Gemini Man Review

Directed By: Ang Lee
Written By: David Benioff, Billy Ray and Darren Lemke
Runtime: 117 minutes
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for violence and action throughout, and brief strong language.

Will Smith – Henry Brogan / Junior
Mary Elizabeth Winstead – Danny Zakarweski
Clive Owen – Clay Verris
Benedict Wong – Baron
Linda Emond – Janet Lassiter
Douglas Hodge – Jack Willis
Ralph Brown – Del Patterson
Ilia Volok – Yuri Kovacs
E.J. Bonilla – Marino

Gemini Man features a premise that in a bygone era probably would make for a sizable blockbuster. A top-notch government assassin meets his greatest match: himself. Through the means of modern science, a crack shot hitman must now face his own worst enemy, a younger cloned version of himself. In this movie, it’s Will Smith. Heck, 10-15 years ago, this probably would’ve been one of the biggest movies in America. On paper, the film has a strong pedigree. Academy Award-winning filmmaker Ang Lee is behind the camera, and Game of Thrones co-creator David Benioff is listed as one of the screenwriters. It’s headlined by one of the biggest movie stars on the planet in Will Smith. So, it begs the question: Where did it all go so horrendously wrong?

While the premise for Gemini Man is a bit ’90s, it’s still a solid basis for an action-thriller. Henry Brogan (Smith) is a longtime government agent with an extensive kill list. He’s a patriot who believes in his work in taking terrorists off the chessboard, but Brogan is ready to call it a career while his conscious still exists. Unfortunately, Brogan receives news from a reliable source that he was fed a fake bill of goods regarding his last kill. This news makes Brogan a loose end, as it’s intel that the Defense Intelligence Agency stooges Clay Verris (Owen) and Janet Lassiter (Emond) don’t want to get out. After a kill team sent by Lassiter fails to get the job done, Brogan seeks to disappear, along with the DIA agent who was simply assigned to surveil him in his retirement, Danny Zakarweski (Winstead), who thankfully, is empathetic to Brogan’s plight.

Since Brogan is the best of the best, Verris sees no recourse but to activate his own best-kept secret to eliminate the one-in-a-million sniper, his special Gemini agent, Junior (Smith). What’s unique about Junior, though, is that he happens to be the genetic clone of Brogan. Verris’ off-the-books private security company managed to unlock the secrets of human cloning, and Junior was the first in a lab experiment to breed the perfect soldier of war. Junior is just as skilled as Brogan and about as sharp, but he lacks the decades of experience and perspective that Brogan possesses. Now, after being marked for death by his own government, Brogan is pitted against his younger equal.

The potential for Gemini Man is lost in a hackneyed, clunky script and a gimmicky theatrical presentation. The big draw for Gemini Man, besides the idea of Smith vs. younger Smith, is a 120 fps 3D format. Unfortunately, neither of these elements (the 3D and the high frame rate) did the film any favors.

The 3D gimmick has already worn itself out. IMAX has abandoned it because it was hot garbage. If anything, the 3D aspect only impedes the viewing experience for Gemini Man. It drains the color and lighting out of numerous scenes. It makes darker, nighttime scenes that much darker. The depth, immersion, and experience are not enhanced by the 3D format. If filmmakers want an eye-popping, cinematic gimmick, the best one they can achieve is full-frame 70mm IMAX. Nothing else has yet to come close.

Oh boy, that 120 fps. The Hobbit films were released in the 48 fps format. At the time, they were quite the novelty and were a bit controversial. For the part of filmmaker Peter Jackson, the intent for a 48 fps presentation was noble. In the matter of The Hobbit trilogy, the 48 fps presentation was a mixed bag. At times, the visual detail and depth it provided were interesting. Other times, the look, reminiscent of a DV presentation or the “soap opera” effect was visible. However, the most awkward part of those high-frame-rate presentations for The Hobbit was the motion blur during action scenes. That awkward-looking motion blur when there’s movement is only amplified in the 120 fps presentation for Gemini Man. The motion blur problems of Gemini Man absolutely dwarf what was onscreen in the high-frame-rate versions of The Hobbit trilogy.

It’s puzzling how a filmmaker such as Ang Lee, who achieved much stronger feats with 3D and visual effects with Life of Pi, could pull off such a dizzyingly lugubrious looking achievement. The 120 fps frame rate does not improve the experience for Gemini Man. Instead, it makes some arguably impressive action and fight scenes, along with some exotic sets and locales, look cheap and dull, rather than bright, vibrant, sharp, and elegant. As a result, what is supposed to be a $138 million feature looks like it cost about a fraction as much. Most of Gemini Man looks like it was shot with a bargain-bin Walmart camcorder.

Now, the main star of this film is the complex digital, motion capture visuals that help create a younger version of Smith. Disregarding the significant problems with the film’s 3D and high frame rate, what can be made out with digitized, younger Smith does look impressive. The digital aging makeup technique is becoming more commonplace in recent years. Marvel Studios appears to have gotten the solid hang of it more recently. Some things were quite off about the digital CG versions of Grand Moff Tarkin and Princess Leia in Rogue One. The work in that film was impressive, but there was still a bit of an uncanny valley effect that the artists at ILM were not quite able to master. To the credit of Gemini Man, the young digital Will Smith’s performance looks fairly convincing, and it’s probably the film’s best attribute.

While the intentions of filmmaker Ang Lee and Jerry Bruckheimer’s film to try and deliver a unique cinematic experience for the audience might have been sincere, the result is something less than desirable.

Gemini Man is done no favors by its rather clunky, hackneyed script. It’s as if no one made any suggestions in the editing room, and all the worst takes and lines were left in. In one of the film’s most awkwardly comedic exchanges, Will Smith interrogates Winstead’s Danny about the team of government agents sent to kill him and asks if she was the one who sent them. Danny responds with a straight face, “No. I would’ve told you.” This is after the two were set up as basically just meeting for the first time hours earlier when Brogan had just burned Danny’s cover as an undercover agent sent to place him under surveillance. Sometimes fun performances or chemistry between leads can elevate a subpar or rather mediocre script. That’s not the case here.

The dynamic of Will Smith doing double-duty as an older veteran assassin against a younger cloned version of himself does produce a few interesting moments here and there. But the novelty is quickly lost buried underneath the awkward visuals, blurry action sequences, and an incredibly flimsy script. Ang Lee’s direction is more reminiscent of his comic book superhero misstep with The Hulk.

Gemini Man heavily gambled on the promise of a unique theatrical format to attract audiences away from the reboot, sequel, and comic book superhero movement that largely dominates most of the later big-budget blockbusters. Unfortunately, the star power of Will Smith is not able to elevate or transform Gemini Man into something truly fun and exciting.

3.0

The final score: review Bad

The 411

Other than Will Smith acting against a digital version of himself, there's not much else that Gemini Man has going for it. While the premise is solid, director Ang Lee meanders through a rather pedestrian script. The main draw of the film, with its 3D high-frame-rate presentation, was remarkably unappealing and accomplishes the opposite of its intent. Will Smith and Mary Elizabeth Winstead are both talented performers, but their skills are unable to save Gemini Man from copious, unintentionally bad dialogue.