera stabilization. Shaky cameras aren’t good for suspension of disbelief.

I don’t know if Mark Neveldine or Brian Taylor was responsible for the soundtrack selection, but I think they also went lazy on that. There are many great bands out there that could have found excellent slots in this film.

I think you’re overrating this. It was a fun movie, but 9/10? REALLY? Right…okay. This site has gone down my standards now.

Really though, this is a crap depiction of gaming, but a fun “boom” film, I guess.

Eagerly awaiting a review of “Surrogates” once the movie releases. That movie looks like it’ll be WAY more Cyberpunk than this film was.

Surrogates definitely looks like it has some nice Matrix/GITS going on. Let’s hope they push the story and don’t just sink into a chase film.

I’d wouldn’t give the movie more than 6/10. Sure it has a lot of cyberpunk content , and yes it tries to be more than just another action film. Unfortunately the execution is lacking. The story is rather naive and it ultimately misses the spot with the themes it decides to tackle.

great post keep it up.

I thought it was on point.
Eventually, the tech will be used against society in such a way, that freedom as we know it will cease to exist.

u think you are free? Hmmph

Finally saw this movie and I agree with the review. I agree with the other comments saying it doesn’t represent gamer culture… but who cares? This isn’t a movie about gamer culture. I wish they hadn’t titled the movie “Gamer” because it isn’t about the gamer at all. It’s about becoming a slave to someone you don’t know or trust. This movie is disgusting in its social commentary. I agree with Mr. Roboto about Kable’s wife’s controller…. cannot be unseen. To me, this movie is what Running Man wishes it could’ve been. Unfortunately, when Fleetwood Mac loses popularity I guess you have to resort to Ludacris.

>>u think you are free? Hmmph

Wow man. You are deep.

This movie may have a good concept, but it’s extremely hard to follow the plot and the script seems a little lame. I think it’s another movie like “Ultraviolet” - style over substance.

Turbo looks like shit. And the movie “Gamer” does NOT misunderstand Gamer-culture. It just takes it to a higher level. Like “Death Race” (which sucked ass), it shows the way entertainment will take. You think wars are about money or Power only? No, soon they will be part of entertainment too.

hmm loved parts of it… particularly the way everyone interfaced with computers. was really well displayed in a visual regard that way. i think the action segments were excessive, but then again thats how games are so i suppose it makes sense. overall a good movie but not a great movie. cyberpunk content is really worth a watch though.. i think i liked it more than surrogates

Just watched this movie, I agree with the review. A great surprise overall. Has anyone else noticed that there is a reference to Blade Runner?

No way this movie is 9 out of 10… The plot does not have any decent philosophy to it, and is clearly action-oriented rather than idea-oriented. The whole movie is just a spinoff of Running Man (with X-Box action involved).

By the way, did I miss something or is the last scene with Kable breaking his mind restraint just an awkward and highly predictable turn of events? It seemed like someone just said “Kable breaks his restraint just because this movie has to have a happy end” . Nevermind how he manages to do that (radio interference?? it was that simple?), the whole scene just says “happy end goes here”.

This movie sucked real hard. The acting was horrible, the story was bland and hollow, and the action was extremely random and slapped together. The whole movie felt like a frozen polished turd.

Seeing reviews for films like this and Cassern just goes to show why this website is the LAST place to look at for ratings.

if it wasn’t for this review i would not have rented the film, cause it looked like some fps action movie - the i see ‘cyberpunk visuals: high’. so cheers for the eye candy.

maybe most notable about this film - at the start there is a giant SCHWA alien head on the side of a building. the genuine SCHWA website went offline on or near 9-11 2001, and only recently someones who don’t seem at all connected to the original were trying to revive it.

EXACTLY. Besides the overall dystopian future feel of the movie, which a lot of movies have had since Blade Runner came out, there were three references to Blade Runner that I caught. First was Kable’s wife was dressed as Pris in the online selection of clothes by the Fat Guy in the chair, and second was the set that Gerard Butler walked into after Ludacris probed his mind looked like it came right out BR’s 2019 LA City Scape, and ending was just like BR’s original Theatrical Release… definitely an Homage..

This film a 9 out of 10? Really? Better than classics like A Clockwork Orange or Pi? I don’t think so. This movie was absolute shit. It’s going to be in the bargain bin in walmart in a couple of months, and no ones going to remember it 1 year from now let alone the 20+ A Clockwork Orange has. Terrible rating.

Just watched this and it was pretty lame. Had some interesting ideas, although nothing new. Every character even the villain are incredibly bland and the frentic style is annoying.

LOL, you reviewers give Total Recall 7/10 and this un-original/overexposed piece of crap a 9/10? -It’s becoming clear now that your reviewing skills are just as credible as IMDB.

Seriously, zip up your pants and use your brain the next time you decide to write an adequate CP review, Mr. Roboto.

This film, i think, wasn’t about gamer culture at all. But about the mind control from the economic power, the humanz resistence represent the gamer culture.

sorry for my bad english

Definitely not a 9 out of 10.. the movie didn’t even hold my interest and I ended up watching it in halves.

Jeez, are you f*cking nuts?? How this crap can get 9 stars when ‘A Scanner Darkly’ and ‘A Clockwork Orange’ gets 8?

Try to think twice before writing another review.

As with all reviews it is down to personal opinion. You cannot say the score is wrong because it isn’t, it’s just the score the reviewer thinks the film is worth. I’m sure there’s a film you rate highly that I would call ‘crap’.

Thanks for sharing your review of the move Gamer. I ended up renting the movie and was not as big of a fan. It had some good points but I felt the overall story was lacking character development. Even the evil “Dexter” could not save this move for me. I would give it a 6/10.

Gamer is a trashy actioner like Crank or Shoot Em Up but it’s also deeper than it appears. In fact, I would say that along with Sleep Dealer it is one of the more sociopolitically intriguing cyberpunk movies of the last decade. Sure, there’s the Second Life/MMORG/first person shooter thing combined with the voyeurism angle of reality TV. And ‘the sexy lady could be a grotesquely obese guy’ also seen in Surrogates (and any chat room). But there’s also a class aspect not always seen in these movies: the tech that can be used to exploit and manipulate the marginalized can also be used to do the same to everyone - except those who control/own the technology. Like Surrogates it’s about living life through avatars but in a much more incisive way, and hence is more classically cyberpunk. On the other hand, it’s still thoroughly a modern B-movie.

I thought this movie would be a cool take on the typical prisoners-play-for freedom-in the future movie, much like Death Race (wich I didn’t like). But was I wrong. I still liked this movie alot, but man it was a shock to the system as I watched it. I didn’t know it was going to be so wierd. Michael C. Hall and Terry Crews were psychotic as hell. And the whole the Sims in Sex Slave thing was pretty messed up too. But the wierdness of it all made me love it even more in the end. And the story was better than I thought was going to be. This movie isn’t for everyone but those are the movies I like best. 10 on the Cyberpunk scale.

It’s a review. The reviewer’s personal opinion. Stop bashing him and this site because you don’t agree with him in this instance.

Anyway, I think the movie was an interesting one. Pretty hard to follow at the beginning, but it cleared up to the end.