The first reactions to Ang Lee and Will Smith’s sci-fi thriller, Gemini Man, lay lots of praise on the film’s technical elements. Initially conceived all the way back in 1997, Gemini Man spent about two decades stuck in development and went through a whole string of directors (including, the late Curtis Hanson and Tony Scott) and leading actors (Harrison Ford, Clint Eastwood, Nicolas Cage, and more) before Lee and Smith signed on in 2017. As a result, David Benioff (Game of Thrones), Darren Lemke (Shazam!), and Billy Ray (Overlord) are all credited for writing different script drafts.
Of course, there’s a valid reason for Gemini Man’s numerous delays and changes in creative personnel. The movie’s story pits an aging hitman against his twenty-five year old clone, and the plan was always to use CGI to create a younger version of the film’s leading man. However, if the initial reactions to Gemini Man are any indication, the final result may actually be worth the long, long wait it took to become a reality.
Gemini Man held its first press screenings recently, and the journalists and/or critics in attendance have since taken to Twitter to share their impressions of the film. So far, the response has been very positive, with much of the acclaim being directed towards the movie’s combined use of 3D, high frame rate (HFR) cinematography, and CGI to create Smith’s younger clone. For more, read the SPOILER-FREE reactions embedded below.
Judging by these responses, Gemini Man is much more successful at using HFR visuals to make its action sequences feel immersive and realistic than Lee’s previous exercise in HFR storytelling, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk. Similarly, it sounds as though the director’s 3D filmmaking has only grown more sophisticated since his efforts on his Oscar-winning Life of Pi adaptation from 2012. More than anything, however, it appears that Smith’s turn as his twenty-something clone is a sight to behold. The character is actually an all-digital creation based on Smith’s motion-capture performance (rather than a de-aged version of the actor), which simply makes the CG effect all the more impressive.
That said, it remains to be seen if the rest of Gemini Man is as impressive as its technical aspects. The early reactions don’t have a lot to offer in this regard, save for a couple comments about Gemini Man’s script being weaker than its 3D visuals, and a separate tweet about Mary Elizabeth Winstead delivering a strong supporting performance in the movie. No doubt, the first official reviews will provide greater insight on these matters, but in the meantime it seems as though Gemini Man may end up going down as one of Lee’s more successful cinematic experiments.
Source: Various [see the above links]
- Gemini Man Release Date: 2019-10-11
