Gemini Man

When I see a film announced which will star Will Smith, it's hard not to think back to his glory days in the 1990s and early 2000s when this star power alone could launch a film. He had a great run from 1995 with Bad Boys to Independence Day, Men in Black and then Enemy of the State in 1998. Things took a turn in 1999 with Wild Wild West but he came back strong in the 2000s with Ali, several sequels, I, Robot, Hitch and to an extent with I Am Legend but that's where things gradually started to change. We saw his charisma shine through again in 2015 with the lacklustre Focus but after the likes of several Oscar bait dramas and the awful Suicide Squad, Smith needed that vehicle again to really capitalise on what made him a star.

One year before the return of Bad Boys for Life, Smith reteamed with Jerry Bruckheimer and the Oscar winning director Ang Lee to make Gemini Man in 2019. Here we see Smith star as a government hitman preparing to enjoy retirement when he is suddenly attacked by a younger clone of himself and forced to go on the run, and expose his former colleagues who betrayed him. 

Having enjoyed experimenting with 3D with Life of Pi and shooting in 4K with Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, Lee continues this with Gemini Man which means for a incredibly sharp and colourful image (even when watching in HD) but one that comes off looking a bit strange in 2D as shots linger that second longer with some characters even being directed to look down the lens. I understand this is a bit of a tangent but it is weird and I have no idea why Lee thought this was a good idea!

Despite the above, this still looks good during several action sequences early on and the CGI used to create a young Will Smith is impressive. In the last decade we've seen some good and some not so great attempts but here the team really do succeed with the de-aging. Unfortunately though that's as far as my praise for this can go as what we have here is a lifeless, maybe even joyless, action flick that wastes its cast that includes Clive Owen, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Benedict Wong. 

Smith does his best in the leading role and is solid throughout while the cast around him are left to wrangle with a script provided by David Benioff (the man who ruined Game of Thrones) which is just plain flat and amateur. This is no more obvious than in the bland final act where not even Lee's experience as director can salvage any excitement in this 'tech reel' I guess is what it deserves to be called. 

The story of Gemini Man is one of development hell which went through so many directors and actors it's a wonder why that wasn't a sign to leave this well alone. Smith does his best but that's not enough to justify committing nearly two hours to this forgettable accident of an adventure.