Metascore
27 out of 100

Generally unfavorable - based on 13 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 13
  2. Negative: 8 out of 13
  1. Reviewed by: Vadim Rizov
    70
    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.
  2. 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.
  3. Reviewed by: Josh Modell
    42
    The trouble with Gamer is that it's weird, but not weird enough for the long haul.
  4. 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?
  5. Reviewed by: Rob Nelson
    40
    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.
  6. Reviewed by: Tom Russo
    38
    For long stretches of the PlayStation-minded Gamer, the action does drag.
  7. 38
    I wonder if Gamer might make a good game; it certainly doesn't make a good movie.
  8. 30
    Considerably less of a thrillgasm than playing "Frogger" blindfolded.
  9. Reviewed by: Glenn Whipp
    30
    Rarely have the words "game over" come as such sweet relief.
  10. 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.
  11. What the movie needs more than anything else is a fast-forward button.
  12. Reviewed by: Cliff Doerksen
    20
    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.
  13. A futuristic vomitorium of bosoms and bullets.
User Score

Mixed or average reviews- based on 112 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 49
  2. Negative: 20 out of 49
  1. "The Gamer" is a game you will NEVER want to play, especially with Gerald Butler starring in it.
  2. AndrewM.
    0
    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
  3. AlfonsoC.
    0
    The worst film I've ever seen.