Revisited: Beowulf

PLOT (spoiler alert!!!):

Beowulf (Ray Winstone) is a legendary Geatish warrior who travels to Denmark with his band of soldiers, including his best friend, Wiglaf (Brendan Gleeson). They travel in response to the call of King Hrothgar (Anthony Hopkins), who needs a hero to slay a monster called Grendel (Crispin Glover), a hideously disfigured troll-like creature with superhuman strength. Grendel attacks Hrothgar’s mead hall, Heorot, whenever the Danes hold a celebration there, and Hrothgar was forced to close the hall. Upon arriving, Beowulf immediately becomes attracted to Hrothgar’s wife, Queen Wealtheow (Robin Wright Penn), who does not love her husband and reciprocates Beowulf’s interest.

Beowulf and his men celebrate in Heorot to lure Grendel out. When the beast does attack, Beowulf engages him unarmed and naked, determining that since Grendel fights with no weapon or armor he shall face him as equal. During the melee, Beowulf discovers that Grendel has hypersensitive hearing, which is why he interrupts Hrothgar’s celebrations – the noise they make is physically painful to him. After his eardrum is ruptured by Beowulf, he attempts to escape (having shrunk in size due to the injury). Beowulf manages to restrain Grendel and severs his arm using the door. In thanks for freeing his kingdom from the monster, Hrothgar gives Beowulf his golden drinking horn, which commemorates Hrothgar’s victory over the mighty dragon Fafnir.

Returning to his cave, the dying Grendel tells his mother what was done to him and by whom, and she swears revenge. She travels to Heorot in the night and slaughters Beowulf’s men while they were sleeping. Hrothgar tells both Beowulf and Wiglaf, who had been sleeping outside the hall during the attack, that it was the work of Grendel’s mother, the last of the Water Demons, who was thought by Hrothgar to have left the land. Beowulf and Wiglaf travel to the cave of Grendel’s mother to slay her. Only Beowulf enters the cave where he encounters Grendel’s mother (Angelina Jolie), who takes the form of a beautiful woman. She offers to make him the greatest king who ever lived if he will agree to give her a son to replace Grendel and let her keep the golden drinking horn. Beowulf agrees to the deal and returns, claiming to have killed her. Hrothgar, however, realizes the truth after hearing Beowulf describe her as a “hag” and a “witch.” He tells Beowulf indirectly that, much like Beowulf, he was also seduced by Grendel’s mother; Grendel was the result of their tryst. Hrothgar names Beowulf his successor as king, much to the dismay of his royal advisor, Unferth (John Malkovich), who was hoping to take the throne. Hrothgar then commits suicide by jumping from the castle parapet onto the beach below. A wave momentarily engulfs Hrothgar’s body, there is a golden flash underwater, and the body is gone.

Years later, the elderly Beowulf is married to Wealtheow. Over the years they had grown apart, husband and wife in name alone. Beowulf takes a mistress, Ursula (Alison Lohman) but his tryst with Grendel’s mother has left him sterile. One day, Unferth’s slave Cain (Dominic Keating) finds the golden drinking horn in a swamp near Grendel’s cave and brings it back to the kingdom. That night, a nearby village is destroyed by a dragon, which leaves Unferth alive in order to deliver a message to King Beowulf: the dragon is Beowulf’s son born to Grendel’s mother. Removing the horn has voided the agreement between Beowulf and Grendel’s mother, who has now sent their son, the dragon, to destroy his kingdom.

Beowulf and Wiglaf go to the cave once again and Beowulf goes into the cave alone. When Grendel’s mother appears, Beowulf gives her the golden horn to convince her to stop the attack. Grendel’s mother considers it too late for any kind of agreement. She releases the dragon to attack Beowulf’s kingdom again. Beowulf goes to great lengths to stop the monster, even severing his own arm, and ultimately kills the dragon by ripping its heart out. The dragon’s fall mortally wounds Beowulf, but he lives long enough to watch the carcass of the dragon transform into the humanoid body of his son before it is washed out to sea. Beowulf insists on speaking the truth about his affair with Grendel’s mother but Wiglaf insists on keeping Beowulf’s legacy intact. As the new king, Wiglaf gives Beowulf a Norse funeral and watches as Grendel’s mother appears and gives Beowulf a final kiss before his burning ship sinks into the sea. Wiglaf sees the golden horn in the sand while Grendel’s mother floats in the sea, looking at him seductively. The movie ends ambiguously with Wiglaf holding the horn and staring back at her.

