Sure it's cheesy bit damn good maybe cause Gerard Butler is awesome among other aspects! I remember seeing in the theater just wasn't reviewing back then either way appreciate it what it is. Mark Neveldine/Brian Taylor created such a bizarre story that is so dark and fun to watch! I recently decided to rewatch Dexter with Michael C. Hall being masterful, oddly he's just as great in this. I've got you under my skin is so good too.

In the future, rich and powerful Ken Castle (Michael C. Hall) creates a gaming environment where gamers can use real people as avatars. Eventually, he would use death row inmates in a fight to the death game called 'Slayer'. Kable (Gerard Butler) is one of those death row avatars who scrambles to gain his freedom.

This is an aggressively ugly viewing experience. Everything is in-your-face. The computer interactions are in-your-face. The people are ugly in-your-face. The CGI and the flashing cuts are so distracting that the story is but a sideshow. While I want to see the premise play out, it is too tiring to maintain my interest. The idea of using real people as avatars is actually very fascinating. I just can't deal with all the bells and whistles.

The film has a similar theme as "Rollerball." An individual becomes larger than the game, so the game must be changed to take care of the individual. Nanotechnology, the technology that makes friction free ketchup bottles, will allow us to place a controlling chip in a human's brain that will allow someone else to control their actions, speech etc. People pay to be controllers and get paid to be controlled.

There is a society aspect to the game where people are controlled for their own perverted pleasures. Criminals are controlled in a Slayer game where they fight with simulated automatic weapons. Kable (Gerard Butler) is our James Caan. He is a criminal on death row whose crime we see in a flashback. He is controlled by a 17 year old kid named Simon (Logan Lerman) as in Simon Says. After 30 successful games, a criminal gets set freed. No one has done it yet, Kable is close.

To prevent his freedom, a ringer with no controller (faster reflexes) is placed in the game to get Kable. There is also an anarchist group known as "HUMAN" who is at work sabotaging the Matrix, eh ah the system.

I liked the Marilyn Manson soundtrack, but I thought they tried to get too cute at the end and instead should have just gone with a quick "Running Man" ending. They should have shortened the film instead of burdening us further with the message that poor people will prostitute themselves to the rich who enjoy being in control.

PARENTAL GUIDE: F-bomb, sex, nudity.