Quartile rating: 5.5/10 · 1 rating
Mind-control technology has taken society by a storm, a multiplayer on-line game called "Slayers" allows players to control human prisoners in mass-scale. Simon controls Kable, the online champion of the game. Kable's ultimate challenge becomes regaining his identity and independence by defeating the game's mastermind.
Gamer has an intriguing high-concept premise blending dystopian sci-fi with gaming culture and body-horror themes of autonomy, but it squanders its potential with a thin, predictable plot and underdeveloped characters. Gerard Butler goes through the motions as Kable, while Michael C. Hall's campy villain is one of the few memorable elements. The frenetic, hyperactive visual style from Neveldine/Taylor (Crank directors) is energetic but exhausting, relying on rapid cuts and kinetic chaos that polarizes rather than impresses. The concept of prisoners being controlled in live-action video games had some freshness in 2009, drawing on anxieties about gaming and surveillance culture, giving it modest novelty. The ending wraps up in a rushed, unsatisfying manner that fails to capitalize on the film's darker thematic potential.