Gamer, 3 stars

After the pyrotechnic pastiche of the Crank films, I had such high expectations for the next stop on the Neveldine/Taylor thrill ride. Their sly humor and offbeat palette were sadly missing for most of this serviceable but strangely heartless action film. Shot mostly in a gray color scheme that shows all the flaws of digital video, it concerns a future where people control real-life avatars in video games that end in real death. Gerard Butler, whose emotional affect often implies that he is being controlled by outside forces even when the plot suggests otherwise, is our hero, who must win only one more battle to be released from the prison where he has landed after being framed.

There are moments of genuine wit and near-brilliance in the film. There is a choreographed dance fight set to "I've Got You Under My Skin" near the end of the film that is largely carried by Michael C. Hall's calmly villainous performance, and there are a few easter eggs for the eagle-eyed, such as the screen behind an obese gamer that displays nothing but an endless loop of bacon frying. Overall, however, the film is shrill without the self-referential humor and bright, thoughtful production design of the Crank films. Let's hope this is Neveldine/Taylor's sophomore slump, and that they soon come back with another fantastic postmodern mishmash that doesn't waste most of its time in a grayscale, oh-so-predictable gaming set.