Gamer Composed by Robert Williamson and
Geoff Zanelli
Lakeshore Records (2009)
Rating:
1/10
Soundclips below provided by AmazonMP3
“We are once again
hit over the head with a message,
warning us against the inevitable fate of our gameshow-crazy, video game
addicted, control-lusting society. The score for GAMER just tea-bags
the listener for good measure.”
Shamer!
Review by Christopher Coleman
When I first heard the premise of
Gerard Butler's latest film, GAMER, I have to admit that I was mildly
intrigued. When I heard that it was being written and directed by the duo
that brought us CRANK and CRANK: HIGH VOLTAGE, that intrigue shriveled up
to the size of a small raisin. CRANK featured the distinctive,
electronic-edginess of composer PAUL HASLINGER, but the directing duo went
another direction for CRANK: HIGH VOLTAGE. They made an interesting choice
as they brought on composer MIKE PATTON, who brought a bucket-load of
creativity to the sequel. I suppose some credit is due to Mark Neveldine,
Brian Taylor for pushing the limits of creative photography (ie.
messy-sloppy-cam) and editing for those films, but their latest effort
doesn't just inch past the line of comprehension, it boldly super-jumps
right over the edge and pulls us down with it.
If the CRANK films were visually exhausting, then GAMER is a clear case of visual
abuse and ROBERT WILLIAMSON and GEOFF ZANELLI's score is just as guilty,
but against our ears instead. In GAMER, we are once again taken
down the path of an incarcerated man being able to obtain his freedom by
winning some outlandish game or sport. In their respective eras, both
DEATH RACE and THE RUNNING MAN asked the audience the same question,
"Could this be where we are headed for our entertainment?" Hmmm. Yes. It
could very well be where we are headed. Certainly nothing new about the
question or it's answer. It has been asked since the age of the Roman
Gladiator came to an end and the answer remains unchanged. Since we are
now in the "age of the video game," perhaps the writer/directors felt it
was time to re-wrap and present this question for a new generation. Or
perhaps Neveldine and Taylor just needed some sort of premise to hang
another couple hours of visual nonsense on. Whichever the case, in GAMER, the central is
figure, Kable (Gerard Butler), a prisoner who get's to work off his
sentence in a game called, Slayer. Now, this game is of the life and death
sort. He also has a wife and daughter to find, who have been taken from
him, but how does he
win the game and save his family at the same time? It's such a pickle. In
comparison, old Arnold had it easy when he won THE RUNNING MAN, since he
at least had control of... himself. Poor Kable does not have this luxury,
since he is merely the in-game-avatar of a teenaged-master-gamer, Simon.
So off we go into this gritty, grungy, shaky, fleeting world of GAMER and
to assist us into full migrane-inducing-immersion is the original score by
ROBERT WILLIAMSON and GEOFF ZANELLI.
Anyone familiar with the works of these two composers might not be too
surprised at what is to be found on this soundtrack. There are atmospheric
tinges of Williamson's earlier collaboration with Neveldine for PATHOLOGY,
but ironically, that score felt much "healthier" than this. For Geoff
Zanelli, we get a moment or two of familiarity of his work on DISTURBIA or
his HITMAN score, if it somehow turned into total nightmare. The onslaught
of electronic grunge and industrial mayem is just dizzying in tracks such
as "Deathmatch" (1) or "Dress Up Doll" (13). Oddly enough, there is some
variety dispersed throughout this score. On occasion we are treated to
steroid-laden, hip-hop track such as: "Society" (2) or "Simon's House";
these being perhaps the most listenable of the lot. Now, if we weren't
collectively "amped" enough, Williamson and Zanelli through in a bit of
speed-metal, speedcore, cybergrind (or whatever you crazy kids call it
these days). Check out "Gina Parker Smith" (10) or "Blood Ball" (19) if
that's what you're into. The balance of the score is filled with countless
electronic rumbles, pulses, pads, crashes, 8-bit samples and even sound
effects like gunshots and mumbling vocals (see "Kable's New Ride"). It
would come as no surprise if the directors commissioned the composing duo
to make the listener as uncomfortable as possible. If that was the goal,
then job well done. There are only a couple of instances that have any
connection to the realm of the musically sane at all: the brief piano solo
in "Deathmatch" and final few moments of "I Think It, You Do it."
The score for GAMER certainly connects the audience to the technological
and even diabolical sides of the film, but leaves out any traces of
humanity. The visual and mental assault that is GAMER is matched all too
well by ROBERT WILLIAMSON and GEOFF ZANELLI. We are once again hit over
the head with a message,
warning us against the inevitable fate of our gameshow-crazy, video game
addicted, control-lusting society. The score just tea-bags the
listener for good measure. Now, I'm not sure what lay ahead for ROBERT
WILLIAMSON, but since GEOFF ZANELLI'S satisfying work for OUTLANDER this
year, the bar has been raised. I certainly expect better than what GAMER
has to offer. Neveldine and Taylor certainly have loyal fans and
I'm guessing that audience will embrace this film. Perhaps that audience
will think the GAMER score fully pwnes, but I have to say that If there is
such a thing as "musical masochism" GAMER might just be it.
