Relying heavily on its over digitised visual effects and eyerolling philosophising, Gemini Man is not as entertaining as it could have been nor as interesting it thinks it is, Ang Lee once again over complicating a sure-fire premise to the point of befuddling boredom.
It doesn’t take long for Gemini Man to reveal itself as a dud of a movie. With its incredibly clunky dialogue and generic “assassin on a mission” plotline, the final nail is struck with the transparent use of product placement in the form of a Coca-Cola can. You can practically hear the “cha-ching!” as it makes an appearance.
Even that soulless cash grab has more virtue than the remaining film that follows. Promising ground-breaking visual effects in an action sci-fi package, Gemini Man under delivers in every way. Starring Will Smith in a dual role of warring versions of himself, the film is a muddled mess of exposition laden wordplay, and director Ang Lee’s over thought and overwrought philosophising. If Lee was a chef, he would be the king of the nothing burger.
Story wise there is not much to Gemini Man. Smith plays Henry Brogan, an aging hitman ready to retire. His former superior Clay Verris (Clive Owen) wants him dead, and unleashes a younger clone of Brogan to take him out. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is wasted in a supporting role as a DEA agent who teams up with Smith. She also features in an unnecessary disrobing scene, that was clearly there to titillate its teenage demographic.
Gemini Man was supposed to revolutionise visual effects filmmaking, but instead reminds that there is a long way to go to successfully create realistic human-like creations for a film. The first appearance of a 20-something-your-old Smith inspires more squints than awe. Those who found Henry Cavill’s digitised face in Justice League problematic will have a fit with how Big Willy 2.0 looks here. The fight scenes between the two have their moments, but again the digital fingerprint is clear to see.
Scripted by the usually capable Billy Ray (Breach), David Benioff (25th Hour), and Darren Lemke (The Parts You Lose), Gemini Man proves to be one of the worst films of the year, that completely wastes the talents of its cast and crew. If this is the future of action filmmaking, then may the cinema gods strike us down.
