Review of Gamer

In America, at some point in the not too distant future, gladiatorial death matches are made legal. If you survive 30 battles, you're released. And guess who has 27 under his belt? Kable(Butler, sadly not as over-the-top as in 300). He wants out so he can protect... his vintage car? no, wait: his wife and daughter. It's just that they have so little agency and impact on the plot, they might as well be. They literally exist so that the audience have an easier time empathizing with him. I mean, he is a death row inmate. Did I not make mention of that part of already the ridiculous concept yet? I don't know why this isn't set in a dictatorship(or a country ruled by corporations, a la RoboCop), as these would make the idea so much easier to believe.

I wanted to love this movie. Satire and social commentary are among the best and most important fiction. When it's done right. One of the big problems is that this appears to have an incredibly cynical outlook on regular people. Including its own audience. And the hypocrisy of criticising the popularity of films including violence, sexuality and other provocative materials, while being a prime example of such. The filming and editing are as stylized as the excellent Crank movies, without the frantic pace, simplicity and, well, clearly those are not set in our reality, which makes it a lot easier to accept the outlandish stuff.

I recommend this to anyone willing to wade through the frustrating elements of this, because if you are, there really are some incredible things in this. 6/10