Gerard Butler, John Leguizamo, Michael C. Hall

Set in a future-world where humans can control other humans in mass-scale, multi-player online gaming environments, a star player (Butler) from a game called "Slayers" looks to regain his independence...( read more  read more... ) while taking down the game's mastermind (Hall).

Flixster Users

52% liked it

196,052 ratings

Critics

29% liked it

68 critics

R, 1 hr. 35 min.

Directed by: Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor

Release Date: September 4, 2009

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Flixster Reviews (6,875)


  • November 14, 2009
    This movie is like if the guys who made the Crank movies made a ripoff of Death Race and threw in elements of The Sims. ...Oh wait, that's exactly what it is.

    Yes, the Crank guys have shown they are one-note directors. The style here might have seemed original and fi...( read more)tting of the film's surreal in-game atmosphere, if only they hadn't already used it in their other films. As it is,the film has nothing original, but still manages to be fun. One thing they certainly don't skimp on is the action. And how can you not like a movie that starts out with a live-action teabag?!?
    The cast is so very random, with small pointless parts for people like Alison Lohman and Milo Ventimiglia. Butler does just fine, but the real standout here is Michael C. Hall, who surprised me by making for a perfect cocky, smarmy, egomaniacal villain.
  • October 8, 2009
    High Concept Action Flick. Its not too bad once you realise that the bad guys are real evil characters! I think some of the bad guys in this movie deserve to be ranked amongst the top 40 evil characters. 18+ no children at all. There are some scenes that children and parents will...( read more) find offensive.
  • October 4, 2009
    ''...Kable's the perfect soldier. He's a tactical killing computer. His only vulnerability is the nanex itself; the *ping*, the delay between Simon's commands and Kable's ability to execute...''

    Set in a future-world where humans can control other humans in mass-scale, mu...( read more)lti-player online gaming environments...

    Gerard Butler: Kable

    We see many types of futuristic films mixed with an action-packed revenge bad guy theme. In this regard Gamer is no different from previous projects which have preceded this venture. For it's strengths it has some interesting ideas and moralistic questions of how free will and control can be applied to human beings on a large scale. Death Race, a similar film released a couple of years ago, also had an entertainment spin on violence, criminals and racing. Gamer is a sort of virtual version of the former, being one of action, carnage and perhaps lacking originality in places but making up for that with new ideas in others.

    The whole concept gels well because Gamer also has a tightly knitted cast of strong players. Gerard Butler being the star attraction of the whole affair, Michael C. Hall the villian mastermind, and Logan Lerman as Simon the kid controlling Butler's Kable star of the game 'Slayers'.
    Acting wise it is weak on various scenes, which is unfortunate because other scenes are well executed.
    The actors weren't bad, but they were given little to work with. Butler was extraordinarily limited with few lines, I realise he's capable of so much more emotion than he showed here, so even his most poignant scenes were apparently stripped of almost all feeling by the directors. Sedgwick was so exaggerated as a character that she was stereotypically robotic, so much so that her character didn't gel with all the other characters she got into contact with. Can Valeletta act? I have no idea because she really didn't act at all here nor did it appear that she was supposed to.
    As for Ludacris he was simply ludicrous in this, his acting talent non-existent. I mean not all black people talk like home boys, and this let down the film slightly.

    ''I hope one day to have the opportunity to breach your firewall, Miss Parker Smith.''

    Gamer was written and directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor(Crank). I loved the action, but I disliked the script. It was disjointed and far too stylized, while I'm as much a fan of hand-held cameras as anybody, it was overused in the whole picture, and then combined with what amounted to a strobe effect as the screen flashed split seconds of disparate scenes. While these things can be very effective and provide unique perspectives they are not necessary in being used so often.
    I liked ideas, in the film, such as Kable drinking a whole bottle of vodka or alcohol, so he can later be sick into a car, hence giving fuel to the vehicle. A particularly disgusting fat guy controlling a girl confused me, but also made sense, in the regard there are a vast amount of sickos out there. A midget, a basketball final act, and a massive shootout in a suburban area show how surreal this whole affair is.

    Overall, Gamer is over so fast, gives us new ideas as well as old ones, opens our eyes to a futuristic vision of possibility. Gamer seems to be released in a time where hollywood seems to be interested in ''control'' and ''future'' with the also similar Surrogates. Fans of Gerard Butler, action films or futuristic movies will love this, just don't go into Gamer expecting a revelation or mind-blowing twist, this is violent rollercoaster fun.

