Gemini Man Movie Review
Oh Will Smith. I will admit I do love him. He’s come a long way from his Fresh Prince days. When I saw the trailer for Gemini Man I remember thinking, “This could be good?” Emphasis on the question mark there. It was more of a “I hope this is good” type of thing. If anyone else had been in it besides Will Smith I probably wouldn’t have seen this. But alas, I did.
Gemini Man is a sci-fi movie set in the not too distant future. Henry Brogan (Will Smith) is one of the best hitmen in the world. There’s some sort of conspiring that occurs at the beginning involving a meeting on a boat and then hitmen start taking out Henry’s team and come after him. This would all be a yawn and nothing new that we’ve seen before except for the twist. The hitman that is sent to kill Henry looks exactly like him, just twenty years younger.
If you’re thinking it’s his long lost son you’d be incorrect. It turns out that there’s a secret project brewing involving cloning. Henry’s DNA was used to create replicas of himself that are younger and fresher. The evil Clay Verris (Clive Owen) is using these clones to create an army of soldiers who are literally created to kill. That’s it. If it sounds ridiculous to you, then you should see the movie because it’s even more ridiculous to watch.
The premise itself isn’t bad. It’s the execution. There’s just something missing from the story. The characters fall a little flat and the story isn’t quite fleshed out. Will Smith does his best with what he’s given to work with but even his performance at times feels a tad hokey. There are some neat fight scenes between Henry and his clone. They felt a little bit like a video game to me. But you can tell Ang Lee is pulling the strings and I will admit they were entertaining to watch.
However, easily the best part of the movie was Mary Elizabeth Winstead. She plays Danny, who was sent to keep an eye on Henry. She’s tough and gets a few fight scenes that she executes flawlessly. She and Smith had great chemistry and I wished she was on screen more. It’s a shame that Ang Lee couldn’t have done more with this. I think it had some interesting bits that could have been very compelling. But the movie just fell flat for me.
At one point there’s a fight scene between Henry and his clone Junior. Henry disarms Junior and asks why he was sent to kill him. Junior replies it’s because he’s the best. Henry points the gun at Junior’s head and says, “Obviously you are not the best.” That line sums up this movie. It’s just not the best.
Film or Movie: Movie
You’ll like this movie if:
1. You like action sequences
2. You want to see Mary Elizabeth Winstead hold her own in an action movie
3. You want to see a young CGI’d Will Smith
