Gemini Man

Starring: Will Smith, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clive Owen, Benedict Wong, Douglas Hodge, Ralph Brown, Linda Emond
Directed by: Ang Lee
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Science Fiction, Drama
2019

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: An assassin (Will Smith) tries to retire, but his agency sends a younger clone of himself to hunt him down.

Review:

Tim: Ang Lee is directing a movie about Will Smith battling a younger clone of himself. Are you kidding me? This has to be one of the biggest movies of the year! Unfortunately, it's 2019 and Gemini Man is one of the most disappointing films of the year. This might not be a bad movie, but it's close. I'm not entirely sure what went wrong here, but a great deal did. This is a generic, throwaway movie that didn't make a dent at the box office or the public consciousness.

Lee is a strong director, but it felt like he was distracted or disinterested here. Straight up, this is a poorly made movie. The script is weak. There are literally dozens of plot holes. Other things are presented in a slapdash way that doesn't connect logically. You're left scratching your head and trying to figure out why so little makes sense. The film is filled with events that are far too convenient, things that would never really happen, but do so here because the plot somehow needed to be advanced. It was almost like everyone involved fell in love with the idea of an older Will Smith battling a younger Will Smith and all their attention and energy was funneled into that premise, with no one considering the actual plot. The story is instantly forgettable and never seemed all that important. Here's an example- the movie requires that Smith's character gets some help. He finds assistance in the form of a young agent, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead. The manner in which they team up is so hurried, so ridiculous that I groaned out loud. We don't spend enough time with her to believe she'd risk her career and her life to help someone she doesn't know survive against forces she doesn't understand. It's simply ludicrous. It could work, but the way it was presented here makes so little sense. There's a dozen similar examples throughout the poor plot.

Will Smith is mostly good here. He's a strong actor and I enjoyed him playing this world weary hero. I can't say he seemed all that invested in the film, but he's enjoyable in his role. I was less impressed with his performance as his younger self. The not-quite-there visual effects don't help his performance, but his stoic, gawking performance didn't convince me. That hurts the movie- one Smith is fairly effective and you believe his performance, the other is significantly less so. I actually loved Mary Elizabeth Winstead's performance. I was frustrated that her character made so little sense and wasn't presented effectively enough because she puts a lot into her role. I hope she gets more roles like this, but in better films. Clive Owen is effective as the antagonist, a man who is convinced he's right. Owen embraced that aspect of his character and brought his earnestness to his cause to light. Benedict Wong is strong in a supporting role. He didn't get the right lines to make his character truly great, but he adds a lot to the film.

This movie is frustrating because of the flaws in its execution. It easily could have been multiple orders of magnitude better than it was. One small thing- the whole idea of "AMF" is terrific- I hadn't heard that before and it's pretty cool. How it was explained to the audience left a lot to be desired. I'm still confused about the scene where Smith shows up in Winstead's room and serves her coffee that was just brewing there? There were multiple similar missteps throughout the movie. The net effect is that this feels like a subpar effort from nearly the beginning. It isn't a movie made with care or attention to detail.

The visual effects here were hit-or-miss. On the one hand, it's amazing that the technology has improved to the point where you can have a young Will Smith that looks this realistic. On the other hand, it's not all the way there. He doesn't look like a real person in many scenes- the de-aging still makes him too polished, too computer-generated. The other odd thing was some of the action scenes, the younger Smith and some other characters move in unrealistic ways. The speed at which they move, the way they move- it wasn't real and that was obvious. It's jarring when you see something so fake presented as real. This happens a lot during the motorcycle sequence. It hurts scenes that might otherwise have been good action scenes.

Gemini Man isn't quite a bad movie, but I doubt anyone here set out to make an "okay" film. There was a time when Lee and Smith together would have suggested this was one of the better films of the year. That time might be passed (or, more hopefully, this was just a rare miss). The film made a total of $48 million at the domestic box office, which suggests the film lost a ton of money. Audiences just weren't interested. They got that one right, because this is a movie that you can easily skip.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Bright, I am Legend, Enemy of the State