I'm Busta ... Busta Cap!

Gamer (2009)

Rating ... C (42)

Crank was a difficult movie to pin down. You could conceivably view the film's churlish fervor as a twisted parable about leading an active life, while its copycat sequel defies purpose beyond a paycheck and metaphorical middle finger to audiences everywhere (figurative until the last scene, that is, where Jason Statham, on fire, offers a double gesture to the camera). Tag team directors Neveldine and Taylor's third effort, however, occupies the mundane middle ground. A half-hearted but timely serve of the dramatically overstated fantasy world of video-gaming and massively multiplayer online socializing (sorry, "RPG's"), Gamer stumbles across topical material but follows suit with the year's like-minded Surrogates and never figures out where to direct the vitriol. At least the Crank movies knew what to hate - everything.

Gamer is a tale of technologically enhanced convicts that other, more up-standing citizens can pay to inhabit remotely in Slayers, a "real life video game." Gamer seeks to capitalize on fears of living vicariously but its apprehension feels arbitrary because N/T inadequately develop the social ramification of their idea, instead choosing to drench Gamer with their usual brand of tedious visual excess. Initial scenes with Kyra Sedgewick's Oprah-esque talk show host suggest an examination of the prole's fascination with gratuitous sex and violence but rather than cleverly implement the conceit into the narrative fabric like the similar Death Race 2000 where kills amounted to points based on the victim's age, N/T merely wallow, assuming that its mere mention was commentary enough. Brief glimpses at the film's sister video game called Society lampoon the dull series of Sims games where players basically do nothing but commingle, but the joke culminates in a lame reveal where hot chicks in-game are shown to be fat rejects in real life. Gamer even features nods towards The Matrix ("free your mind!") and To Catch a Predator, but these references by their lonesome are insufficient to precisely express what N/T intend with Gamer. If we're meant to sum the subtext from both Crank and Gamer, they might be saying people should cease hiding behind substitutes and simply display their abject depravity in person. Any way you slice it however their worldview is baffling and unexplained, and to be frank I'd be surprised if Neveldine or Taylor have a clearer picture themselves.