When an aging assassin named Henry decides to retire, his agency makes him a target where a younger clone of Henry pursues him relentlessly under his vengeful father's orders. This is a film that has been hovering in development hell since 1997, with multiple A-list action stars attached. The film never got off the ground due to the technology not being able to make de-aging effects believable. Lots of people have been saying this film feels like the script back from 1997 is still used in the final film, not only due to the 90's action movie feel, but also on how weak the screenplay is. This is a dull, bland script that is very generic with no sense of fun or energy. The film also has some plot holes that while most are spoiler-related, some are general questions of confusion. Like, why is Henry hanging around outside a lot during his stay in Budapest? Shouldn't he be staying inside to hide from his clone or surveillance equipment? There is clearly plenty of potential in this premise, which some of it pays off in the action set-pieces, but my issue is the tone. The film should have gone either over-the-top or a really serious thriller. While the final product seems to stick with a more serious tone, it also feels too bland or lighthearted to classify the film as a serious film. I feel that if the tone either captured the likes of "Face-Off" or the "Bourne" films, this movie will have a much more entertaining identity, but as it is, it feels like a 90's action flick that might as well be forgotten.
Will Smith as Henry and his clone, Junior, are acted very well as Smith never has a bad performance. You can tell that despite being the same person, they do have different personalities. The older Henry is more mellow and avoids conflict as much as he can, while the younger clone is stubborn and eager to achieve his goal, though he seems to lack some humanity in him that he must get back. While that's well done, I can't help but feel that Will Smith shouldn't have been casted in the lead role. I love him as an actor, but the issue is that the script keeps making references to his age and how he looks old, which makes no sense since Smith still looks great for his age. Perhaps if they went for an actor that looks old in general, such as Mel Gibson or Harrison Ford (both were considered to star prior to Smith being casted), the character would make more sense with the idea that he's aging, developed a conscience and getting teased by everyone for being old. While Smith is the most notable actor in the film that's good, the rest of the cast aren't on par with the lead. Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays Danny, an ally and sort of love interest for Henry, which I felt is really unnecessary. Winstead is a good actress and she isn't bad in the film, but her character shouldn't have been in the film as I didn't think that Henry needed a love interest in this film. Benedict Wong as Baron on the other hand is a character I wished had more time onscreen. He is so underused that I makes me bothered that they have this character in the film to begin with. He should have just been on the journey with Henry, removing the Danny character, and have these aging assassins work together on surviving these attacks. Lastly, you have Clive Owen, who is your typical evil director of an organization that should may as well not even attacked Henry in the first place, since it would've caused less trouble to begin with. There is one neat scene with him and Junior and they both act very well and have genuine responses, though it's the only scene where Owen is acting his heart out. So, outside of Smith, the rest of the actors and cast are sadly either not as well acted or utilized in the film.
Ang Lee is one of those directors that I question about their overall vision or signature as a director. While he has made some good films over the years such as "Life of Pi" and "Crouching Dragon, Hidden Tiger", he has also made some bad ones such as "Hulk" and "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk". While his latest film shows off some of his best qualities, it also shows off his weaknesses. The best thing about his directing are the action sequences and the cinematography by Dion Beebe. There are some impressive camerawork and tracking shots that are pulled off so well, it makes your jaw drop. The action itself is also pretty good with excellent stunts and effects, the Colombia set-piece being the standout. Speaking of the effects, the de-aging motion capture is really impressive as it's a marvel to look at how they made Junior look so good, with the exception to the final scene where he looks like a PS4 character. Outside of the action sequences, the rest of the camerawork is flat with a lot of scenes with expositional dialogue that have nothing interesting to look at or engage in. One big problem I have with Lee's directing is the choice to make the film 3D and have a high frame rate of 120fps. A regular film is 24fps, so the result makes the film really unnatural to watch. It also harms the action sequences, since there's barely enough time to appreciate the hard work being pulled off with an artificial speed throughout the film. It almost made the film a bit unwatchable for me. As for the 3D, aside from a few neat shots, it was pointless. I would also like to say that the climax felt lacking in some wow factor. While there are some cool shots and choreography, I felt that the film should have gone full house on the ending with Henry standing off against an army of clones, sort of like the last mission in the video game "Hitman: Codename 47", where 47 fights off an army of Agent 48's. It sounds stupid, but it will not only be an interesting set-piece, but it can be pulled off really well, no matter what tone the film chose to take. Overall, Lee's directing is a mixed bag as the majority of the action scenes, cinematography and effects are done really well, but the choice to go 3D, 120 fps, bland directing of dull exposition, and the climatic action set-piece needing to go full-out on the premise of the film.
"Gemini Man" is hard to clarify as an average or bad film. Sure, Will Smith, the action, the effects, the camerawork, and the hard work put onto these elements help make this film from being borderline garbage. However, the script, tone, plot holes, the need for a different actor as Henry, and Lee's poor directing choices such as high frame rates really bog down the film to not reach the level of good. I can only recommend this film for people that want to see some nice action set-pieces that aren't constructed from 100% CGI a la superhero films, but I warn you to not watch this film with the high frame rates as it will only hurt your viewing experience. Outside of the action, there's not much else I can recommend outside of that, since you'll most likely be feeling disappointment when you watch a film that had so many things going for it.
Verdict: 5/10. Not terrible, but can say it is one of the most underwhelming and poorly-made films I've seen this year.
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