REVIEW:

In high school and college, I was made to study the epic poem Beowulf. While I found it interesting, admittedly, I didn’t do too well in those units. It wasn’t until years later, when this film was released that I developed a real respect and understanding of the material. I almost wished I could go back and take those classes over again…almost.

What is this about?

Robert Zemeckis directs this film adaptation of the longest surviving Anglo-Saxon poem, an epic tale concerning a 6th-century Scandinavian warrior named Beowulf and his mission to slay the manlike ogre Grendel, a descendant of Cain.

What did I like?

Animation. Unlike other films that use this CGI-live action hybrid, the characters in this one actually look alive, as opposed to creepy dead behind the eyes creations of a mad scientist. When your characters actually look alive, then they can do so much more. You can show the pain and heartbreak of a betrayed queen, the lust of a young maiden for her king, the sensual glance of Grendel’s mother (a perfect rendering of Angelina Jolie, btw…circa the Tomb Raider days), etc. On top of all this, the action in this is done almost as well, if not better, than some of the stuff we see in live action today. Just watch the fight with Grendel or Beowulf’s tale of his battle with the sea monster and you’ll see all you need, trust me.

Score. Some of my favorite films are the epic adventures from the late 50s and 60s. Most of these films had two things in common. The genius stop-motion of Ray Herryhausen and brilliant scores, most notably would have to be Jason and the Argonauts. In that same vein, we have here an epic story that is more than worthy of an epic score that fits the tone and scope of what is happening, and that is exactly what our ears are treated to.

A hero’s entrance. Beowulf’s entrance is truly that of a hero. After the initial massacre at Heorot, cut to Beowulf on his ship. The guy is what you would expect him to look like, big, strong, etc. He jokes around with his friend, Wiglaf and then inspires his men to keep rowing, storm or not. While Beowulf didn’t enter the film with his sword a-blazin’, for lack of a better term, it is still a majestic entrance for our titular hero.

What didn’t I like?

Changes. If I’m not mistaken, there is no actual text of the original poem, so at this point, transcribers are changing all sorts of thing in this story. However, even with the changes they make, most things still stay the same. That is not the case with this film, though. Most of the changes I can live with, as they were done for film and time sake, such as Beowulf becoming king of Denmark, rather than his homeland. There are things that just aren’t right, though, such as Grendel’s mother attempting to seduce Wiglaf as the film ends, Unferth being a Christian, Grendel’s mother, etc. Ok, I have no problem with how they portrayed Grendel’s mother on-screen, just her character. HAHA! Seriously, though, these changes were a bit more than what was perhaps necessary, in my opinion.

Queen’s right. Queen Wealthow is a loyal mate to both her cheating husbands, Hrothgar and Beowulf. Hell, Beowulf does it twice, even if the first time is before they were married. This brings to question why she sticks around. A beautiful woman like that deserves better than to be cheated on over and over again.

Just keep swimming. The race that Beowulf has at sea is told through a flashback, but why? This is arguably one of the most beautifully animated and exciting scenes in the film and it is nothing but a flashback. Seems to me that this should have been given more of an actual sequence in the film, perhaps even use it as Beowulf’s entrance, since Unferth had apparently heard talk of the tale.

In theaters, I actually paid to see Beowulf in 3D *GASP* To this day, I have not regretted that decision. 8 years later it still stands as one of the best 3D films that I have seen in theaters, if not THE best. The story is captivating enough to keep audiences interested, and I doubt guys (and girls) will have issue with a naked and golden Angelina Jolie popping up now and then. Do I recommend this film? Yes, very much so. This is one of those films you need to see before you die!

5 out of 5 stars

Revisited: Big Fish

PLOT (spoiler alert!!!):

At his son’s wedding party, Edward Bloom (Albert Finney) tells the same tale he’s told many times over the years: on the day Will (Billy Crudup) was born, he was out catching an enormous uncatchable fish, using his wedding ring as bait. Will is annoyed, explaining to his wife Joséphine (Marion Cotillard) that because his father never told the straight truth about anything, he felt unable to trust him. He is troubled to think that he might have a similarly difficult relationship with his future children. Will’s relationship with his father becomes so strained that they do not talk for three years. But when his father’s health starts to fail, Will and the now pregnant Joséphine return to Alabama. On the plane, Will recalls his father’s tale of how he braved a swamp as a child after he was dared by a few other children. He meets a witch (Helena Bonham Carter). She shows Don Price and another boy how they were going to die. They run away, frightened. When the witch shows Edward his death in her glass eye, he accepts it without fear. With this knowledge, Edward knew there were no odds he could not face.

