'Gemini Man' A Review

Gemini Man is an action/thriller about aging government assassin Henry(Will Smith). The movie opens with Henry on a job sniping an old guy on a bullet train. He then attempts to retire to his rural Georgia home but an old military buddy lets him know his last hit was a worldclass biologist not a terrorist as he was lead to believe. After the government he worked for attempts to kill him Henry flees the country to find some answers. When the first attack fails they send the only person that's better than he is to get him, himself!

Smith brings his not insignificant movie star charisma to bear but fails to bring life to either of his lead turns, hamstrung by thin characterization and a corny script as Henry and by implausible and exhaustive de-aging CGI as Henry 2.0. The pairing is interesting and certainly ambitious but the technology and the script fail to deliver anything warranting a theatrical release. Evidently director Ang Lee shot and cut the film utilizing technology that movie theaters can't actually project so this isn't quite a shock. Supporting players Benedict Wong, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and Clive Owen all put in engaging efforts, and they are all a pleasure to see, but nothing that breaks out of the maddeningly paint-by-numbers story they find themselves in.

There are some moments of real visual brilliance but the film is so dependent on CGI, even to the point of frequent baffling backdrops, its flourishes are far overshadowed by its floundering. The film telegraphs each turn of the plot to the point there is no surprise, the characters are so thinly drawn the idea of human cloning is the least untenable narrative thread, although the action scenes of the film are thrilling there are too few(basically two) and they are so devoid of context they have no real stakes. An opportunity at a return to form for Ang Lee that falls surprisingly short.

Interesting enough to do laundry to.

Stream It.