‘Gamer’ is the meeting of two popular cult figures. Behind the camera we have Neveldine & Taylor, directors of the trashy (but successful) action flick ‘Crank’ and its sequel. In the other, we have star of the moment, super Scot Gerard Butler. Nearly three years since his airbrushed abs tore through the Persian army in ‘300’, he’s taken full advantage of his fame, releasing three movies this year with two more planned for 2009.

Set in the near future, a new gaming craze has taken over the world. Players can control actual humans via mind control technology, the most popular being a combat game called ‘Slayers’, where players can control death row convicts in a battle to the death, with those surviving 30 game session getting their freedom. The top character is Kable (Butler), who is three battles from freedom, and is approached by a rebel group ‘humanz’ to topple the company behind the games, in particular their corrupt billionaire CEO Ken Castle (Michael C Hall).

As plots go, it’s fairly intriguing. The movie opens in a hail of bullets and doesn’t let go, as a torrent of sex and swearing pours out of the screen. As with the ‘Crank’ movies, it is an assault on the senses which will offend some but entertain many. Unlike those movies, ‘Gamer’ is not as much fun. Jason Statham’s revenge films were simply a cinematic roller coaster, whereas this contains a loose moral message which seems a bit farcical.

Butler has already proven that macho roles are his comfort zone, so here he’s nothing if not reliable. He puts a lot into the performance, but with so little for him to do (other than kill people) this enthusiasm is hindered. A really odd casting choice was Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges, who frankly redefines wooden acting, yet inexplicably has appeared in two Oscar winning films. A plus side is Hall, revelling in his chance to be OTT as the debauched but brilliant megalomaniac (shame about the dodgy accent, though).

There’s a lot of fun to be had from the action scenes and lowbrow humour (if that’s your sort of thing), but with such strong comparisons to better films (‘The Running Man’; ‘Death Race’) it’s hard to call it anything special. For lovers of excess only.