Will Smith plays an assassin whose retirement is put on hold when the government sends his clone to take him out in Gemini Man
One-sentence review: Gemini Man applies new filmmaking technology to action well, but a thin and boring story makes it not worth the price of admission.
Details: ? Ang Lee // ?? U.S. // ⏳ 117 minutes
The cast: Will Smith, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Benedict Wong, Clive Owen
Where to watch Gemini Man: Now playing in theaters.
In recent years, Ang Lee has become obsessed with testing the limits of filmmaking technology. In particular, he’s been playing with 3D — Gemini Man and his two movies before it were all shot specifically for 3D — and high frame rates. Most movies are shot and shown in 24 frames per second, which delivers the cinematic quality we’re used to — everything doesn’t quite look real. That’s because you perceive the world without gaps in your vision. When something is filmed, you’re literally missed parts of the image.
However, Gemini Man was filmed in 120 fps. Most theaters don’t even have the ability to project movies in that format. I was fortunate (or unfortunate, depending how you look at it) was able to see the movie the way it was intended — 4K, 120 fps, and in 3D. Without it, though, I don’t know if I could even recommend seeing it in theaters.
An action-thriller we’ve seen before
The plot and story of Gemini Man are familiar that you can call every single beat before it happens. Not only that, but it feels like Lee isn’t interested in the story at all, only the tech that could be used to bring it to life. Ironically, it makes it all lifeless.
Henry Brogan (Will Smith) is not only an assassin, he is the assassin. He’s largely regarded as the best there ever was. However, he knows he’s not at the top of his game anymore. As he says in his opening kill, the smallest mistake could be the difference between killing his target and killing an innocent. That’s why he’s ready for retirement. However, Clay Varris (Clive Owen), head of the mysterious GEMINI project, isn’t so fast to let him go.
Brogan soon finds himself on the run with fellow agent Dani (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and his friend and colleague Baron (Benedict Wong) as they uncover the secret of GEMINI. That secret is that 20 years ago, they made a clone of Henry who was raised by Clay to be the perfect assassin — and clearly the reason Lee was interested in the project.
Will Smith vs. Will Smith
Smith also plays Junior using the same de-aging technology that was used on Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci in The Irishman. Here, Smith looks a little too smooth and a little too perfect for the effect to truly have a… well, effect. When both characters are on the screen, there is more impact. Deep in the tunnels of Budapest, the two have a brutal hand-to-hand brawl that is quite stunning to watch. Too bad the story is so thin that it feels more indulgent than anything else.
Truthfully, the high frame rate and 3D worked well to enhance the action. Without it, it would have felt so plain. It’s immersive cinema. Lee is on to something. The problem is that the time in between the action scenes is so boring that no amount of Will Smith on Will Smith action is enough to make up for it.
It’s a shame because the trio central trio — Smith, Winstead, and Wong — are all so charismatic and entertaining to watch on screen. However, they can’t save the corny dialogue and plot pulled straight out of a 90s spy thriller. The ending is so preposterous that my mouth was actually agape in the theater. It’s a movie that I think actually could have benefited from being longer.
Ang Lee is so good at characters interacting. I mean, his greatest movies are essentially conversation-based — Sense and Sensibility, The Ice Storm, Brokeback Mountain. He was so interested in the human condition. Now, he’s more interested in the marvel of it all. Here’s to hoping he finds a way to balance the two.
Hey, I'm Karl, founder and film critic at Smash Cut. I started Smash Cut in 2014 to share my love of movies and give a perspective I haven't yet seen represented. I'm also an editor at The New York Times, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, and a member of the Online Film Critics Society.