Edward continues telling tall tales, claiming he spent three years confined to a bed as a child because his body was growing too fast. He became a successful athlete, but found the town of Ashton too small for his ambition, and set off with the misunderstood giant Karl (Matthew McGrory). The witch with the glass eye is seen bidding him farewell. While traveling, Edward and Karl see two separate roads out of Ashton. Edward suggest they each take one way. He’ll take the old dirt road and Karl should take the new paved road. They will meet on the other side. Karl feared that Edward was attempting to abandon him, but Edward gives him his backpack to prove that he isn’t. After walking through a scary swamp, Edward discovers the hidden town of Spectre, where everyone is friendly to the point of comfortably walking around barefoot. Their shoes can be seen hanging from a wire near the entrance. When he enters the town he is greeted by the Mayor and his wife. The Mayor has a clipboard that says Edward was meant to be in their town but he had arrived early. He also tells him of the poet Norther Winslow (Steve Buscemi) who was also from Ashton. While there Edward has an encounter with a mermaid. She swims away before he could see her face. Edward leaves because he does not want to settle anywhere yet, but promises to the town mayor’s daughter Jenny (Hailey Anne Nelson), who developed a crush on him, that he will return. He believed that he was fated to be there someday.

Edward meets up with Karl. They attend the Calloway Circus where Edward falls in love at first sight with a mysterious woman. Together, Karl and Edward begin working at the circus. Karl meets his destiny by working as the giant man, replacing the old one who is much smaller than him. Edward works without pay, as he has been promised by the ringmaster Amos Calloway (Danny DeVito), who claims to know the mysterious woman, that each month he will learn something new about the mysterious woman. Three years later, having only learned trivia about her, Edward discovers Amos is a werewolf. In return for his refusal to harm him in his monstrous state, Amos tells Edward the girl’s name is Sandra Templeton (Alison Lohman) and she studies at Auburn University.

Edward goes to Sandra to confess his love. He learns Sandra is engaged to Don Price (David Denman), whom Edward always overshadowed during his days in Ashton. Sandra refuses Edward’s proposal but that does not discourage Edward. He writes “I love Sandra” everywhere he could. Don arrived to challenge Edward to a fight over Sandra. Sandra makes Edward promise not to fight Don. Edward allows Don to beat him up. Sandra, disgusted by Don’s violence, ends their engagement and falls for Edward. Edward later reveals that Don died from a heart attack on the toilet bowl at an early age (as Don saw in the Witch’s eye). During his recovery, Edward is conscripted by the army and sent to the Korean War. He parachutes into the middle of a show entertaining North Korean troops, steals important documents, and convinces Siamese twin dancers Ping (Ada Tai) and Jing (Arlene Tai) to help him get back to the United States, where he will make them stars. He is unable to contact anyone on his journey home, and the military declares him dead. This limits Edward’s job options when he does return home, so he becomes a traveling salesman. Meeting the poet Norther Winslow (Steve Buscemi) from Spectre again, he unwittingly helps him rob a bank, which is already bankrupt. Edward explains this to Winslow, who then decides that he will work at Wall Street. Winslow later thanks Edward for his “advice” by sending him $10,000, which he uses to buy his family a dream house.

Still unimpressed by his father’s stories, Will demands to know the truth, but Edward explains that is who he is: a storyteller. Will finds Spectre, and meets an older Jenny (Helena Bonham Carter), who explains that Edward rescued the town from bankruptcy by buying it at an auction and rebuilding it with financial help from many of his previous acquaintances. Will suggests his father had been having an affair with Jenny, to which she replies that while she had indeed fallen in love with him, Edward could never love any woman other than Sandra. When Will returns home, he is informed his father had a stroke and is at the hospital. He goes to visit him there and finds him only partly conscious, and unable to speak at length. Since Edward can no longer tell stories, he asks Will to tell him the story of how it all ends: escaping from the hospital, they go to the river where everyone in Edward’s life appears to bid him goodbye. Will carries his father into the river where he becomes what he always had been: a very big fish. Edward then dies, knowing his son finally understands his love of storytelling.

