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‘Gemini Man’ Review – Will Smith Shines In a Good But Not So Great Film

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Synopsis:

Henry Brogan is an elite assassin who becomes the target of a mysterious operative who can seemingly predict his every move. To his horror, he soon learns that the man who’s trying to kill him is a younger, faster, cloned version of himself.

What happens when you find out that the cloned version of yourself wants you dead? Not as much as you’d think. Let’s be honest, the selling point for Gemini Man is Will Smith. Don’t get me wrong, I love Will Smith and have seen the majority of his movies, but skills and charisma can’t save a subpar script. It’s not that it’s not a fun movie to watch but it could’ve been amazing. The execution of the movie is not the problem, the plot is. It seems to me that they spent more time with the incredible, not perfect, CGI Will Smith. A feat that seemed impossible years prior was done, passing off a fully CGI character as a person in a film full of actual humans for its entirety. It’s amazing what they can do with technology. From the eyes, nose, hair, movements, down to the pores, it’s astonishing. But the mouth though! If I had to pick one thing that truly made me cringe in this film, it’d be the CGI mouth. I tried to ignore it but I just kept starring at it or it was starring at me. Now, I don’t want to diminish the strides they made in executing this character but, nothing new is without its flaws. With all that said, the movie has some exhilarating chase and action sequences. It’s a fun movie to watch and Will Smith partnered with Mary Elizabeth Winstead made for a good duo. Sadly, I was expecting some crazy twists to happen that never did. That’s another place where I believe they fumbled the ball. While there were twists, they weren’t daring or creative enough to leave a lasting impression. Lastly, I recently learned that director, Ang Lee wants moviegoers to enjoy the movie at its full potential. Which is in 4K 3D at 120 fps and only 14 AMC theaters in America are able to provide close that amenity, according to Polygon. Partially, because it’s not entirely possible but the 14 theaters come close.

Plot & Pace

Henry, a top-notch assassin for a government agency is ready for retirement but when you know too much, you’re a loose end. When you’re that good at a dangerous job, you never let your guard down and for good reason. Teaming up with trustworthy individuals and having connections is a must if you want to survive. The movie moves almost too fast and doesn’t allow certain aspects to develop at a natural pace. It alluded to things that it never went back too which leads me to believe there might be another but we’ll see. Gemini Man is pretty straight forward. Like I said earlier, the plot isn’t that complex but I believe it should’ve been and could’ve been. The deep question that this movie asks is, is cloning moral and worth doing to protect actual human lives? We’ve seen this moral quandary present itself in a number of films but this one does display it in a unique way. Overall I didn’t hate it but I wanted so much more. If you love Will Smith, it’s worth seeing. If you want to see the possible future of movie-making, it’s worth seeing. Once they perfect the CGI, Hollywood is in for some change.

Characters & Chemistry

The most complex thing about the movie is how Henry (Will Smith) is described but those complexities are not properly displayed enough. We get to know that he is professional, meticulous, and is full of regret which made him interesting but we get mere shadows of those characterizations. Smith’s acting saves the way his character is written. Danny (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is somewhat a flat character. She pairs well with Henry but she comes off as just a companion. Winstead did all she could to bring the role to life. Junior (Will Smith) is a shell of a person as he is raised to be a killing machine but is probably the most human of them all. Clay Verris (Clive Owen) is probably the least impressive as his character is dull and not completely motivated. Smith versus himself exhibits perhaps the best chemistry of the movie. There’s layered conflict there that is not just with the clone but himself. Baron (Benedict Wong) is there for some subtle comedy and adds enjoyment.

Gemini Man releases in theaters on October 11th.

Runtime: 1h 57m