Lakeshore Entertainment held a test screening of Game last week in Southern California. Game is the latest film from Neveldine/Taylor, the mad men behind Crank. It stars Gerard Butler, as a prisoner who is implanted with nano-technology which allows a video gamer to control him in a first-person shooter-like game called Slayers. A bunch of reviews have leaked out across the interwebs. Lets take a look at the early buzz:
Collider: “if you want action, Game has it. It had some of the most entertaining and unique actions scenes I’ve seen in a while, and that’s coming from an ex-gamer. In addition to adding in some digitalized pixilation, we could see an on-screen pop up display for Kable that looked like a cross between Tony Stark’s HUD in Iron Man and Call of Duty. I found this exhilarating to watch, because it seemed like Neveldine and Taylor finally broke the bounds of the typical action scenes I’ve seen coming out of Hollywood so often. They might even rival Michael Bay for explosions!” … “While the action scenes were great, Game really felt a bit too long, like some unnecessary scenes out in the real world could be cut and it could be tightened down into a true non-stop action flick like Crank.”
Red User: “The film all around got an excellent response from the crowd. Most of them when asked by a showing of hands rated it as excellent. I especially liked the realism and pacing. The soundtrack also was rockin’ and there was plenty of well choreographed fight and stunt scenes. I don’t want to give anything away, but the game play action sequences were just outstanding.” “I’ll just say that this movie is going to blow people away. The cinematic choices were brilliant and covered a broad spectrum of looks for scenes of all types, from brutal action packed battle and fight scenes to original environments within the game world to the elegant mansion of the evil rich mastermind. There were super saturated looks, harsh gritty looks, and all styles of shooting.”
Aint It Cool: “this movie was beyond boring and the action was completely unexciting.” … “it’s trying sooo hard to be exciting and fresh and appeal to “gamers” – its cuts from dark to computer screens to action to more computer screens to close-ups – its unexcusable.” … “GAME takes itself way too seriously. In fact the movie is filled with these super bizarre dark scenes with sweaty obese gamers, controlling real life hot women who strip, touch themselves and pee in public.”
LonelyReviewer: “Judging by the audience reaction, this film is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. That’s because it’s more like a cup of red bull and vodka. After an early onslaught of extreme violence and orgiastic debauchery, those looking for a typical action flick headed for the hills. Those who remained (95%), were treated to a mixture of grit and flash that dazzled its way into becoming an original and captivating genre pic.” … “The look of this film is consistently visually entertaining. ” … “This film isn’t perfect. The antagonist is somewhat absent when he should be raining down hard on our hero. Some viewers might also yearn for a greater emotional arc and less exposition.” … “Unlike other gaming films (such as Halo), “Game” doesn’t pander to the gaming audience. Instead, “Game” concentrates on being a top notch action film that happens to be about gaming. In doing so, the film winds up being the most accurate incarnation of gaming that the film world has seen.”