Rating: 8/10
Writer/Director: Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor
Cast: Gerard Butler, Michael C. Hall, Logan Lerman, Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges, Amber Valletta
Studio: Lionsgate
Summer blockbusters, a genre unto themselves, rarely extend beyond the borders of a flat plot and big explosions into anything more thought-provoking. Yet, they entertain us in a popcorn-munching mindless daze. GAMER, brought to us by the dynamic duo behind such previous summer fare as CRANK and CRANK 2, manages to at least scratch beyond the high gloss surface and attempts to pass itself off as a bit of a social commentary. The premise is this: in a world of overpopulated prisons and an increasingly introverted, desensitized public, a new game is created in which players can safely sit at home controlling live humans in a mortally devastating internationally broadcast battle. Kable, played by Gerard Butler (300), is our star “icon” in this scenario, controlled by an appropriately cocky Logan Lerman (3:10 TO YUMA), on their way to record-breaking fame. The prize is Butler’s freedom from the game, but the closer he gets, the further out of reach the prize falls. That is, until a radical anti-game group appears on the scene to begin sabotaging the greatest media sensation the world has ever seen.