The Movie: Gemini Man
The Director: Ang Lee
The Cast: Will Smith, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clive Owen
The Story: An over-the-hill hitman faces off against a younger clone of himself.
The Review:
You know, I wasn't expecting much from this movie and yet I walked away thoroughly and surprisingly entertained. Yeah, I said it. All those people who have been bashing the movie for whatever reason. I liked it and I'm here to tell you about it.
First let me say this. CGI Will Smith is still creepy and the uncanny valley is ever present during all the de-aged Will Smith scenes. As advanced as the technology has become, and it is freaking amazing, our eyes and brain can still see the illusion. That being said, none of that stuff detracted from the story being told which, I'll be honest was pretty basic and fairly predictable and also managed to be fun and exciting at the same time. The chase scenes and other action beats were the highlights of the movie, especially during a scenes where motorcycles are involved.
One thing Ang Lee does really well is push the boundaries of story telling in just about every way possible. Life of Pie is a movie that I absolutely love for so many reason and, if you have never watched it, I am not talking to you until you do. Seriously go watch it. I mean after you finish reading this review of course. What Lee focuses on with this movie is the film making technology like the aforementioned CGI as well as camera techniques and 3D film making. The movie is even being presented in High Frame Rate 3D which basically means there are twice as many images on screen per second which helps to remove a lot of the motion blur we normally see and stuff like that.
The casting of the movie was really hit or miss with some great performances from Smith, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and Benedict Wong and then there's some real disappointments from Clive Owen and Linda Emond who were painful to watch especially when they are together on screen. There were times I actually questioned whether they were on set at the same time because the dialog was so rigid and awkward which reminded me a lot of George Lucas' clunky editing during the Star Wars prequel movies. It was kind of fun watching Will Smith act alongside his younger self even if it was also a bit awkward at times.
Gemini Man is one of those movies you just kick back and enjoy without putting a ton of thought or expectation into what you are watching. The action is solid, visually the movie is beautiful, and I feel like Will Smith can still carry a feature film even if he's not currently at the height of Hollywood stardom like he once was. I recommend watching the movie in HFR 3D to get the full effect of what Ang Lee has created.
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