MMM: Gamer (2009)

Starring

Gerard Butler, Amber Valetta

In Brief

In the future, the world is addicted to two games: one, a virtual-reality version of the Sims called Society; the other, a Call of Duty clone called Slayers. The catch is that everyone in both games is a real person, controlled via the “nanex” with implanted cells. Of course, since people are dying, the players or “icons” for Slayers are death-row inmates. One icon, Kable, and his “real life” player are decidedly close to hitting the 30 round maximum required for a Slayer to be released. The games’ creator (the ‘crazy genius’ type) will stop at nothing to make sure he never gets out.

The Beef

Yeah yeah, we’ve seen it all before. It’s not the first movie to have a plot like this (see: Death Race). But it does have an interesting mix of elements from Death Race, the Matrix and a few other movies, all set with a plot that moves like the recent Jason Statham movies, Crank and Crank: High Voltage. That is to say – it moves like a damned bullet train. With a pace like that, you don’t really care about how good the plot or acting is. In fact, it’s not terribly acted, save the always pathetic performance of Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges – who serves only to annoy me in every movie he’s ever been in. I enjoyed this one a lot. It’s not intellectual movie fare, but it’s fast-paced, full of boobs and blood and the gaming references are plentiful.

4/5 (Good)

Weigh In

214 lbs.