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Gamer

EMAILPRINTLionsgate

Gamer reviews
27
4.9 User Score:

Generally unfavorable reviews

Based on 13 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 72 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Action  |  Sci-fi  |  Suspense/Thriller

Written by: Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor
Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor

Directed by: Mark Neveldine
Brian Taylor

Release Date:
Theatrical: September 4, 2009
DVD: January 19, 2010

Running Time: 95 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: R for frenetic sequences of strong brutal violence throughout, sexual content, nudity and language

Starring Gerard Butler, Michael C. Hall, Alison Lohman, Amber Valletta, Logan Lerman, Kyra Sedgwick, Ludacris, and John Leguizamo

Kable is the superstar and cult hero of the ultraviolent "Slayers." Kable is controlled by Simon, a young gamer with rock star status who continues to defy all odds by guiding Kable to victory each week. Taken from his family, imprisoned and forced to fight against his will, the modern day gladiator must survive long enough to escape the game to free his family, regain his identity and to save mankind from Castle's ruthless technology. (Lionsgate)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

70

LA Weekly Vadim Rizov

Neveldine and Taylor’s spazzy (but coherent) action scenes rely mostly on blood spurts instead of feats of badassery, but their dystopia is inventive and their visual schemes diverse.

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60

Time Out New York Keith Uhlich

Crank’s Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor direct with their usual flashy brio, and basso profundo Keith David has a sublime cameo as a cop indignant at the thought of a pistachio peanut butter sandwich. It’s that kind of movie, folks.

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42

The Onion (A.V. Club) Josh Modell

The trouble with Gamer is that it’s weird, but not weird enough for the long haul.

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40

Variety Rob Nelson

The audience gets played in Gamer. This latest eye-scraper from writer-directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor is as hopped up as their "Crank" pics, but with dour Gerard Butler as a soldier commandeered by a teenage gamer, it's considerably less interactive.

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40

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

The technical barrage of visual and digital effects, quick cuts and strobe lighting does produce something akin to the sensation of playing a video game. So why, one wonders, don't potential viewers simply play one instead of watching this pale imitation?

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38

ReelViews James Berardinelli

I wonder if Gamer might make a good game; it certainly doesn't make a good movie.

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38

Boston Globe Tom Russo

For long stretches of the PlayStation-minded Gamer, the action does drag.

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30

Los Angeles Times Glenn Whipp

Rarely have the words "game over" come as such sweet relief.

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30

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Considerably less of a thrillgasm than playing "Frogger" blindfolded.

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25

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

As the brutish Kable, Gerard Butler must find out who's pulling his strings, but it's the audience whose chain gets yanked by this headache-inducing techno-violent mishmash.

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20

New York Daily News Joe Neumaier

What the movie needs more than anything else is a fast-forward button.

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20

Chicago Reader Cliff Doerksen

Directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor were responsible for the delirious "Crank" and "Crank 2" but left the magic behind when they threw together this tedious mash-up of "Tron," "Rollerball," "The Matrix," etc.

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0

The New York Times Jeannette Catsoulis

A futuristic vomitorium of bosoms and bullets.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 4.9 (out of 10) based on 72 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Clinton R. gave it a4:
Its all boobs, blood, bullets and brainless. Ironically enough the only thing not "executed" in this sci-fi re-tread was the awesome concept of the script.

Cody T. gave it a1:
Michael C. Hall should get a slap, no, SEVERAL slaps on the wrist for this bomb. I HATE movies like this. The one movie with an absurd over the top futuristic plot that was actually decent is Minority Report. This is just...wow.

Andrew M. gave it a0:
Terrible. just terrible. and it gave me a migraine, with all the strobing and odd, jerky camera movements and switches. Maybe worse than Crank 2

Ryan S gave it a2:
Big, dumb, and boring. A bunch of bad ideas about video games of the future taking concepts from video games of today.

Brian N. gave it a5:
Decent popcorn flick, the action was great and the story, flimsy as it was, is an intriguing look into the future. Michael C. Hall and Gerard Butler handle the material they're given effortlessly but there wasn't much for them to work with. John Leguizamo's character could've used more depth, but the same could be said for the rest of the cast. A worthy effort, but the averageness of this buries itself right to the core. All in all, i give it a "Meh."

Christian B gave it a10:
Butler and Hall did a great role in this movie and the people that rate it 0 are people who dont like guns firing and good acting

stevie b gave it a9:
Great Movie. Something different from the same crop of boring movies being produced.

Read more user comments >

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