There's nothing quite like a good ol' fashioned showdown between a pair of evenly-matched titans. In one corner is a 51-year old recently retired government assassin who was considered to be the best in the business before the mental and physical toll of spending 25+ years as a professional killer caught up with him. In the other is a clone of his younger, more athletic and less melancholic self. So will the wealth of experience of the old man or the physical superiority of his doppelganger prevail? You'll have to see Gemini Man (or at least read the Wikpedia summary) to find out.
As functional as the small ensemble cast is (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Benedict Wong, Clive Owen) and the story that sets the stage for this Smith v. Smith showdown is, Gemini Man is mostly driven by its sense of pure spectacle. Director Ang Lee (Life of Pi, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) has been pumping up the high frame rate technology he used to shoot to the film as well as the creation of the first ever completely CGI human (the younger version of Smith) for nearly a year now. While I'm not positive that it's going to end up redefining filmmaking in the ways he'd hoped, these technical breakthroughs certainly gives Gemini Man a cool look and feel. The HFR 3D-which has dramatically improved since Peter Jackson experimented with it in 2013's The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug-provides some stunning, richly-textured landscapes and gives each of the many tense, well-choreographed fight scenes a uniquely visceral feeling.
The CGI used to create "Junior" is similarly impressive. Choosing to completely digitize the actor provides a greater sense of realism than just about any other VFX de-aging job that I've ever seen. There are several scenes where the resemblance to Smith's post-Fresh Prince appearance is truly uncanny and almost no moments where the character is even remotely jarring to look at. Considering how he much hype he put on the visual innovations present here, I'll give Lee props for delivering a technical marvel that boasts more impressive effects than the vast majority of the other big budget projects Hollywood puts out.
Gemini Man is a purely entertaining visual treat with good action sequences and a solid cast that is able to keep things afloat in the slower moments. Fans of Lee's more existential work will likely be disappointed by its sometimes unnatural dialogue and not particularly deep storyline, but if you're a fan of Smith's older blockbuster vehicles or just want to kill some time seeing a popcorn flick, this should prove to be an enjoyable watch.
As functional as the small ensemble cast is (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Benedict Wong, Clive Owen) and the story that sets the stage for this Smith v. Smith showdown is, Gemini Man is mostly driven by its sense of pure spectacle. Director Ang Lee (Life of Pi, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) has been pumping up the high frame rate technology he used to shoot to the film as well as the creation of the first ever completely CGI human (the younger version of Smith) for nearly a year now. While I'm not positive that it's going to end up redefining filmmaking in the ways he'd hoped, these technical breakthroughs certainly gives Gemini Man a cool look and feel. The HFR 3D-which has dramatically improved since Peter Jackson experimented with it in 2013's The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug-provides some stunning, richly-textured landscapes and gives each of the many tense, well-choreographed fight scenes a uniquely visceral feeling.
The CGI used to create "Junior" is similarly impressive. Choosing to completely digitize the actor provides a greater sense of realism than just about any other VFX de-aging job that I've ever seen. There are several scenes where the resemblance to Smith's post-Fresh Prince appearance is truly uncanny and almost no moments where the character is even remotely jarring to look at. Considering how he much hype he put on the visual innovations present here, I'll give Lee props for delivering a technical marvel that boasts more impressive effects than the vast majority of the other big budget projects Hollywood puts out.
Gemini Man is a purely entertaining visual treat with good action sequences and a solid cast that is able to keep things afloat in the slower moments. Fans of Lee's more existential work will likely be disappointed by its sometimes unnatural dialogue and not particularly deep storyline, but if you're a fan of Smith's older blockbuster vehicles or just want to kill some time seeing a popcorn flick, this should prove to be an enjoyable watch.
Grade: B
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