{"id":384,"date":"2009-09-07T18:03:28","date_gmt":"2009-09-08T01:03:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.avatarplanet.com\/blog\/?p=384"},"modified":"2009-09-07T18:03:28","modified_gmt":"2009-09-08T01:03:28","slug":"gamer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.avatarplanet.com\/blog\/2009\/09\/07\/gamer\/","title":{"rendered":"Gamer"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I don’t usually write about films, but the just-released film Gamer<\/em>, in which much of the action takes place in online games, will be of interest to many Second Life<\/a> residents.<\/p>\n

Gamer<\/a> was released last week. Directed and written by Mark Neveldine<\/a> and Brian Taylor<\/a>, it is a fast-paced action film with the tag line, "In the near future, you don’t live to play… you’ll play to live."<\/p>\n

Set in a future in which humans control other humans in online games, the latest of which is "Slayers", which updates the ancient Roman gladiator arena to an online world in which ordinary people can play out their most vicious fantasies using real life prisoners as avatars. As with the Roman gladiators, prisoners being forced to fight in this online arena will be given their freedom if they survive 30 games. The story revolves around the prisoner Kable. He has won 27 matches, and now seeks to gain his freedom by defeating the game itself.<\/p>\n

I haven’t seen the film yet myself, but sadly, reviews for Gamer<\/em> have not been great. In fact, I’ve found only one so far that’s positive. Based on the reviews, you’re most likely to enjoy Gamer<\/em> if you love loud, action films with lots of violence, or if you’re a fan of some of the actors in the film, who include Gerard Butler<\/a>, Amber Valletta<\/a>, Michael C. Hall<\/a>, Kyra Sedgwick<\/a>, Alison Lohman<\/a>, and Ludacris<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A review<\/a> in HollywoodReporter.com<\/a> concludes, "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?" Gamer’s website is gamerthemovie.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The review<\/a> on SciFiMoviePage.com<\/a> had similar thoughts about Gamer<\/em>: "It\u2019s an action flick directed by the guys who did Crank<\/em> and stars Gerard Butler of 300<\/a>! … So at a certain brain-dead teenager boy level we\u2019re quite excited. After all, we liked Crank<\/em> as much as the next guy. But come on! The whole futuristic blood sport thing is as old as science fiction itself!"<\/p>\n

A review<\/a> in Sonic-Cinema.com<\/a> includes the line, "…this is head-exploding cinema, so long as you don\u2019t really care about story, character, a sense of direction, or your ear drums."<\/p>\n

Nick Schager<\/a>‘s review<\/a> in SlantMagazine.com<\/a> concludes, "After over an hour of bludgeoning combat and facile commentary, the film momentarily comes alive when Castle performs a phenomenal taunting song-and-dance routine alongside his servile marionette goons to the tune of "I’ve Got You Under My Skin." Alas, it’s the only novel, lighthearted button the otherwise leaden Gamer<\/em> pushes."\n<\/p>\n

Michael Ransom has a more positive review<\/a> on Collider.com<\/a>: "It had some of the most entertaining and unique actions scenes I\u2019ve seen in a while, and that\u2019s coming from an ex-gamer. … I found this exhilarating to watch, because it seemed like Neveldine and Taylor finally broke the bounds of the typical action scenes I\u2019ve seen coming out of Hollywood so often."<\/p>\n