Movie Digest
The film revolves around a single mother who is worried about her fifteen year old son. Her son has always been a straight A student, problems arise when she finds out that he is now participating in an E-Sports tournament. To deter him from playing further she decides to make her own team and defeat him at the game.
The Feel-Good Part
The film is heart-warming at its core as it explores the relationship between the mother and the son, more importantly, portrays the mother’s need to protect her son from bad influences. It also expresses how video games can have a detrimental effect on the people playing it. The special effects and the CGI are visually appealing, which helps immerse viewers into the gaming world.
The Disappointing Factor
The story is extremely shallow. There is no idea in the film that is properly fleshed out, which makes it feel like it does nothing as a film apart from presenting an interesting premise. There was very little plot in the film, with little to no development as the story progresses. The characters aren’t interesting enough for the audience to care about the mother-son relationship. The mother feels like a representation of the helicopter mother archetype rather than a full-fledged character, and the son doesn’t have enough personality. They don’t grow that much as individuals neither does their dynamic change in any way by the end of the film, which may come across as pointless. The technical aspects are severely lacking for the movie to translate well on-screen. The editing is choppy hence there is a lack of flow in the story as the scenes don’t move smoothly. The film is inconsistent in terms of pace, which makes it difficult to get through, it doesn’t help that the first half is confusing as there is no proper character introduction.
In-Depth Analysis
The film suffers from many missed opportunities of articulating interesting themes about parenting and generations gaps, all the ideas expressed feel half-baked to the extent of pointlessness. The film is inconsistent for the most part however; there are some charming moments in the film that are undeniably pleasant to watch. There isn’t much happening as the plot is stretched very thin, which may make it easy-going and an entertaining enough popcorn flick.
Star Power
The performances of the younger actors feel unnatural, awkward, and out of place. Some of the actors were given characters that were reduced to a joke, which isn’t as funny as the creators thought it was. The performances are inconsistent and hard to watch for the most part.
Overall Opinion
Mother Gamer is not a well-made film but it has its enjoyable moments that the audience will surely appreciate. Despite its flaws, it could be a fun one time watch for those who like popcorn flicks. For those who are expecting a film full of action, this isn’t it but it may surprise you with the premise. For those who can overlook the faults of the film, this makes for a decent watch.
