Disregard this if you’ve heard it before, but pop culture is eating itself. Sure, it’s like, get a new take already, but there is an inherent symbolism to Will Smith’s newest Gemini Man. When a story about making carbon copies of proven quantities is made real by crafting the young face of a current mega star over his old face so he can play opposite his current self? What’s the other reading here?! Ouroboros would choke if his dang mouth wasn’t so full. And beyond this rote assessment of pop culture, what does it mean that this movie is weird and cool and stilted and really quite enjoyable? Only time will tell, but the door is now open for a new slate of Will Smith films across the rest of human history.
Prone to uneven extremes, Gemini Man is in moments utterly wooden followed by sudden fits of blissful Ang Lee fun. Where it is truly a mixed bag, it’s extremely watchable. It runs under two hours. Not only a total complement, there should be an award category for this noble achievement. There are some gorgeous international backdrops with hearty action sequences slathered on top. And where this could easily be an appreciation thread for costars Benedict Wong and Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Will Smith carries this film. Or better yet, the film lives and dies with Smith. He’s the epicenter, and reliably, he does the work.
Gemini Man struggles most when moving through the beats of its wonky narrative. The character interactions pass muster, the set pieces land, but the story itself leaves something to be desired. In some ways Gemini Man does recall the star-driven action films of Will Smith’s heyday. It’s enticing to think this is some playful meta commentary on the whole enterprise, but the final product is too uninspired to believe it. There are ideas and the filmmaking know how to bring them to life, but in the end it just felt middling, even safe.
All of Ang Lee’s favored tropes are on display. Perhaps this is a call to action, or total anathema, but they are there. The dude can still assemble a hell of a production. And the facial technology works! Well, it is certainly on the upward slope out of the uncanny valley. Will Smith plays this character pretty small, restrained and emotionless. It does fit with the character's interiors, but perhaps deliberate in order to move and emote the young face as little as possible? Who knows, but it is well crafted. You want to come up with reasons why it shouldn’t work so well.
Though, on the eve of its release—a gloomy affair according to critics and box office knowers—the impact of Gemini Man is already out of the bag. This tech may be in its infancy, but imagine the implications. As though stolen from the pages of a so-so sci-fi screenplay, what if this means never saying goodbye to Will Smith? An endless, eternal array of Will Smith(s). What does that mean about everything from celebrity to identity? Likely an overreaction, but somewhere a touring Roy Orbison hologram is being debugged. Anyway, Gemini Man is pretty fun! Definitely a casual streamer. Even though if one did make it to the theater, they wouldn’t see the film the way it was ‘meant’ to be seen. What a strange and fascinating world.
--Monte Monreal
Prone to uneven extremes, Gemini Man is in moments utterly wooden followed by sudden fits of blissful Ang Lee fun. Where it is truly a mixed bag, it’s extremely watchable. It runs under two hours. Not only a total complement, there should be an award category for this noble achievement. There are some gorgeous international backdrops with hearty action sequences slathered on top. And where this could easily be an appreciation thread for costars Benedict Wong and Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Will Smith carries this film. Or better yet, the film lives and dies with Smith. He’s the epicenter, and reliably, he does the work.
Gemini Man struggles most when moving through the beats of its wonky narrative. The character interactions pass muster, the set pieces land, but the story itself leaves something to be desired. In some ways Gemini Man does recall the star-driven action films of Will Smith’s heyday. It’s enticing to think this is some playful meta commentary on the whole enterprise, but the final product is too uninspired to believe it. There are ideas and the filmmaking know how to bring them to life, but in the end it just felt middling, even safe.
All of Ang Lee’s favored tropes are on display. Perhaps this is a call to action, or total anathema, but they are there. The dude can still assemble a hell of a production. And the facial technology works! Well, it is certainly on the upward slope out of the uncanny valley. Will Smith plays this character pretty small, restrained and emotionless. It does fit with the character's interiors, but perhaps deliberate in order to move and emote the young face as little as possible? Who knows, but it is well crafted. You want to come up with reasons why it shouldn’t work so well.
Though, on the eve of its release—a gloomy affair according to critics and box office knowers—the impact of Gemini Man is already out of the bag. This tech may be in its infancy, but imagine the implications. As though stolen from the pages of a so-so sci-fi screenplay, what if this means never saying goodbye to Will Smith? An endless, eternal array of Will Smith(s). What does that mean about everything from celebrity to identity? Likely an overreaction, but somewhere a touring Roy Orbison hologram is being debugged. Anyway, Gemini Man is pretty fun! Definitely a casual streamer. Even though if one did make it to the theater, they wouldn’t see the film the way it was ‘meant’ to be seen. What a strange and fascinating world.
--Monte Monreal
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