Gemini Man Movie Review

Gemini Man (2019)

Rent Gemini Man on Amazon Video
Written by: David Benioff and Billy Ray and Darren Lemke (screenplay by),  Darren Lemke and David Benioff  (story by)
Directed by: Ang Lee
Starring: Will Smith, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clive Owen, Benedict Wong
Rated: PG-13
Watch the trailer

Plot
An over-the-hill hitman faces off against a younger, stronger assassin poised to take his place as the best.

Verdict
This is a great concept with a very predictable and boring plot. You don't get much more out of the full movie than you do from the trailer. Past the young Will Smith CGI and a couple of action scenes, the movie doesn't offer anything else.
Skip it.

Review
I like Ang Lee's movies. He's a a solid director that usually picks introspective movies. Brokeback Mountain and The Ice Storm are two of his best. Most of his movies have a theme or focus on the human condition, but this is nothing more than a typical action movie that features a nice twist revealed in the trailer.

Will Smith plays Henry, the best hitman around who wants to retire. The next day he's being surveiled and has people after him. This feels a lot like a knock off Bourne, but the big reveal, what we know is coming, is who is tasked with eliminating him. It's his clone, Junior.

Will Smith plays Junior and Henry.

The movie plays out as if we didn't already know this and I assume it's just a disconnect between the movie and marketing. If you could go into this blind, it would be an amazing moment. Their first encounter leads to a fun motorcycle chase, but when old Henry hits the pavement with a bike at high speed, then walks away only to get smacked in the face with a motorcycle tire while Junior is doing an endo, I had to write the scene off. Henry should be dead. This is style over substance. Also, if Junior is such a great assassin, why toy with your target? Just take them out. At it's best moments, the action scenes almost feels like The Terminator, though that only happens twice.

Will Smith CGI'd to look nineteen.

Past the amazing CGI of Will Smith playing himself and a nineteen year old version of himself, there's nothing to this. I looked it up and scenes were shot on location with Will Smith as Henry and a body double for Junior. Then the same scenes were shot in studio on green screen with Will Smith playing Junior and a body double for Henry. With the CGI aspect of this, Ang Lee seems like the right choice after Life of Pi which was very heavy CGI.

I was hoping for some kind of theme in this movie. With Junior better in every way I was curious how Henry would beat him. Would there be a commentary on old versus young? There isn't. Verris, the villain of the movie is big on facing demons, but that's just villain talk.

The cookie cutter ending is disappointing. The whole plot is recycled, and I was hoping for a darker ending with the younger assassin winning and taking Henry's place as the best assassin. I was mainly hoping not to get a predictable happy ending, unfortunately that hope was in vain.