Gamer

From the other reviews, I expected more. Got far less. Couldn't finish it. Story could have been good but the execution was trash.

Saw this movie in the theatres and can only say I was very impressed not only by the cinematography but also how Gerard Butler and Michael C. Hall presented such good renditions of their characters. This movie has similarities to Schwarzenegger's 'The Running Man' but trust me, it is FAR BETTER. The action is better, as well as the storyline and there is such a visual feast of every imagining! I will definitely be adding this movie to my DVD collection!

With that phrase,so ends John Tilman's nightmare for him and the family that gave him the courage he needed to survive the "game".And what a trip/game it was to get from A to B in this film.A non stop action flick from beginning to end,Gamer(released Sept/09)comes from the same imaginative team that gave us the high adrenaline Crank films,Brian Taylor and Mark Neveldine;and there is no lack of that heart-fueling adrenaline in this flick either.
The story involves one John Tilman(aka Kable)who is the current rage in a game called Slayers.The game is real as are the players within the game.Each player has a real person controlling them from afar and John's happens to be a 17 year gaming whiz named Simon(Logan Lehrman).Through the immersing technology on hand Simon literally sees and hears everything John hears as he takes his "player"(John)through an intense fire-fight course from grisly beginning to bloody end.After surviving 30 games John will be allowed to leave the game and Simon has taken John,unprecedentedly,almost all the way through.
The creator of this gaming world,Ken Castle(Michael Hall),was also the creator of another wildly popular interactive game,the Sims-like Society.However Castle's dreams are over exceeding his grasp as his real motives lie in trying to control the rest of society.He hopes to be able to inject his brain controlling nanobots into millions of people thereby controlling everyone.But a rebel group called Humanz is out to stop Castle's grasp of power.They contact Simon and give him a mod that enables Simon to actually talk with John during game play.Inevitably this leads to John finally breaking out of the game during what was to be his last fight and tracking down his family.With the help of the people in Humanz he is able to get he and his wife's independence back and which leads to the inevitable showdown with the person who has his only daughter;Castle himself.Things are nip and tuck but Tilman in the end,with a little help from the remaining elements of Humanz,defeats Castle and brings down his dynasty.
This is a look at todays gaming world flung into the future and brought to a higher,more violent,more interactive and a more highly intense experience;assisted ably through its' great plot,SFX,editing and non stop action.The writing and directing team of Taylor and Neveldine have created a wonderful Sci Fi winner of a concept and they never let the action or your interest wane for more than a few seconds,if ever.I found myself riveted to the action/plot throughout and that's something that few movies can accomplish these days.Also what can't be stated enough is the absolutely fantastic look and feel of this film,all done through the actual camera itself.I first heard of this relatively new camera system called "Red" back in early 2007 and this is the first mainstream film I have actually seen it used in and it is awesome,to say the least.The look is a combination of alot of things but sepia tones and alot of saturated pastels dominate throughout.The camera shots,twists and turns are done at break neck speeds as the creators strive to give we the viewer a more movie-immersing experience.And it works,all of it works as this is a film,I for one,will definitely watch more than a few times to try to catch something I missed from the previous viewing.Finally I must also give a nod to the films lead actor Gerard Butler whose intensity throughout really enhances the entire proceedings.
On the technical side of things the film is clear and crisp and beautifully transferred to DVD with its widescreen format in tact and the sound fantastic.The extras include audio commentary,three 30 minute featurettes on the making of the film,likewise a featurette on the RED camera system used and the trailer.
All in all one of the better Sci-Fi films I have seen in recent times.Its Sci-Fi premise alone will certainly be a drawing card to all the fans of that genre but throw in the gaming world angle as well and well,there's a much wider audience right there.I recommend the movie highly;the game is on!