GEMINI MAN REVIEW
Starring: Will Smith and Will Smith
Directed By: Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain, Life of Pi)
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 1 hour 57 minutes
Will Smith is one of a handful of actors that can market a film on his smile alone.A staple of American cinema since the early 90s.By 2000, he was one of, if not THE, biggest star there was.But lately, he’s been struggling to say the least.Excluding Aladdin, which I consider a Disney movie, not a Will Smith movie, but that’s a very grey area I’ll freely admit. Will Smith hasn’t been the driving force of a financial and critical success since probably I Am Legend 12 years ago.If you’re particularly stingy with the term “success” you might even go back to Hitch in 2005 or Enemy of the State in 1998.However you quantify it Will Smith needs a hit.Plain and simple.
Gemini Man is, in theory, the perfect vehicle for Will Smith.He gets to play dual roles.One, an intelligence hitman announcing his retirement.Two, a younger version of himself, a clone, sent to murder his older self.Director Ang Lee has a track record of telling human stories with the aid of special effects.Add in an innovative computer de-aging process that allows viewers to see a version of Will Smith they haven’t seen since Six Degrees of Separation.This movie needed one thing to succeed.A coherent story.And it couldn’t do it.
Sadly, Gemini Man just is a boring movie set up like a video game.It’s just scene after scene of spectacle, which at times are pretty cool.The dots that connect the action sequences are shoddy at best.The advertising surrounding this movie hyped up the dual role aspect of the movie.Will Smith meets his younger self and the two fight.But in the movie, the younger Will Smith is hidden for about the first 45 minutes and played as this big reveal.But the audience already knows what is hunting Will Smith.It’s not a surprise, it’s not a mid-movie twist.We know it before we even sit down in the theater.It takes a lot of wind out of Gemini Man’s sails.
The movie starts out strong enough.There’s some human back stories given to the characters.We’re given some political intrigue.There’s a scene at the opening in which Smith has to perform a hit on a moving train.It’s pretty thrilling.But the deeper into the movie we get, the more absurd and non-sensical things become.
Our heroes work for a super-secret intelligence agency, and are incredibly smart.Able to piece together motives and crime scenes instantly.But man, oh man, when they find out what the Gemini Program is they are stunned.Seems none of our heroes have ever looked into an astrological calendar before.Gemini means twin.Not a real intellectual leap there to figure out what the Gemini Program might be doing.
The movie also weirdly neuters Will Smith’s charisma.Smith is one of the most charismatic actors we’ve ever seen.In Gemini Man, he’s almost humble.He’s calm.He’s calculated.And good for him for playing the character the way it’s written, but we go to a Will Smith action/sci-fi thriller for quips, smiles, and comic relief.That doesn’t happen often here.It’s a bizarre choice from a director who should know better.And a waste of Smith’s time and talents.
As for the de-aging technology, a lot of people are praising it.Saying it looks exactly like Will Smith from the early 90s.I didn’t see that.I saw a character from a video game.The further away the younger Will Smith is, the better he looks.There are some scenes towards the end of the film where Will Smith is talking to his younger self and it just looks hokey.Like when a person meets their twin in a sitcom.
Will Smith is never going to have trouble finding work if he wants it.When you try and shoehorn Will Smith into your script, you get Gemini Man.When you allow Smith to shine and be a true version of himself you get Aladdin.One of those movies made a fortune at the box office, one of them opened at third this weekend at the box office and will struggle to earn back its massive $150 million budget.I like Will Smith a lot.He’s funny, charismatic, and he can really act.If you’ve never seen Ali, you’re missing out.He’s phenomenal in it.But Will’s been resting on his laurels for too long now.I think he’s trying his best here, he didn’t seem to be “phoning it in”, but we need to find the right project for him in this new phase of his life.
On a scale of “See It/Stream It/Skip It” – Skip It – The tech is probably worth checking out, but you can check that out in The Irishman next month and that movie is getting glowing reviews.If you come across this on cable, maybe give it a try, but I wouldn’t pay for it.
If you liked Enemy, Moon, or Replicas you might like Gemini Man.
1.5 out of 5 stars for Gemini Man.Starts fairly strong, but sputters out just as quick.