Ang Lee’s Gemini Man is a movie that has many things going for it: technological gimmicks, a celebrated director, an experienced team of writers, and Will Smith among others. It also has a few things working against it: a historically polarizing high frame rate, an overdone plot, and a younger CGI Will Smith.
It’s a classic set up: Henry Brogan (Will Smith) is a DIA (get it? DIA, not CIA) agent who just wants to retire in peace. However, as we all know, retirement in the spy business is never that easy. His escape after being attacked by his own government leads him around the world and, surprisingly, back to himself, or at least a younger clone of himself. The two must then decide where their loyalties lie, what they mean to one another, and how to go head to head with a private defense company.
Gemini Man is a fun movie. If you are a person who enjoys action movies, you will most likely enjoy this film. Lorne Balfe’s score, like his work on Mission Impossible: Fallout, is high-octane and engaging. The fight scenes are all entertaining and wonderfully choreographed, especially the one shown in the trailer for the film involving motorcycles. The film is beautifully shot, with postcard perfect snapshots of Budapest and Columbia. Many of the fight scenes use mirrors to frame the action, which is thematic and also just really fun to watch.
On the subject of visuals, the high frame rate may bother some people, but personally I was largely was unaffected. It didn’t really add anything to the film, but it didn’t actively harm it either. And while we’re on the subject of technological gimmicks: Junior, young Will Smith, doesn’t look half bad. He also doesn’t look very much like a young Will Smith, but he isn’t an uncanny valley horror show, which is a plus.
Where Gemini Man somewhat falters is in its exploration of its premise. There’s a lot of thematic depth to be had when doubles are in the mix, especially when the double is our younger self. There’s just no shortage of potential metaphors. Aren’t we all, in a way, haunted by past versions of ourselves? Are we not chased by that idealized and undamaged ghost who whispers to us, “what if you could try again?” Do we not all dream of what we could be without the pain we’ve accumulated through life? Gemini Man addresses these ideas at a surface level with its motif of mirrors and its discussion of mistakes and flaws, but it does not truly engage with them. We only hear of Brogan’s damage in passing, an absent father and a life spent killing, but we never really get to see or feel the weight of his pain. Without that weight, how can we really feel engaged by the concept of a younger, undamaged, Brogan? Without that layer of depth, this movie fails to elevate itself from the average and generic action flick.
That being said, the lack of depth doesn’t detract from the film overall. It’s action-packed, crazy at certain points, and even a little bit sweet. I can’t fault it for not being more than what was advertised. There’s some potential that’s missed out on, but what’s left is still a pretty good time.
3/5 STARS
