Trailer Tuesday: Gamer

If you're a fan of cheesy 80s action movies, then after watching the trailer for new action-sci-fi flick Gamer, you may find yourself thinking of Arnold Schwarzenegger's ultra-violent The Running Man. Well, at least I did.

Both Gamer and The Running Man seem to have the same basic premise: in the near future gladiatorial games are back for the amusement of the masses! Convicted deathrow inmates are forced to fight for their lives on a hit TV show watched by millions. Gamer, however, gives the concept a more hi-tech flavour, and it's not an entirely unbelievable one given the "immersive" direction gaming seems be heading with the popularity of the Nintendo Wii, and the emergence of Microsoft's much hyped Project Natal.

Here's the plot outline for Gamer:

"Gamer" is a high-concept action thriller set in a near future when gaming and entertainment have evolved into a terrifying new hybrid. Humans control other humans in mass-scale, multi-player online games: people play people...for real. Mind-control technology is widespread, and at the heart of the controversial games is its creator, reclusive billionaire Ken Castle (Michael C. Hall). His latest brainchild, the first-person shooter game "Slayers," allows millions to act out their most savage fantasies online in front of a global audience, using real prisoners as avatars with whom they fight to the death.


Kable (Gerard Butler) is the superstar and cult hero of the ultraviolent "Slayers." Kable is controlled by Simon (Logan Lerman), a young gamer with rock star status who continues to defy all odds by guiding Kable to victory each week. Taken from his family, imprisoned and forced to fight against his will, Kable must survive long enough to escape the game, free his family, regain his identity and save mankind from Castle's ruthless technology.

So why should we care about Gamer?

Well, for one thing, it actually looks pretty damn cool - even if the computer geeks out there are no doubt rolling their eyes right now over the film's premise. (Come on guys, you're always bitching about how you wish competitive video gaming was taken seriously - well here it really is).

For another thing, Gamer is written and directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, the same men responsible for the sublimely ridiculous Crank movies. Even if Gamer is largely serious in tone, which the trailer suggests it is, and therefore very different from Crank, I still think it's safe to say that audiences will be in for a VERY intense time... just as they were with Crank. Gamer has already been rated R for brutal violence, sexual content, nudity and language. Neveldine and Taylor seem to be filmmakers committed to pushing the limits of credibility and good taste if it means the audience has a rollicking good time.


Finally there's Gamer's impressive "name" cast, given that it's essentially a B-grade action film from one of the lower profile film companies (Lionsgate). Gamer's cast includes 300's Gerard Butler, Dexter's Michael C. Hall, The Closer's Kyra Sedgwick, 2 Fast 2 Furious' Ludacris and The Happening's John Leguizamo. Heroes' Peter Petrelli, Milo Ventimiglia even pops up as a character who goes by the charming name of Rick Rape.

Gamer may be a testosterone-fest directed squarely at the guys, but it doesn't mean there will be a shortage of burly man candy onscreen to keep the gals in the audience entertained.

Gamer opens in the States on 4 September. No clue when it will make its South African cinema debut.