At Edward’s funeral, Amos, Karl, Norther Winslow, and Ping and Jing arrive, making Edward’s stories real. Will finally realizes the truth of his father’s life for which his stories were embellishments. When his own son is born, Will passes on his father’s stories, remarking that his father became his stories, allowing him to live forever.

REVIEW:

With Big Eyes coming out soon and getting a bit of awards buzz, the spotlight is on director Tim Burton. A couple of critics that I regularly consult have been ripping the man a new one because they feel his style hasn’t evolved and he has become overrated. While there may or may not be some truth to this, Big Fish is one of his films that shows Burton is a capable filmmaker.

What is this about?

A reporter attempts to learn more about his dying father by finding the truth behind a lifetime of his tall tales and legends of epic proportions.

What did I like?

Soft light. In the flashbacks, I noticed a change in the lighting, especially when the camera was on Alison Lohman’s character. It was that soft light, and if I’m not mistaken they used what I call “the Vaseline filter” for even more dramatic effect. I have to say that it worked, because there is no question that she is the love of his life and the different look allows the audience to keep track of the past and present, just in case they can’t with the different actors.

Contrast. Tim Burton’s movies are perfect examples of how one can use light and dark tones together to make a quality film. In Edward Scissorhands, for instance, everything is bright and cheery, yet Edward is in a perpetual state of gray. With this film, Burton takes a “Southern gothic” story and inserts some fun tall tales into the proceedings causing an enjoyable result. I don’t believe this film would work as well had it been dark and dreary. The contrast is needed and appreciated.

Sweet home Alabama. I was talking to someone the other day about Southern accents in Hollywood and how hilarious it is that people from other countries tend to have the best versions, excluding those who have it naturally. Ewan McGregor, who is Scottish, if I’m not mistaken, gives a very convincing Alabama drawl when delivering both his lines and the narration. Is it accurate? Not being or lived in Alabama, I can’t tell you, but it is believable, which is more than can be said for many of his contemporaries who are don’t have to a)get rid of their UK accents and b)learn specific southern dialect.

What didn’t I like?

Run, Edward, run? I can’t remember exactly when this was released, but I know that it was after Forest Gump. What does that have to do with anything? Well, the basic plot of both films are very similar, making you wonder if Burton ripped off the idea. What is so similar? Both pictures feature someone detailing their life through a series of exaggerated stories. I could be totally off base here, but this just seems to be another case of Hollywood not having any originality left.

Cynical Manhattan. Does the name Billy Crudup ring any bells? No? Well, if you saw Watchmen, then you saw him in all his giant blue radioactive glory. In this film, he is the cynical, some say realistic, son of Albert Finney. With Finney’s character not long for this world, Crudup wants to get to know who the man really is and not a “series of lies.” Beside being some cynical, polar opposite of his father, I have to question why Crudup waited until his dad is on his deathbed to ask these questions. Was there something keeping him from inquiring when things were better?

Fantasy. As a fantasy film, this is not bad. I feel as if Burton was holding back and that perhaps some of the more fantastical elements ended up on the cutting room floor. For instance, Helena Bonham Carter’s character near the beginning of the film has a fake eye that shows people how they die. Seems to be that is something that would have been interesting to expand upon. How did she get this eye and why can it show such events? Is she a witch? Is she the character that she plays later in the film? I’m just saying that perhaps a little more fantasy would have been nice.

My best friend is a huge fan of Big Fish. She makes sure to let me know every chance she gets. For me, it is up there, but nowhere near as high as she has this ranked. The flaws are minor, but they do exist. The performances are great and the few effects we are privy to really compliment the picture. So, do I recommend this? Yes, very highly! For those that have been questioning the work of Tim Burton lately, this is one of his better, non-goth films that you should see (also check out Batman and Batman Returns). The man has talent. We just seem to have forgotten it with all the crazy goth stuff he’s done. I hope you enjoy this flick as much as I did.

4 1/2 out of 5 stars

Drag Me to Hell

PLOT (spoiler alert!!!):

In 1969 in Pasadena, California, a couple seeks the aid of the medium Shaun San Dena (Flor de Maria Chahua) because their son (Shiloh Selassie) claims to see and hear monsters. Though they tried to return an item the boy stole from gypsies, they flatly refused. San Dena aids the family by carrying out a séance, but they are attacked by an unseen force that pulls the boy into Hell. The medium swears to one day encounter the force again.

