Grade: D “Gemini Man” can easily be skipped.
Will Smith’s newest movie, “Gemini Man” has been advertising relentlessly for months. I remember first seeing the trailer somewhere around the beginning of the summer. The trailer features impressive CGI and an intriguing story. It showed off a few action sequences for good measure. Being that Will Smith is one of my favorite actors, I was sold on seeing the movie by his presence alone. Throw in some next level special effects and I was nearly chomping at the bit.
Unfortunately, “Gemini Man” is a dud. While it does contain excellent cinematography and insanely realistic visuals, it lacks a good script.
“Gemini Man” is about a first class hitman fighting off a younger clone of himself. It is a globe trotting adventure that never really excites the audience. It does have a pretty good motorcycle chase scene, but that was probably the scene with the most action. The other few hand to hand combat scenes between Smith and his clone were well done and choreographed decently but they don’t hold a candle to the likes of the fighting scenes from “John Wick 3.”
I saw “Gemini Man” with the new “3D+HFR” technology and while I was blown away at the slick technology, I just couldn’t get excited about the story that was being presented. The “3D+HFR” technology is simply mind blowing. It is super clear 3D with a high frame rate. It gives the movie a super smooth look that just has to be experienced. “Gemini Man” puts it to great use with beautiful cinematography. There were some underwater scenes that were so crazy-lifelike that it just makes you think “wow!” The 3D effect with the tiny bubbles in the water that had awesome lighting was visually one of the most impressive things I have ever witnessed on the silver screen. My description does it no justice. It simply has to be experienced and unfortunately “Gemini Man” is the only movie, right now that I know of, that uses the technology. It is simply the next level and mind blowing!
Will Smith does do the best acting job he can, given the quality of the script that was handed to him. There were a few silly and unnecessary lines throughout the movie and they caused the movie to drag at certain points during the two hour movie. “Gemini Man” is appropriately rated “PG-13” because it does censor a bit of the action. You will not see the aftermath of many gun shots and it is not too gory.
Director Ang Lee did a decent job directing, but simply forgot to direct the lifesource of any film, the story. You will see a few slo-mo shots that were cool in amazing 3D and one wide-angle shot of a train that was set up well. Visually and technically, “Gemini Man” is awesome. Storywise, it is kind of a snoozefest.
If your theater has the “3D+HFR” technology, “Gemini Man” is worthy of an outing simply to experience the latest 3D technology and visuals. Otherwise, “Gemini Man” can easily be skipped due to a lackluster script.