‘Gamer’ Movie Reviews Foreshadow a Disappointed Audience

Bad reviews but good box office

Gerard Butler stars in "Gamer." Image from Flikr.com.

I have learned time and again that movie reviews don’t tell you how well a film will do at the box office. For instance, “The Final Destination” got terrible reviews before it opened last weekend, but it topped the box office earnings. “Gamer” movie reviews show that critics are generally not fans of this film, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t make a bundle.

This film has been getting a lot of attention because of its subject matter. “Gamer” is about  “Slayers,” an interactive game in which, from the comfort of their own homes, real people electronically control battles between real convicted felons, as if they were video game characters, says Matt Pais from Metromix.

Gratuitous violence

Although Pais says in his “Gamer” movie review that the film is “not terrible,” his review doesn’t make me want to get a  payday loan to go see it. But that’s about the nicest thing he has to say. He writes that there are so many explosions and so much gunfire that they blur together. Dustin Putman from TheMovieBoy.com says it seems as though the filmmakers have ADD. He writes:

It’s akin to walking in a room and watching someone else play a video game that is already in mid-stream. Where’s the fun in that?

Michael C. Hall has been getting a lot of attention since “Dexter” started airing on Showtime, so I guess the whole blood and gore thing is still working for him. He is one of the main characters in “Gamer,” and “Gamer” movie reviews say he plays the creator of this twisted game.

‘Gamer’ movie reviews show conflict

“Gamer” movie reviews say that the main plot line involves people who are opposed to this game, which is broadcast on television, and and the creator, whom the opposers are trying to take down. Naturally, people have serious moral reservations against the game, and some say it’s a form of slavery.

Drew McWeeny from HitFix had a few choice words about the filmmaker. He wrote:

Neveldine/Taylor don’t remotely care about filmmaking or storytelling in a conventional sense, and they don’t care about niggling details like “character” or “coherence,” so reviewing a film of theirs seems like you’re trying to explain cell memory in Mandarin Chinese to a chicken: What’s the … point?

“Gamer” movie reviews show it has some fans

Not all of the “Gamer” movie reviews are bad. A critic from Dread Central gave the film a good review, saying it’s “slick” and held his attention well. Pretty much all of the “Gamer” movie reviews talk about the intense and frequent violence, which is to be expected given the subject matter.

Matt Pais, the critic from Metromix, said the film made him think, which is definitely a different perspective from many of the “Gamer” movie reviews, many of which say it’s a mindless gorefest. Only 22 percent of the critics gave good “Gamer” movie reviews, so it’ll be interesting to see how much people are willing to pay to see this sci fi thriller. “Gamer” was made by the same filmmakers that did “Crank,” which made back the $12 million spent to make it during its first weekend. “Crank” made $28 million in the U.S.