In 2009 in Los Angeles, California, bank loan officer Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) hopes to be promoted to assistant manager over her co-worker Stu Rubin (Reggie Lee). Her boss, Jim Jacks (David Paymer), advises her to demonstrate that she can make tough decisions to get a promotion. Christine is visited by an elderly woman, Sylvia Ganush (Lorna Raver), who asks for an extension on her mortgage payment. Christine, though empathic with the old woman’s crisis, decides to deny Ganush an extension to prove herself to her boss. Ganush begs Christine not to repossess her house and kneels in front of her, but Christine gets scared from the woman’s bizarre pleading as she is helping her to stand up. This leads the security to take Ganush away. Jim compliments Christine on how she handled the situation after the woman gives Christine a threat.

In the bank parking garage, Ganush attacks Christine in her car, rips a button off Christine’s coat and uses it to place a curse on her as revenge for “shaming” her. Later, Christine and her boyfriend Clay Dalton (Justin Long) meet the fortune teller Rham Jas (Dileep Rao), who tells Christine that she is being haunted by a spirit. At her home, Christine is attacked by the spirit and has nightmares about Ganush. At work the next day, Christine snaps at Stu and has a projectile nosebleed that soaks her boss in blood. Christine then goes to talk to Ganush at her granddaughter’s home, only to find that she died the previous night and a memorial service is being held. Christine returns to Rham Jas, who explains that as long as Christine is the owner of an accursed object (her button), she will be haunted by a powerful demon called the Lamia (not to be confused with the Greek child-eating demon) that will torment her for three days before taking her to Hell. He suggests a sacrifice to appease the demon. The next day, the Lamia returns and thrashes Christine in her bedroom. Desperate to stop the attacks, Christine sacrifices her pet kitten, an act that leaves her heart-broken. At a dinner party with Clay and his parents, she is again tormented by the Lamia, but this time through the use of illusions, which frightens the Daltons.

Christine returns to Rham Jas for further help. He says that Shaun San Dena will risk her life to stop the demon for a fee of $10,000. Further supernatural attacks on Christine lead Clay to pay the fee. San Dena prepares a séance to trap the Lamia’s spirit in a goat and kill it to vanquish the spirit. San Dena allows the Lamia to inhabit her body. Rham Jas tries to persuade it not to steal Christine’s soul, but it refuses and vows never to stop until Christine dies. Christine then places San Dena’s hand on the goat, causing the spirit to enter its body. San Dena’s assistant, Milos, attempts to kill the goat, but is instead bitten by the goat and in turn becomes possessed, attacking the members of the séance. San Dena banishes the Lamia from the séance, but dies in the process. Rham Jas seals the cursed button in an envelope and then tells her that the only way to get rid of the curse is to give the accursed item to someone as a gift, thereby passing the curse on to that person.

After being driven home by Clay, Christine attempts to find a recipient for the curse. She decides to give the envelope to Stu, in revenge for his stealing her work and presenting it as his own, but changes her mind after seeing how pathetic, tearful and panicky Stu is when he meets her. With guidance from Rham Jas, Christine learns that she can give it to Ganush, even though she is dead, because “the soul never dies”. Christine drives to the cemetery where she is buried and digs up her grave. In a torrential downpour, Christine jams the envelope in Ganush’s mouth in anger for the curse she placed on her.

The next day, Christine goes to meet Clay at Los Angeles Union Station, from where they plan to depart for a weekend in Santa Barbara. Her boss also leaves a message telling her that she landed her dream position after Stu confesses of stealing her work and gets fired. She also buys a dress that she has been eyeing for a long time, as a sign of a new beginning. Clay, planning to propose, reveals to Christine that he found the envelope containing the cursed button in his car. Christine then realizes she mixed up her envelope with another that she gave to Clay when she accidentally dropped it. Horrified, Christine backs away falling onto the tracks. As a train barrels towards her, fiery hands burst from the ground under the tracks. Clay can only watch in horror as Christine is dragged down into the fiery abyss of Hell. The movie ends with a horrified Clay holding Christine’s cursed button.

REVIEW:

People wonder why folks hate working in retail or other jobs that deal directly with people. Drag Me to Hell gives us a pretty good reason. Imagine if you’re just doing your job and some lady curses you to three days of torture culminating in your being dragged down to hell. I’d say that would be a good enough reason to into something that involves little to no interaction with human beings.

