SPOILER-FREE REVIEW
With fast-paced sequences undercut badly by lacklustre special effects and a flimsy plot, Gemini Man feels like an unrefined, rough cut of a much better film.
If there’s one thing I should say before I review Gemini Man, it’s this: it’s not something you could describe as generic or bland. We get plenty of action films and of those, only a few could be described as “memorable”. This film is certainly memorable, but not necessarily in the way you might think. Make no mistake, director Ang Lee isn’t bringing another Life of Pi to the table here. Gemini Man is messy and rough, and oddly enough, that’s why it’s leaves an impression.
After retiring from his job as an assassin, Henry Brogan (Will Smith) finds himself being hunted by his former employers, who’ve sent a mysterious and skilled hitman out to kill him. Teaming up with a woman named Dani (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) who’s swept up along for the ride, Henry attempts to flee from the people after his blood only to discover that the hitman sent to kill him is actually his younger clone.
During the movie, Henry tells a story about how he was once tossed overboard with weights tied to his legs and told to stay afloat as training. Unfortunately, that’s a particularly apt metaphor. Smith and his co-star Winstead make a compelling duo, but they’re weighed down by an oddly paced story and dialogue that’s truly atrocious at times. The film meanders from set piece to set piece, all interspersed with clumsy exposition and all-too-brief shots of Benedict Wong’s character belting out tunes in the cockpit of a private jet. Game of Thrones fans, this was written in part by David Benioff, so make of that what you will.
The main cast just about manage to keep their heads above water, with Smith working overtime to battle his clone. In the moments where he shares the screen with his doppelganger, this film begins to feel more like a bizarre, expensive attempt at therapy. It allows for interplay between the two characters, but also comes across as an attempt by an actor to both berate and comfort his younger self, and to be profound. Because of poor execution, Gemini Man struggles to maintain any pretence of substance for long. That’s disappointing, given that its premise is inherently fascinating. It presents an excellent opportunity for a meaningful story and a way for a seasoned actor to share his meditations on his career with an audience.
Gemini Man fails to take advantage. The more we see of Smith’s younger character, the harder it is to buy into this story. Part of that is down to the writing, which transforms him into a socially deficient twenty-something prone to emotional outbursts and weeping, and he’s largely unsympathetic for those reasons. The other part is the use of CGI to de-age Smith, which combined with the film’s high framerate, produces mixed results. When we first see him, it passes muster, however as the film progresses, it begins to fall apart. When he weeps or shouts, or when he’s on screen for prolonged periods of time, there’s a real sense of the uncanny valley and by the end, the de-aging is totally janky, whether you’re viewing the character at a distance or in closeup.
The de-aging is symbolic of this film’s visual effects as a whole. It’s been filmed in 4K 3D at 120fps. “Yes but what does that mean?” I hear you ask. Basically, it means that only a tiny number of cinemas are equipped to properly handle it, and to show it as intended by director Ang Lee. What benefit you gain from the high framerate depends on your local screen, and mileage may vary. The action sequences are fast, as expected but it seems that, just as retail cinema chains have struggled to keep up, so have the film’s own choreographers and audio designers. Sometimes the action, whether it’s punches or gunshots, winds up feeling like someone is punching wet sand off-camera. Not to say that there aren’t some excellent sequences because there are, and in those moments, the film is at its most impressive. The high framerate forces the people involved, actors included, to fully commit to what they’re doing. However, it lacks the consistent polished brutality that made the John Wick films for example, engaging from beginning to end. It needed tweaking.
Gemini Man really is a curious case. It gets some things right, but other things wrong, and the overall result is basically a droll mess. It’s not the film needed to force technical evolution in cinema due to its own unfortunate inconsistencies; talented actors at the mercy of the plot and their own lines, and technical wizardry that both cinemas and creators haven’t quite gotten to grips with yet. We weren’t ready to make this step forward, and neither was Ang Lee, Will Smith or anybody else for that matter.
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