Gamer

I would have to say that I was somewhat surprised that “Gamer” was a decent movie. Though it definitely wasn’t the best I’ve seen thus far this school year, it did have some great performances, fantastic satirical elements commenting on our technologically-revolving world and draws from many stories/movies/ideas/videogames which we are all familiar with.

First of all, I love seeing Gerard Butler in anything! Since his roles in “300,” “P.S. I Love you,” “Timeline,” “Lara Croft: The Cradle of Life” and “The Ugly Truth,” Gerard Butler has my stamp of approval. He can take any masculine role and hit it out of the ballpark, hands down. “Gamer” is no exception. Butler plays a man’s man, Kable, who fights for justice, truth and loyalty when he tries to play his way out of a corrupt jail sentence. By participating in “Slayers,” the virtually-controlled game that allows video game players to feel the adrenaline rush of being a soldier on a battle field from the safety of their own home, prisoners like Kable are guaranteed a cleared name and a dropped jail sentence if they just survive thirty games. Easier said than done though when the prisoners have to hand over all control to whoever is behind their game controller.

Other memorable characters in “Gamer” are Michael C. Hall, star of TV show “Dexter,” and Ludacris. Hall plays Ken Castle, evil mastermind who, with silver tongue, tries to slowly but surely take over the world. Ludacris plays a Humanz brother who is the leader of an underground group who are trying to maintain their humanity and defeat Castle at his game before the whole world falls under his control.

Though “Gamer” had a plot nearly identical to that of “Death Race,” “Condemned” and “Running Man,” it had one streaming element that those other three didn’t: satire. “Gamer” was packed full of satire, commenting on humanity’s emergence into the realm of this technological revolution that we all find ourselves in today. Blatantly, its message is that we’re drowning and being consumed by technology by our allowing it to take over our freedoms and suck us dry of our values, while justifying it all the while with “this is the day in age we live in.” Though the message is loud and clear that we are headed down a road of predisposed mind-control, the film is constructed in a way that satire oozes from the cracks, bestowing its message and leaving its mark just about as heavily as Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal.” Though having impoverished people sell their children for food would solve economic distress, as Swift suggests, it is not plausible or even rational to consider the sale of children with the intention of being sold into cannibalism, just as it is not rational to get rid of all of our technological devices so that we do not someday become a slave to them.

I also think “Gamer,” like the other movies mentioned with similar plots, comments on what people find “entertaining” nowadays. Watching people fighting for their lives and their basic freedoms by getting onto a battlefield only to be led to their deaths so that it can serve as cheap entertainment to the world is very sick and twisted. Reality TV is coming to a point where the shock value has to rise in order to keep their viewers. “Gamer” suggests that it has to raise so much so that the ferocity of human survival has to be the name of the game in order for people to stop, watch and be entertained.

“Gamer” not only drew from the three aforementioned movies in their content, but also stole ideas and themes from George Orwell’s “1984,” PC game “Sims 2,” and clearly resembled video game “Gears of War.”

Hinting at the satirical elements and resemblances of people and/or things we are all familiar with, Ken Castle resembles Hitler in many ways. For instance, Castle utilizes the appeal of new technology in a computer-thriving world to manipulate the population into giving over their God-given rights in order to “slip out” of their seemingly monotonous lives and hand over complete control. Likewise, Hitler continuously used his powers of manipulation by generating the masses through his charismatic power of words, thereby establishing an enormous following to carry out heinous tasks. Castle embodies Hitler’s lack of humanity and his silver tongue flawlessly.

Though you’ve probably seen a dozen films like “Gamer,” the movie did have several positive attributes that may appeal to many. With an all-star cast and a wicked take on satire in our evolving generation, I would say that “Gamer” is worth watching. Maybe just wait for it on DVD.