Gamer plays like a film co-directed by Paul W.S. Anderson (Death Race) and Luc Besson (The Fifth Element)—if both filmmakers had sustained massive head injuries. It's a schizophrenic, illogical mess of a movie that definitely gets a few points for its energetic style and fast pace, but immediately loses those for making viewers feel like they're having their head repeatedly slammed into concrete by one of its mumbling, muscle-bound characters.

There's fantastic — if dizzying — camerawork, and the action sequences don't lack for excitement or style, but a lack of logic and an abundance of stupidity reign. Plot points don't stand up to a moment's scrutiny, characters are added and dispatched with little thought, and a number of threads are forgotten amongst the carnage. Directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor are like two creative little boys playing with some very expensive toys. It's fun for awhile, but everything ends up broken in the end.

Gamer takes place in a near-future world where two games — "Society" and "Slayers" — captivate everyone's attention and money. "Society" is a Sims-like timesuck where the avatars are actually real people who must do whatever their controller wants, which usually involves sex (shocker). "Slayers" is a first-person-shooter game where the on-screen players are similarly controlled by outside forces, but the weapons are real and very deadly. The players are prison inmates, doomed to death for their crimes, who have a chance to escape if they can survive 30 battles.

Gerard Butler (300) takes the nearly silent role of Kable, a death-row resident who has earned 27 wins at "Slayers" as well as the eyes of everyone around the world. He is controlled by 17-year-old Simon (Logan Lerman, 3:10 to Yuma), who has reached his own celebrity status through his talent. The game's creator and world's richest man, Ken Castle (Dexter's Michael C. Hall in an enjoyably cartoonish performance) presides over the proceedings with a manic giggle, trying to keep Kable from both his freedom and his "Society"-enslaved wife (Amber Valletta, Transporter 2). He recruits Hackman (the hulking Terry Crews), a snarling murderer who — unbeknownst to billions of rabid fans — gets to play without the hindrance of someone controlling his moves. Meanwhile, the cyber terrorist group Humanz (led by Chris "Ludacris" Bridges) is intent on taking down Castle's empire using all the technological tricks in their arsenal.

Sadly, this is just one more blemish on the resume of talented actor Gerard Butler. For every 300 or RocknRolla, there's an Ugly Truth, P.S. I Love You, and Gamer. I applaud  the star for easily moving between action and comedy, but his taste in projects doesn't match his abilities. Even if Gamer weren't such a dreadful viewing experience, he still could've shined, but even though his name is above the title, Butler has very little to do here other than dodge bullets and break necks.

At times, Gamer seems like it could be a cautionary tale against modern society's obsession with sex and violence (and video games). In better hands, there would've been smart satire amidst the action, but the message gets more than a little muddled here with the hypocritical inclusion of enough blood and boobs to sate any teenage boy's lust. The players in "Society" are clearly being exploited, but you can almost hear the heavy breathing of the people behind the camera as they linger on exposed, gyrating flesh. Give me sex and violence, just don't lecture me on the subjects while you're celebrating them.

With Crank, Crank: High Voltage, and now Gamer, directing team Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor have proven themselves diploma-carrying graduates of the Michael Bay School of Subtlety. High concept, loud, and headache-inducing, Gamer takes a good idea and plays dumb (do these filmmakers know any other way to play?). It's not that Neveldine and Taylor are untalented — they have style enough for ten VMA Video of the Year winners — but if this film is any indication, they can't possibly boast the brain power of even a single, lesser director between them.