249.
Gemini Man
6.5/10
This movie went massively under the radar until around a week or two before I actually made it to the cinema for a watch. From what I could tell from the trailers, Will Smith was going to be an old hitman character, trying not to get killed by a newer version of himself. When I say a newer version, I don't just mean another hitman, I mean a younger version of himself thanks to plenty of CGI. There was going to be plenty of action, that's for sure but I was a little worried about one thing. I think I could figure out the ending before it even happened. This movie from Ang Lee will join a short list, including the Hulk and Life of Pi, which I have seen him direct. This has been a long time in the works, originally being picked up by Disney in the '90s but with the technology being terrible back then, it was dropped.
The storyline itself didn't stray too far from what I actually mentioned in the last paragraph. It was cool to see Will Smith as this retired hitman and how attentive he still was to his surroundings and changes in his life. His last kill turns out to be on an actual innocent scientist and after meeting with some informants and being listened to by the head of the DIA, GEMINI is ordered to find a way of dealing with Henry, Smith's character. A DIA agent who has been watching Henry, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead is Henry's helper after he confirms that she isn't in on the plot to kill him. The movie follows them trying to free themselves from this situation until A young familiar face gets in on the act.
A clone of Henry is set about on them with no remorse and just the mission in his mind. The head of GEMINI, played by Clive Owen has brought this clone up as his son and taught him everything but we can see this youngster slowly question his mission and by the end, which is the ending that I had guessed, he turns on his 'father' and spares Henry's life.
This is all after they had paired up to take down another assailant in a motorcycle looking helmet, which turned out to be another clone. Clay, Owen's character, gives his last speech that these clones were created to save actual lives withing warfare and using the blood and skills of Henry was the perfect plan. The Junior lifts his gun up to end Clay but Henry stops him, taking on the role himself and saving Junior from actually taking anyone's life.
The movie ends in a little bit of a weird way with the three characters becoming some sort of family. Henry and Dani are an item and Junior, now calling himself Jackson Brogan after Henry's mother's maiden name, is attending college and the three walk off into the sunset together.
A very predictable movie from beginning to end and although it had some saving factors, it definitely will not be classed as one of the best movies of the year. You could see the movie's main ending come a mile away. This means that there is hardly any shock value from the movie at all as we already know from the trailers, that the young hitman is a clone of Will Smith's character. This leads us nicely onto the cast as Will Smith pretty much played Will Smith in an action movie. His older character is someone we have seen him play before but the younger version was interesting at least. From the confident older generation to a nervously social kid, who when needed, turned into an absolute machine. Clive Owen played the same character from the last movie I had seen him in. In Valerian, he was a grumpy power-mad leader with no remorse and once again, we get the same game.
The movie's good points have to be the action scenes. From different kinds of fight scenes, chase scenes which include rooftop running and vehicle chases and also enough explosions to keep Michael Bay happy, it was definitely something to keep you on the edge of your seat. During the motorbike and fight scenes between the two Smith characters, the CGI was actually quite awful. Junior's CGI'd face was terrible and I actually winced at some points with how bad it had gotten. I understand it must have been a hard thing to achieve but surely during editing, they could have escaped those scenes.
If you go into this movie just wanting some action, popcorn storyline and Will Smith then look no further. Don't go expecting a masterpiece, instead, just take it for what it is and enjoy it as a one time watch.
This movie went massively under the radar until around a week or two before I actually made it to the cinema for a watch. From what I could tell from the trailers, Will Smith was going to be an old hitman character, trying not to get killed by a newer version of himself. When I say a newer version, I don't just mean another hitman, I mean a younger version of himself thanks to plenty of CGI. There was going to be plenty of action, that's for sure but I was a little worried about one thing. I think I could figure out the ending before it even happened. This movie from Ang Lee will join a short list, including the Hulk and Life of Pi, which I have seen him direct. This has been a long time in the works, originally being picked up by Disney in the '90s but with the technology being terrible back then, it was dropped.
The storyline itself didn't stray too far from what I actually mentioned in the last paragraph. It was cool to see Will Smith as this retired hitman and how attentive he still was to his surroundings and changes in his life. His last kill turns out to be on an actual innocent scientist and after meeting with some informants and being listened to by the head of the DIA, GEMINI is ordered to find a way of dealing with Henry, Smith's character. A DIA agent who has been watching Henry, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead is Henry's helper after he confirms that she isn't in on the plot to kill him. The movie follows them trying to free themselves from this situation until A young familiar face gets in on the act.
A clone of Henry is set about on them with no remorse and just the mission in his mind. The head of GEMINI, played by Clive Owen has brought this clone up as his son and taught him everything but we can see this youngster slowly question his mission and by the end, which is the ending that I had guessed, he turns on his 'father' and spares Henry's life.
This is all after they had paired up to take down another assailant in a motorcycle looking helmet, which turned out to be another clone. Clay, Owen's character, gives his last speech that these clones were created to save actual lives withing warfare and using the blood and skills of Henry was the perfect plan. The Junior lifts his gun up to end Clay but Henry stops him, taking on the role himself and saving Junior from actually taking anyone's life.
The movie ends in a little bit of a weird way with the three characters becoming some sort of family. Henry and Dani are an item and Junior, now calling himself Jackson Brogan after Henry's mother's maiden name, is attending college and the three walk off into the sunset together.
A very predictable movie from beginning to end and although it had some saving factors, it definitely will not be classed as one of the best movies of the year. You could see the movie's main ending come a mile away. This means that there is hardly any shock value from the movie at all as we already know from the trailers, that the young hitman is a clone of Will Smith's character. This leads us nicely onto the cast as Will Smith pretty much played Will Smith in an action movie. His older character is someone we have seen him play before but the younger version was interesting at least. From the confident older generation to a nervously social kid, who when needed, turned into an absolute machine. Clive Owen played the same character from the last movie I had seen him in. In Valerian, he was a grumpy power-mad leader with no remorse and once again, we get the same game.
The movie's good points have to be the action scenes. From different kinds of fight scenes, chase scenes which include rooftop running and vehicle chases and also enough explosions to keep Michael Bay happy, it was definitely something to keep you on the edge of your seat. During the motorbike and fight scenes between the two Smith characters, the CGI was actually quite awful. Junior's CGI'd face was terrible and I actually winced at some points with how bad it had gotten. I understand it must have been a hard thing to achieve but surely during editing, they could have escaped those scenes.
If you go into this movie just wanting some action, popcorn storyline and Will Smith then look no further. Don't go expecting a masterpiece, instead, just take it for what it is and enjoy it as a one time watch.
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