Listen Here
Dylan Frazier
frazierd@findlay.edu
@dylanfrazier44
I’m all for different ideas but they have to work. And for me, Gemini Man simply does not work. From its miserable script to very weird CGI, the film starring Will Smith is maybe one of the dumbest movies I’ve seen this year. That said, it isn’t even close to the worst movie I’ve seen this year.
Following the life of secret operative, Henry Brogan (Will Smith), we see a man who is ready to call it quits as his time as a hitman are up. Suddenly, Brogan is being framed as a traitor to his country and many people are after him. After fighting and defeating the men sent after him, Brogan meets a much more comparable foe, himself. What Brogan doesn’t realize is that he is encountered by his clone, Junior.
I think the idea of fighting your clone is great and something different, especially the way they motion-captured Will Smith the entire movie, but it has to look good on screen and it just doesn’t. Sometimes it looked like Will Smith was fighting the PS2-looking version of Will Smith, it looked very bad. It was very bizarre and definitely takes you out of the movie. Sure, the idea of motion-capturing Will Smith for the entire movie is great but if that’s the only thing you have to show for a movie, you might want to reconsider why you’re making the movie to begin with. And it doesn’t even look good and it just has too.
Another issue I had was it was terribly written and how it was almost laughably bad at times. Some of the lines in the movie were just so corny and badly delivered that it’s hard to take it seriously. The movie branded itself as a revolutionary movie and I fail to see where it is revolutionary at any point.
One thing I thought was good was Will Smith and I don’t really like Will Smith. With all the shortcomings this movie had, he was very good in this movie. His performance as Henry was good and you could tell Smith was dedicated to the role, even though the movie and the script failed him.
As dumb as this movie was, the action was good, especially in the last 10 minutes. Some good fight choreography and intense gun battles helped propel it to a very okay movie, but still not great.
Overall, I don’t know if many people will like this movie all that much. The story is too convoluted, the script is very bad, and the CGI is just too weird. If you can ignore those glaring issues, maybe Gemini Man is something you can enjoy because it is in parts… a fun time.
