The Gist:
Ageing mercenary Henry Brogan (Will Smith) is set to retire but he knows too much so his younger clone is sent to retire him once and for all.
The Review:
For any movie fan, usually, when a film has been in development hell for the better half of two decades the end result is usually a jumbled mess. Gemini Man was originally conceived and sold to Disney but the technology wasn’t up to scratch. The script was passed around between the likes of Tony Scott and a whole slew of A-list celebrities. Now it’s been picked up and polished by Ang Lee with a script by David Benioff and Billy Ray.
Despite the talent involved the plot is nothing short of reminiscent of standard ’80s and 90’s action movies, which isn’t in itself, a bad thing. After all, John Wick had a simple plot but was saved by its A-grade action scenes and lead.
No doubt Smith is a talented and charismatic presence but that isn’t enough to hold a movie anymore, nor does his CGI twenty-three-year-old counter-part.
The film begins with Smith’s Brogan on his last mission. He’s the best at what he does even in his fifties. After his last job, it’s time for him to retire.
Why these hitmen/government types always think they’re gonna be the ones that quietly settle down is beyond us at this point.
Enter Clive Owen’s sneering British or American (seriously he wasn’t even trying in this one) Clay Verris who deems Brogan too dangerous and sends the younger CGI Will Smith out to kill. Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s secret agent joins the run as well. While Winstead does get a few action scenes to herself, her character is nothing more than a vehicle for Will Smith to explain his feelings or the plot to. Benedict Wong pops up when needed with a magical set of planes that he conjures up to carry the cast across the world.
However, the whole movie and audience is and will be drawn to the younger Smith. Rather than de-ageing the actor, animators took footage of the younger Smith and animated from scratch. The end result is stunning 98 per cent of the times. I did catch a glitchy wonky Pennywise eyeball here and there as well as a Henry Cavill-esque upper lip but the overall effect is well, effective.
Director Ang Lee also chose to shoot the movie on 120 frames a second and sometimes it works others it can be jarring. The action sequences don’t hit their mark despite being shot in such vivid detail. There’s a bike chase through a small town done in one single take which is probably the standout. Gun battles are done in the dark and when shot at such a high frame-rate with handheld cameras it can become mind-boggling. The standout Smith on younger Smith brawl just failed to hit the marks. Perhaps because it was shot half in the dark and mainly focusing on Smith’s face, I’m not sure.
All this boils down to is that this particular film exists to showcase the technology. Ang Lee has never shied away from pushing the boundaries. I just wish he would have pushed the scriptwriter’s boundaries a tad more.
The Verdict:
Another milestone in computer-generated imagery but at the cost of a good movie.
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