    ''This is not something you can control!''
  • October 3, 2009
    Didnt even get past the first 3/4 of an hour of this garbage, rock n rolla its not; avoid this at all costs!!
  • September 22, 2009
    Ok movie with same intresting ideas.Visuals are put to the test just like in directors last effort Crank.Movie flows along at a fast pace so any plot holes are well hiidden.Violents is brutal but is help by its fast edits and flashy style.and the wrost thing i found that it took ...( read more)most things too serously,
    Its not bad but not good either...
  • November 20, 2009
    Hace unos días decía que District 9 era una de las mejores películas del año. Con Gamer (2009) toca decir lo contrario, ya que es una de las peores películas que he visto en este año. Gamer tiene una idea argumental interesante, basada en la posibilidad de que en el futuro los ju...( read more)egos de vídeo se lleven a un nivel lo más realista posible, al utilizar a personas reales como protagonistas, que llevan chips implantados en la cabeza. El problema -y uno de los principales-, es que la película no tiene la más mínima ambición o pretensión de llevar esta interesante premisa a un nivel poco más allá del entretenimiento palomero descerebrado. Quizás esté sobrevalorando a la película con este último comentario, ya que no me pareció en ningún momento entretenida.

    A lo que me refiero, es que si uno se anima a ver Gamer, no tendrá otra cosa mas que largas escenas de disparos y bombazos a diestra y siniestra. La película abre con una escena así, que parece interminable. Casi todo el tiempo estamos acompañando a Gerard Butler, como el protagonista de un juego violento, en el que solamente gana el que sobrevive. Butler interpreta a un presidiario, cuya tarea cotidiana es participar en este juego junto a otros presos, para eliminarse entre sí. Es algo como el ?gotcha?, ese juego en el que dos equipos juegan a dispararse y ?eliminarse? usando balas llenas de pintura. Sólo que en Gamer son armas y balas reales. El juego ha sido desarrollado por un excéntrico ?freak?, experto en tecnologías (Michael ?Dexter? Hall).

    Esto, aunado a una película hueca en el que no existe química entre ninguno de sus personajes, como por ejemplo, ese adolescente (Logan Lerman), que por azares del destino consigue, a través del internet, una conexión pirata al juego y ser quien maneje a Butler en un par de ?misiones?, un John Leguizamo desperdiciado, efectos especiales a nivel de teleserie, un pésimo villano caricaturesco (¡terribles el par de secuencias finales estilo?Bruce Lee y ?Dragon?!), una buena actriz como Kyra Sedgwick haciendo uno de los peores papeles en su carrera, y un mundo futurista nada impresionante, que intenta infructuosamente retratar a una sociedad atrapada por una peligrosa ?realidad virtual?, hacen de Gamer una película ridícula, aburrida y desechable.
    Más en pantallanueve.blogspot.com
  • November 20, 2009
    Fun film, well done and neat idea.
  • November 19, 2009
    This movie has every single Video-Gamer stereotype compressed into an hour and 35 minutes.

    The concept was actually pretty solid. The execution was where the movie failed. I felt that there was alot of content that really wasn't necessary, primarily Michael C. Hall singing an...( read more)d dancing. In a movie like this? I don't think so.

    The special effects were pretty well done, especially in the opening 25 minutes.

    Overall, Gamer is a movie that you should wait until it hits the used bin at your local video store. Passable effort, but needs real improvement.
  • November 17, 2009
    Way cool a little hard to follow but if u just buckle up for the RUNNING MAN and enjoy you proably will. lots of naked raver chics.
  • November 17, 2009
    vgood movie will be getting this one on dvd

Critic Reviews


September 4, 2009
Nick Schager, Slant Magazine

Gamer is a laborious bit of sci-fi grimness that dully updates The Running Man for the 21st century. full review

View more Gamer reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


  • DiJohnny
    March 4, 2008
    Why does Flixster say rated PG? This is definately gonna get an R! (not that that's a good thing)
  • anabelrain14
    January 29, 2008
    PG? How can it be rated PG? Aren't there like naked dancers?

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Gamer Trivia


  • I started out as a gamer in the future, then I left home at age 11 to travel the world, a few years later I was almost hit with an astroid, but you know me now as the keeper of the precious. Who am I?  Answer »

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