The Gamers was pretty funny if bare-boned. Hopefully the Gamers: 2nd Edition, which the Dead Gentlement are working on now, can slam home the concept.
I think rjung is right on as to why this gets reviewed so poorly. This is a movie based on a game played by preteens. All the drama and action is based on how you play the game. If you don’t know the rules you’re going to hopelessly lost. And the rules are not easy to pick up. Especially since the big part of the series is the Heart of the Cards which doesn’t work in real life. Essentially by trusting in the Heart of the Cards you can guarantee a good card (each character has certain cards that always come up) at any turn. It’s constant deus ex machina. The critics must hate that.
And all of the complaints can really be said about the TV show. It’s stupid fun but occasionally very frustrating since sometimes things just happen so damn slowly. It’s no Smurfs, G.I. Joe or He-Man though.