Gemini Man: Film Review

Gemini Man sounded like a ridiculous and bonkers idea but the thought of double Will Smith filled me with hope. But sadly even he can’t save this.

Will Smith plays Henry Brogan, an ageing government assassin who hands in his retirement. Soon after, he learns that he was deceived by his agency and his last hit wasn’t a terrorist at all. However, he now knows too much and needs to be dispatched. After the agency sends in their troops to kill him, Henry takes off and goes on the run with Danny (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a government agent, and his friend Baron (Benedict Wong), but matters become way more complicated when Clay Varris (Clive Owen), the head of black-ops unit Gemini, sends in Junior.

The biggest problem with the film is that it takes itself way too seriously. The concept is so silly and ridiculous and Ang Lee should have leaned into it, hammed it up and been more fun, but there’s a real lack of humour and Smith plays it straight when he should have been his usual charming, entertaining self. Where is the Will Smith I love?! He gives a fine performance but it’s far too serious. Winstead and Wong offer up great support and Owen plays practically the same nasty character he portrayed in The Informer.

The story started out quite promising, there were cool action scenes and it was enjoyable in places but after Henry meet his younger clone self – created using motion capture and digital effects – the plot lost its way and became quite dull and bland. Junior goes from being an unbeatable threat to a wounded soldier having an existential crisis really quickly so their face-off wasn’t as thrilling or exciting as I was hoping for.

The look of the film is also quite off-putting. It’s shot in 3D, 4K and at a higher frame rate so at times it looked super cheap and at others, it looked like a video game. It’s disorientating and quite jarring. Some 3D moments did look cool and the CGI on Junior was really, really good. I genuinely bought into him being a young Smith, except in the final scene where he didn’t look quite right.

Gemini Man suffers from a below-par script. The dialogue is textbook and the plot is disappointing and dull. I usually love Will Smith but even him playing his younger self couldn’t save this.

In cinemas now