“Gamer” (Movie Review)
PEEK-A-BOO! Turns out, Leonidas was a girl the whole time. Who'da thunk it?
I had average expectations for this movie when I went to see it on its release date. I didn’t really see how they could make a movie like this and it not end up as a run-of-the-mill action movie, something along the lines of “Crank”.
(For the record…”Crank” was retarded. I feel like I died a little inside, but I felt better because he died at the end of the movie- BUT WAIT, THERE’S A PART TWO where he didn’t die! So he freefell from a helicopter for over 5 minutes, landed on a car, flipped off, and didn’t die?? Can I PLEASE call “shenanigans” or “B.S.” on this movie??)
Regardless…I bounded in, got my ticket, watched a couple of movie previews (“Legion” – Look it up. Looks GOOD) and lowered my standards before the movie started for the sake of enjoying the movie. What I got instead was a pleasant surprise. Not only did “Gamer” shock me by not being as simple as the movie title suggested, it actually had a strong plot, great acting, and TEA-BAGGING. If you’re a video gamer (no pun intended, I promise), you know what that is…
The Good: If you like shooter video games, you need to see this movie. There are so many tips of the hat to gamers, it almost gives you that warm and fuzzy feeling inside (not really). From the save points, checkpoints, the cursor mark on the screen, and the ever-important art of tea-bagging, which is essentially crouching over the target you just killed and bouncing up and down in an “I-JUST-COMPLETELY-OWNED-YOU-IDIOT” manner (this is important to online games, trust me), whoever came up with this idea definitely did it right.
The story is more complex than you originally think. I usually don’t dwell on the environment and the background of a movie, but the way this one was set up was nothing short of amazing. If they had messed up this aspect of the movie, the rest of it would’ve failed miserably. Because of the great set-up in the environment, everything else is enhanced in a great way… Even Ludacris’ bad acting.
Yeah, that just happened.
Worst actor in this movie... By far. Dope musician though, but this one...
Aside from Ludacris, the acting in the movie is great as well. Leonidas- I mean, Gerard Butler (“300”) plays Kable, a character who may be able to rival Chuck Norris one day for sheer-awesomeness and Michael C. Hall (“Dexter”, the Showtime series) plays one of the most original and most entertaining bad guys I’ve seen on the big screen in a long time.
And John Leguizamo is here as well, but I wouldn’t recommend getting too attached to his character in the movie.
One of the best things I like about this movie is its presentation. Sometimes it’s sensory/visual overload, but it’s always a purpose for what’s happening on the screen. There’s never a lack of creativity in the movie, and everything explains itself by the end of the movie.
The Bad: To be completely honest, maybe a little bit too much nudity. At the beginning it was needed to set up the environment, but a couple of parts could’ve been omitted and the movie still would’ve been just as great. Also, I feel that if you’re going to have bad language in a movie, then it should be throughout the whole movie. “Gamer” seemingly just got it all out at the beginning, but then again the story had ratcheted up so much to the point that it’s highly possible that I had tuned out the cursing…
Yes, I’ll admit it.
It’s an R-Rated movie to its heart so please be aware that this movie isn’t for kids. However, the environment and the R-Rated ambience is NEEDED in order for this movie to work and be as engaging as it is. I usually hate to say that cursing and violence and (whatever) is needed in a movie, but without those elements in this movie, it would’ve failed. Bad. Think “Dead or Alive” fail.
What movie is that? Exactly.
The “So… You Think You Can Dance??”: Terry Crews is in the movie as Hackman, a bad guy to the bone. The interesting part about him is that he usually plays either A) Comical roles, or B) Villains. The funniest thing about this is that regardless of WHAT he plays, he somehow ends up dancing by the end of the movie. This one’s no different… wait for the basketball court…(LOL).
Bottom Line: This movie was way better than I thought it would be. I plan to add this one to my DVD collection when it comes out. I guess this movie basically proves that Spartans can live in the future. I think. Wait, no… Wrong movie…
If you can tolerate the R-Rated ambience of the movie, then you need to see this movie. It’s not for everyone, granted, but if it IS for you, it’s a movie you’ll thoroughly enjoy.
—–> Final Rating: 4.5 / 5 <—–
This movie is proof that Spartans would rule in the future as well if we hadn't killed them all by now. Stupid ancestors.
