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Avg. Critic Score: 27 out of 100 Generally unfavorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
17 not for kids
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 70
    L.A. Weekly |

    Neveldine and Taylor's spazzy (but coherent) action scenes rely mostly on blood spurts instead of feats of badassery, but their dystopia is inventive and their visual schemes diverse. Read full review

  • 42
    The Onion A.V. Club |

    The trouble with Gamer is that it's weird, but not weird enough for the long haul. Read full review

  • 40
    Variety |

    The audience gets played in Gamer. This latest eye-scraper from writer-directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor is as hopped up as their "Crank" pics, but with dour Gerard Butler as a soldier commandeered by a teenage gamer, it's considerably less interactive. Read full review

  • 40
    The Hollywood Reporter | Kirk Honeycutt

    The technical barrage of visual and digital effects, quick cuts and strobe lighting does produce something akin to the sensation of playing a video game. So why, one wonders, don't potential viewers simply play one instead of watching this pale imitation? Read full review

  • 38
    Boston Globe |

    For long stretches of the PlayStation-minded Gamer, the action does drag. Read full review

  • 30
    Austin Chronicle | Marc Savlov

    Considerably less of a thrillgasm than playing "Frogger" blindfolded. Read full review

  • 30
    Los Angeles Times |

    Rarely have the words "game over" come as such sweet relief. Read full review

  • 25
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    As the brutish Kable, Gerard Butler must find out who's pulling his strings, but it's the audience whose chain gets yanked by this headache-inducing techno-violent mishmash. Read full review

  • 20
    New York Daily News | Joe Neumaier

    What the movie needs more than anything else is a fast-forward button. Read full review

  • 0
    The New York Times | Jeannette Catsoulis

    A futuristic vomitorium of bosoms and bullets. Read full review

View more reviews for Gamer on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says not for kids Ultra-violent sci-fi action film aims to shock and offend.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this mediocre action movie is full of frenetic violence, quick-cut nudity and sexual material, strong language (including lots of uses of "f--k"), and plenty of gore (shootings, stabbings, and more). There's also a general feeling that, just as in their prior Crank and Crank: High Voltage, the filmmakers seem to get great pleasure from trying to offend audiences with this kind of nonstop sexual material, nudity, and violence.
  • Families can talk about some of the tricky questions that often surround video gaming: Is the high-tech simulation of violence a way to blow off steam or a dangerously desensitizing process?
  • Why do so many people respond so strongly to the idea of living a second, different life through computer technology?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: Even though the movie asks its audience to think about the nature of violent entertainment, it's presenting violence as entertainment. Several characters have moral awakenings, but the overall message is negative.
  • rolemodels true0 Positive role models: There's no one here you would want kids to emulate. Despite the fact that the main character is a decent man pushed to extreme actions in the pursuit of justice and revenge, most of the characters are poor role models.
What to watch for
  • violence false5 Violence: Constant brutal violence, including shootings, stabbings, beatings, and more. Body parts and heads are obliterated by shells and explosions, with the camera lingering on the effects. Bloody wounds drip; other gore is visible. A knife is held to a child's throat.
  • sex false4 Sex: Naked breasts and buttocks, crude situations, implied masturbation. Sexualized nicknames (for example, "Rick Rape") are used to identify online personas.
  • language false5 Language: Constant strong language, including many uses of "f--k," "c--t," "s--t," "ass," "p---y," "c--k," "hell," "damn," "goddamn," :oh my God," and much more.
  • consumerism false2 Consumerism: Some real-world brands mentioned or visible, including Mountain Dew.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Some smoking; characters also drink lots of alcohol.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

Looking for more reviews? Movies.com Critics Say:

Dave White

1.5

Dave White Profile See Dave White's Profile

Sims-snooze. Read full review See Dave White's on MOVIENAME on Movies.com

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