What is this about?

A young bank loan officer is up for a promotion, but is likely to get passed over it because her competing coworker can make the “tough decisions”, as said so by her boss. He then gives her a case of an elderly woman who has missed the last few payments on her house and is asking for an extension. Obviously heartbroken, Christine makes the touch call to not give her the extension, which leads to the old woman falling on the floor begging. After she is escorted out by security, she tells Christine that she has shamed her. This leads to violent confrontation in the parking lot which results in the old woman ripping a button off of Christine’s coat and placing the curse on her that will result in her being tormented for 3 days by the demon Lamia and then dragged down to hell.

What did I like?

Contrast. Sam Raimi must be a fan of Tim Burton’s work, at least in terms of color and lighting, because there are elements here and there that would make you think this is one of his films. With this dark subject material, the film is actually pretty light, mainly because it is mostly filmed in the day, something that we rarely see in horror films.

Alison. I have to give credit to the casting directors, or whoever it was that thought Alison Lohman, a highly underrated actress in my opinion, would be a good choice to star in this film. She has the youthful, innocent look to pull off this character effectively before the curse takes hold, and then her acting chops are strong enough to convey that she is being tortured by this unseen demon.

Curse you. I have to say I was a little skeptical when I fund out that this film centered around a gypsy curse. It just seems as if that has been done to death, then again, this whole hell demon thing has been done a bunch of times, too. The interesting part for me wasn’t the demon, or how he was torturing her, but rather the emphasis on the cursed object, especially in the last half of the film. More of than not, we’ll get to something like that and that particular plot device would be thrown out, but no much here.

What didn’t I like?

Here kitty, kitty, kitty. Why did the poor little kitten have to die? Is Sam Raimi a cat hater or something? A little context…at a point in the film, Christine is trying to be rid of the curse, and the fortune teller says that she needs to perform an animal sacrifice. She then says something about working with puppies and junk, but that’s beside the point. In a move of obvious desperation, she slices up this poor kitten as a sacrificial lamb, but to no avail. Why did it have to be the kitten? I’m not advocating animal cruelty here ,but couldn’t she have just gone and chopped up one of those evil dogs that need to be burned in hell, anyway? I’m just saying…

Support. I mentioned earlier how Alison Lohman shines in this role. That actually is a miracle, because everyone else is wooden and badly written. Her boyfriend, played by the overrated Justin Long, seems to be just a tool. The competing coworker doesn’t have the slimeball appeal you would expect him to have. As a matter of fact, it felt more like he was going to do the right thing at any moment. The fortune teller guy seemed like he was auditioning to be the token foreign guy in an action flick. I happen to think he got this role because of the accent, and the fact he bears a strong resemblance to Oded Fehr (the Meiji from the first two Mummy movies).

Effects. For the most part, the special effects are pretty solid, but when we finally see the demon, Lamia, he see to be just a guy in a mask/makeup. Then we have this séance scene where he talks through a goat for a few moments. It just doesn’t work, unless you’re on some kind of acid trip, in which case there are probably many other things you can find that would talk to you.

Drag Me to Hell is a decent entry into the supernatural horror film genre. This film takes you for a ride from start to finish that will keep you wondering what’s next. Is it scary? Honestly, I think Constantine or the Ghost Rider movies fit that bill better, but it tries. Do I recommend it? Yes, it is a good scary flick to check out that even non-horror film can get into.

3 3/4 out of 5 stars

Gamer

PLOT:

In a near-future New York, mind-control technology has taken the world by storm. Ken Castle (Michael C. Hall) has revolutionized the gaming industry with his invention of self-replicating nanites. The nanites colonize in the brain, gradually replacing the existing brain cells and allowing full control of all motor functions by a third party. The first major application of this technology allows gamers to control a real person in a pseudo community (much like current simulated worlds such as Second Life but with far more telepresence). Those who work as characters in Society are paid for their participation, unlike Castle’s latest creation, Slayers, a multiplayer, third-person shooter game. Slayers allows gamers to control death row prisoners in mass-scale death matches. Any inmate who lives through 30 matches wins a full pardon. Due to Society and Slayers popularity Ken Castle has become the richest man in the world. Simon, a 17-year old gamer (Logan Lerman) has control over Kable (Gerard Butler), the most recognizable face in Slayers due to him surviving 27 matches, far more than any other participant.

