Gemini Man

Ang Lee is trying to change the way we view movies. His previous effort Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk was, in part, shot at 120FPS. His latest effort, Gemini Man, was entirely shot at 120FPS. The problem with this is only a select few cinemas have the capability to screen films at this framerate. This means only a select few people saw the film as it was intended by the director. Those who did see the film at 120FPS complained that it made the film loo ‘fake’ or ‘soap operary’. Whilst I didn’t watch it at 120FPS I can imagine it looked like watching films/TV on my uncle’s massive HD TV for the first time where it looked like everything was filmed in front of a really bad green screen.

It might be because the film was shot with the intention of being screened at 120FPS that aspects of the film don’t look right when screened at a wrong frame rate, particularly the hand to hand combat scenes. Whilst the fact that they were mostly shot in dark, confined spaces (a small room, a sewer, etc) the jerky movements (of the clones in particular) feel unreal – much like how the big Neo Vs Agent Smith fight felt in The Matrix Reloaded. The movements just don’t feel human, and it’s hard to tell whether it was international or not which makes it rather distracting.

The iffy look of the film could have easily been ignored if the script and story were any good, but they weren’t. This film has been 22 years in the making and you would have expected something more out of this. The dialogue is mostly exposition, explaining why someone did this and how someone did what they did. There are interesting themes about how the use of clones negates the use of real people, with real families, but the counterpoint that clones also have emotions is wanting because Will Smith’s clone (Junior) emotional side of the story is lacking (it’s weak compared to how A.I. crafted an emotional story about a human like robot).

I don’t think it helps that Will Smith plays his clone like he is mentally challenged. I can’t tell if its bad acting or a decision Will Smith made. That said, even his performance as Henry Brogan is so lacking in energy that it remined me of his bland turn in After Earth. The supporting cast isn’t much better, Clive Owen makes for a dull villain and Mary Elizabeth Winstead makes for a dull ally. At least Benedict Wong turns in a decent performance as the comic relief in a movie sorely lacking jokes that don’t make you wince.

The most impressive sequence is the superbly shot motorbike chase in the Colombian village (in which a motorbike is used inventively as a weapon), however I can’t think of anything that stuck out as positively noteworthy.

2.5/5