The first run around, I turned Gamer off after thirty minutes. The directing and editing was so bad - with no single shot seeming to last for more than half a second - that I could barely follow the story and found the action unintelligible and boring. It is shot like a 2-hour long music video. No establishing shots, nothing subtle, rapid-fire editing, overuse of shaky-cam and not one single shot that isn't angled weird or pointing up someone's nose.
Only three movies I can recall had directing and editing this distracting, annoying, and self-congratulating. Those were Catwoman (04), Vidocq (01), and Transporter 3 (08). If you could handle those movies then you might enjoy Gamer.
So yes, I turned it off, but then I decided to review it anyway to perhaps save a few folks like me (people who can't stand this new era of ADHD movie directing) some time. So the next day, I sat down and suffered through the last two thirds. And yes "suffer" is the right word.
It's a pity as I see it. Michael C Hall was a fabulous bad guy. Gerard Butler is a tried and tested action hero. The concept and script weren't altogether losses. But boy do these directors (yes, it took TWO of them to make something this awful) need to get over themselves and learn how to visually tell a story without getting in the way of it. It worked for Crank because the style matched the frantic subject matter and almost became part of the theme of that movie. It DOES NOT work with Gamer.
You know, I used to think Uwe Boll or McG, or perhaps Michael Bay were the worst directors in Hollywood today. Now I'm revising my opinion... Neveldine/Taylor take that dubious honor.
Only three movies I can recall had directing and editing this distracting, annoying, and self-congratulating. Those were Catwoman (04), Vidocq (01), and Transporter 3 (08). If you could handle those movies then you might enjoy Gamer.
So yes, I turned it off, but then I decided to review it anyway to perhaps save a few folks like me (people who can't stand this new era of ADHD movie directing) some time. So the next day, I sat down and suffered through the last two thirds. And yes "suffer" is the right word.
It's a pity as I see it. Michael C Hall was a fabulous bad guy. Gerard Butler is a tried and tested action hero. The concept and script weren't altogether losses. But boy do these directors (yes, it took TWO of them to make something this awful) need to get over themselves and learn how to visually tell a story without getting in the way of it. It worked for Crank because the style matched the frantic subject matter and almost became part of the theme of that movie. It DOES NOT work with Gamer.
You know, I used to think Uwe Boll or McG, or perhaps Michael Bay were the worst directors in Hollywood today. Now I'm revising my opinion... Neveldine/Taylor take that dubious honor.