While Castle is interviewed on a talk show, an activist organization called Humanz hijacks the broadcast and claims that Castle will eventually use the nanite technology to control more people against their will. They form a plot to free Kable and reveal the true capacity of the nanite technology. Simon is offered the ability to speak to Kable in game via a Humanz mod and is later brought on board with the Humanz plan. After a stranger gives Kable a warning in his prison cell that the game’s mastermind plans to kill him, Kable asks Simon to relinquish control over him in the 30th match. He uses this opportunity to escape and successfully drives out of the deathmatch arena while news outlets report that he has been killed in order to cover up his escape.

Kable is taken to the Humanz leader (Ludacris) who explains that the mind control technology used on Kable and the other Slayers can potentially be used without discretion on anyone, leading to the extinction of independent thought. He also gives Kable directions to where he can break his wife out of Society, where she has been working as an avatar since his incarceration. Kable arrives and after a violent confrontation with security he manages to escape with his wife. He returns to the Humanz base where the rebels attempt to deactivate the nanite cells from his wife’s mind. Kable reveals to the Humanz leader that he was once a soldier and part of a program designed to replace the cells in the brain with new longer lasting ones, prolonging good mental health and life. His friend was the first to receive the cell transplant. Castle, the creator of this technology, decided to discover the true ability of the nanites and forced Kable to kill his friend, leading to his conviction for first-degree murder and subsequent death row sentence. The Humanz inform Kable that his daughter was placed in foster care with Castle.

Kable infiltrates Castle’s mansion and is confronted by Castle. He sends his guards to kill Kable, whom he defeats. Castle leads Kable to a room with a large basketball court. Castle reveals that his brain is 98% artificial nanites and that his are of the controlling variety while everyone else, including Kable and his wife, has the receiving (controllable) type. Castle then demonstrates this by beating Kable savagely while restricting him from fighting. Kable’s wife and daughter are brought out after it is revealed that most of the Humanz fighters have been found and killed. Castle then forces Kable to crawl to his family and attempts to force him to kill his own daughter. After a brief struggle of wills Kable manages to stop himself. The last two members of the Humanz manage to broadcast this confrontation and then bring Simon in control of Kable with the control hardware he used to play Slayers with. He interferes with Castle’s control and allows Kable to move towards him. Kable then persuades Castle to think about stabbing himself which allows Kable to stab him. After Castle dies, Kable requests for Castle’s technicians, who have been watching, to release him and his family from their control. They release them and depart, while walking uncaringly past Castle’s dead body. Sometime later, Kable is driving with his daughter and wife in the car down a scenic country road.

REVIEW:

 I’m not a gamer by any stretch of the imagination. The most I do is a daily dose of Madden or NCAA football. When it comes to playing regular games, I usually do those when I can actually devote the time to them. REcently, I just finished God of War. Excellent game, between but none of these instances are anywhere near the kind of  gaming experiencer you would experience in Gamer. That is something more akin to The Sims or World of Warcraft.

This film tackles a topic that we should all be wary of, especially with our society depending more and more on technology. True, nothing like this exists today, to my knowledge, but if its popped up in a movie, then it isn’t far of. I read an article the other day that traced many of our modern conveniences back to the the original Star Trek TV series. Can you imagine, though, if the government could implant us all with these chips and more or less tell us what to do, or what traits to have/not have when we were born? Talk about lack of originality!

The good…action…there’s lots of it, mostly with gunplay. chances are the audience for this film is watching it for that reason. Nothing against Gerard Butler, but it is good to see him back in an action flick. I was starting to think he’ gone soft doing all those romantic comedies. Michael C. Hall surprises as this eveil bill Gates-esque character who created these two games that are all the rage. There is this big guy that is in control of Butler’s wife in the Society game, and it is just a perfect stereotype.

The bad…I thought maybe they had come up with an original story for this, but it turns out they just mutated the Death Race plot. what I mean by that is that the stories are very similar, but they have subtle differences to make them different enough. WE never get a proper introduction to the wife, and just have to assume who she is. The whole Humanz angle and the introduction of the player seemed kind of takced on, kind of like they’re more if a subplot. There’s nothing wrong with that, but you’d think they would’ve at least hidden that fact that’s what they were.

For those of us that have spent hours in front of a screen playing one game or another, this is a must see. Gamer covers everything from tugging at the heartstrings to the technical aspects of some high tech evil plot, to shoot-em up type action. What more do you want?

4 out of 5 stars