Starring Gerard Butler, Amber Valeetta, Michael C. Hall, Kyra Sedgwick, Logan Lerman, Alison Lohman, and Chris "Ludacris" Bridges
Directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor
Directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor
From the crazy minds that brought us Crank 2 comes this new insane creation. Set in a future "some years from this exact moment," Gerard Butler is Kable, a man on death row for murder, who is also a player in a new virtual reality game/reality show called "Slayers" created by the nutty billionaire Ken Castle (Michael C. Hall). In the game, nanochips are implanted into death row inmates' heads that allow them to be controlled solely by video game enthusiasts when the chips are activated. Should any inmate complete 30 levels of the game, they will earn their freedom and have their slates washed clean.
Crank: High Voltage was completely balls-to-the-wall psychotic and nuts, and that was one of the reasons I loved it. Unfortunately, Gamer doesn't quite reach that level. The action scenes in this movie were pretty damn cool. Sure, they were spastic and all over the place, but they were completely enjoyable. The unfortunate thing is that when the flick veers away from the "Slayers" game and into "Society", the other game created by Ken Castle, the film focuses on the "subversive humor" that was prevalent in Crank and it kind of lost me. That humor worked in Crank because the whole entire movie wallowed in that humor. This flick is much more of an action pic and I honestly just wanted it to get back to action.
Butler is fine in this, but he's not given anything to do and his character is absolutely one-note...not his fault. His wife in the flick, Amber Valletta, hasn't been good in anything I've seen her in and she continues that trend here. The star of the flick is certainly Michael C. Hall -- absurdly crazy and insanely funny, his character was so far over-the-top that you couldn't help but love him.
So, this flick isn't Crank, but directors/writers Neveldine/Taylor carry on the tradition of not giving a shit and creating nutty and freaky cinema. I certainly didn't dislike the film, although it's not quite as good as their previous effort this year.
The RyMickey Rating: C
The premise here kind of reminds me of that old movie "Escape from New York" and how it makes me wonder how crazy and idea it really is, i.e., how many people have honestly toyed with the idea of doing something off the charts with prisoners.
ReplyDeleteI must admit a part of me is enticed by the idea and I'd SOOO watch the reality TV show of prisoners with implanted chips being controlled by gamers. I mean, I sometimes wonder why we don't take death row inmates and use them for experimental drugs, bomb testing, and all other sorts of weirdness. I mean, put them to some good use.
[Don't ever wonder about Thomas's cynicism again. LOL!]
I've never seen Escape from New York, but as I watched Gamer, I couldn't help but think that I've seen this premise before (meaning prisoners playing some game in order to be freed from jail)...don't know in what, but it didn't feel "new" to me.
ReplyDeleteDeath Race came out within the last year with the same premise. Basically the same weekend too.
ReplyDeleteYeah, after I posted that comment, I googled "prison game movie" and got Death Race and The Running Man, neither of which I've seen. I guess I've just heard of the premise before...
ReplyDeleteCondemned the year before that.
ReplyDeleteyou've never seen the running man, jeff? that movie is 3 in the morning movie heaven. you must've seen at least part of it. RICHARD DAWSON!! RICHARD FUCKING DAWSON!! JESSE THE BODY!!
ReplyDeleteoh my, pardon the profanity. but you should note that it was necessary, as it's how i felt at the time of writing.
but seriously, we should watch the running man. i haven't seen it in like four years. it can be part of your "classics" series even though it was ten years too late. that and tremors.