Gamer

*Disclaimer* Any movie that has Marilyn Manson and Frank Sinatra on the same soundtrack should be avoided at all cost.

If the Running Man and Gladiator had a threesome with Blade Runner, and there was a child created, it would most certainly have ADHD and would be named Gamer. This is the most concise way that I can explain the train wreck that is Gerard Butler's latest pseudo-action flick.

Butler oozes testosterone as Kable, a death-row avatar being played in a real mortal combat game called Slayers that draws billions of fans in a mindless bloodthirsty pay-per-view frenzy. The inmates are implanted with nano-cortex technology or something like that, and they are immobilized from determining their own physical movements. The gamers then control them and try to work through obstacles and combat to reach a save point.

I am a fan of first-person shooter video games, but to substitute flesh and blood is just a little morbid. The idea on paper is kind of fascinating, but on the screen it is just a gratuitous mess of pointless violence.

There were times that I thought I was watching a Russell Crowe doppelganger, and the staging before battles was stolen from Gladiator point-blank. I was curious to see Michael C. Hall, as I am a big fan of his performance in Dexter, but he disappointed me as the billionaire creator of the hit game who supplanted Bill Gates as the richest man in the world. Likely? No - his Southern drawl depicts him as nothing more than a cute idiot. And his song and dance routine was as random as the Sims world that people were living and working in.

There were lingering questions after watching this film. Like why did the kid get to control Kable? There are about a dozen inmates per outing, and billions of viewers. How did those dozen get so lucky to actually control the guys? It was never even touched on. Maybe I was the only one in the audience thinking about that.

The other "big" name was Ludicris who was ludicrous as the revolutionary who hacked into the broadcasts to spread the moral high ground message. I have to say, I have no idea why he is in movies. Every single role he has played, he has disgraced the title of actor and made a mockery of film. The talentless rapper has no business being cast.

All in all, this film was a valiant effort to revive the futuristic sci-fi death-as-entertainment genre, but fell short with its scattered sub-plots and an overall lack of emotional connection. Butler's Kable is a hardcore warrior, but the wife and daughter angle just didn't leave me caring, and there was never a feeling like he was in danger because battle success was just so easy for him and his handler.

I like Gerard Butler, and he is a great potential action star. I think his intentions were great for this role, as the movie could have been cool. The story was original enough, but there were just too many elements that were disappointing; Overshadowing the others was definitely Michael C. Hall's performance.

Mediocre action, too much gratuitous violence and blood, and an ambitious failure of a delivery by hopefully last time directors of Crank and Crank 2, Taylor and Neveldine. 5/10.