Gamer (2009) Director: Neveldine/Taylor

I have a big problem with the directing duo of Neveldine/Taylor, who are behind the Crank movies. I can't quite work out if they're trot or genuises. My mind says trot from their in your face, visceral, wobbly, colour blinding direction. My heart says stop being a film snob and enjoy the ride.

Gamer is absolute tripe but enjoyable tripe. If you let yourself go, you can enjoy heads being blown off, naked ladies being shot in nightclubs, Heroes' Peter Petrelli as 'sim' Rick Rape (sinister) and a triumphant cameo by my sugar daddy Lloyd Kaufman. Oh heck, I give in. I liked it. Their films are a guilty pleasure.

The story - if you can call it that - is this; we are in a world where people control humans in video games (or something). Gerard Butler is Kable, a human 'sim' in Slayers, a video game populated by death row inmates where everyone gets killed. It's kind of like The Running Man. Kable is controlled by a 17 year old gamer - Simon (Logan Lerman) who discovers a way of talking to Kable, who pleads with him to set him free in the game so he can prove that he didn't actually commit a crime to be put on death row. Behind all this is the multi billionnaire brainchild behind Slayers Ken Castle (Michael C Hall) who Kable has some beef with.

The film is stupid and offensive. The dialogue isn't hot. And it wasn't made for girls. With an appreciation of what Neveldine/Taylor do, you can enjoy it. Just don't expect anything arthouse or with meaning. These guys just want to blow shit up, show some boobies and be really nasty.

2/5

Here's the silly trailer