Gamer

Some years from this exact moment...

'Star Wars!'...OK, not really. As much as it pains me to say, I'm not as much a gamer as I was in my youth. I grew up with a console at my side, from the Atari, which taught me how to button mash before I could even ride a bike, to the Nintendo Entertainment System, the SNES and Genesis, countless Gameboys, Playstations, you name it, other than the Virtual Boy, I had it. I still find myself lured into the gaming world in different ways, now more interested in blowing random PSN network users to shards with RPG-7s than level up a character in an RPG, though finding time to relax and lose myself in a different world becomes harder and harder with each passing calendar year.

'Gamer' is the kind of film that should appeal to my sensibilities as an FPS (first person shooter) fan. Loads of high tech weapons that I'm familiar with "controlling," loads of explosions, gunfire whizzing past my head (thank you, video games in surround sound!), enemies around every corner, and the ever-present need to reload. It made me question the characters I take into battle, historical or modern, and wonder if I could have led a warrior to fame or an early demise. It also made me wonder why I can't rattle off thirty some-odd fatality-free game sessions, a serious blow to my E-ego.

Set in a nameless city an undisclosed number of years in the future, convicts have enrolled (or been enrolled) in 'Slayers,' a game in which they are controlled by gamers around the world in battle scenarios, with the promise of freedom if they survive thirty matches in a row. Kable (Gerard Butler) is the current face of the game, having survived twenty seven straight matches. His controller, Simon (Logan Lerman), has become a celebrity of sorts, with fans bombarding him with offers to take over his account, but his fame is nothing compared to that of his "avatar," viewed as a hero to the entire world, much like a "Mr. Universe" contest, only people actually care! As Kable approaches the magic number, and his freedom begins to become a greater possibility, the system begins to skew, with creator Ken Castle (Michael C. Hall of 'Dexter' fame) throwing obstacles in Kable's path. Can the gamer lead the gamee to freedom, reuniting him with his wife and child, or will the evil, wealthy tycoon maintain his power over the world though his innovations?

I see 'Gamer' as a film full of parodoxes. How can a film so incredibly smart be so mind-boggling stupid at the same time? How can a film go so fast, yet feel so damn slow? Why are we given a main character to empathize with when we will be given nothing to really give a damn about if he lives or dies? Simply put, 'Gamer' is an amalgamation of ideas, some good, some bad, and feels like multiple film ideas all bundled into one.

I enjoyed many aspects of the movie, despite my refusal to participate in MMORPG-type games, which it references (and lambasts) with about as much subtlety as a film of this caliber can muster (aka, not too subtle). The control of Kable through 'Slayers' is neat, with entire rooms dedicated to putting one in another man's shoes, controlling his every aspect (and damn would I kill for that setup!), though later in the film, as Simon and Kable begin to communicate (illegally), it grows annoying, as suddenly Simon begins to wave his hands around like a complete goon. There's another game, the first created by Castle, within the world in the film, 'Society,' which goes a different route than its counterpart. Rather than the glorified extreme violence, there's a society of peace, interaction, where, much like is the case with the bestselling game 'The Sims,' people control others in a tranquil environment, which has no order, and is prone to the ill intents of the gamers. The parody on these style gamers, with Kable's wife (Amber Valletta as Angie) being manipulated by an obese shirtless man, who dines on piles of waffles and a bowl full of dipping syrup, pretending to be a female to interact with men and be popular, is hilarious, a satire on the lazy side of gamers longing to be someone else, anyone else.

The problems in the film arise instantly, as 'Gamer' seems determined to show it is far from original. Convicts fighting through brutal events, televised the worldwide for entertainment, winning freedom if they are the victor? I haven't seen that in a long time...or since Lionsgate released 'The Condemned' just a few years ago. What about 'The Running Man,' soon to be released on Blu-ray by the same studio, I'm sure that one has a similar plot. What's that? It's the exact same?!

'Gamer' mixes satire with its sci-fi and social commentary on our bloodthirsty society, but it often feels manipulative, sinking lower and lower to try to gain interest. I totally understand how the desperate people would get their jollies controlling real people to act out as lesbians in a video game as they watched, fondling each others breasts, but these constantly recurring segments only demonstrate the constant state of excess found throughout. Hall's portrayal of Castle is the most excessive element of the film, going from a Bill Gates-esque super powerful industrialist tycoon to a James Bond villain-esque "schemes to take over the world through a silly gadget" caricature of humanity, replete with a god awful song and dance number, and the constant insistence to make his puppets do dance moves to prove he is controlling them. More choreographer than puppeteer, his scheme is beyond ridiculous, as it is his interference that sets off the idea that "things may be more than they appear" angle.

A terrorist faction, called "humanz," provides the voice of reason in the film, hacking Castle broadcasts, though any rebel faction, for the betterment of humanity, led by Ludacris has to be questioned rather than followed. Their agenda is realistic, their methods believable, but they are about as effective as Neosporin on a gunshot wound to the face, with extreme ineptitude on display making one wonder how they even pull off a single hack of the system without getting traced and executed in under a minute.

'Gamer' has its moments, both good and bad. The film can play out like a glorified snuff film at times, which is ironically what it is fighting against, the portrayal of violence for entertainment. Butler is neither enjoyable or distracting, a masculine presence who is just "there." Milo Ventimiglia (from 'Heroes') provides the best comic relief in the film, with the 'Society' character Rick Rape drawing great laughter from me at his every moment of screen time. John Leguizamo, Zoe Bell, Terry Crews, and Alison Lohman all provide nice supporting roles, though each are easily forgotten...just like the film. A jumble of ideas strewn together without much sense of coherence, 'Gamer' will appeal to fans of first person shooter games and adrenaline junkies (fans of the 'Crank' series, for example), but has too many plot holes, unbelievable twists and scenarios, and moments of outright questionable logic that it has earned the foul reputation that precedes it.