Gemini Man

CInEMA
CInEMA
Nov 1 · 3 min read

Everything you will expect of a big-budgeted Hollywood CGIs and glossy production is there.

Technical assessment: 2.5 ★★✬✩✩
Moral assessment:
2.5 ★★✬✩✩
CINEMA rating:
V 14
MTRCB rating: GP

Henry Brogan (Will Smith) a government hitman, is almost enjoying his retirement life when he uncovers a deception within the agency and is now hunted by Junior (Will Smith), another skilled assassin who is a spitting image of his younger self. Apparently, a secret operation named GEMINI — using human clones as soldiers devoid of pain or emotion — has produced Junior. When one of the scientists of GEMINI wanted to opt out, Clay (Clive Owen), Gemini’s head, taps Henry to assassinate him in the pretense that he was a terrorist. Now, Junior and Henry face off physically and morally until they ally to bring down Clay so Junior can become a better person.

The concept of Gemini Man is far from unique and creative as previous action sci-fi from Schwarzenegger, Van Damme, Jet Li, Hugh Jackman, among others, have explored the “fighting yourself /younger self” concept — except for the technology used for the first time to create a younger version of Smith’s face. Visually, Ang Lee delivers. Everything you will expect of a big-budgeted Hollywood CGIs and glossy production is there. The sequences are explosive and exciting although faltering here and there with unrealistic stunts and accidental humor. The story could have talked about the emotional journey of an older man regretting how he wasted his life and trying to lead his younger self to a better path. But the weak dialogue and shallow characterization only reduce the film’s potential even more.

Let’s assume that the movie delivered one good premise it offered — that of an introspection of a regretful man trying to amend his life through a metaphor of his younger clone. As much as we try to deny the moral standards every human being is bound to, it will always catch up. We might reason that our actions are justified. That one good is better than the other — even if that is a selfish good. We might defend our choice as the lesser evil in the circumstances. But at the end of the day, when we are alone with ourselves, the question pops. What have we done to make life worthwhile? What good have we set aside so our self-serving decisions can find its way? Henry was an assassin but he tried to live by a moral compass. Junior was raised by a father with evil intentions he found his way back. The conscience will always prod us to examine our life and show us how near or far we are from our true destination as humans created by the Divine. No matter how much we deny it — we will always have a heart searching to love, a reasoning searching for truth, a soul searching for good. — PMF

DIRECTOR: Ang Lee; LEAD CAST: Will Smith, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clive Owen, Benedict Wong; PRODUCER: Jerry Bruckheimer, David Ellison, et al.; STORY: Darren Lemke, David Benioff; SCREENWRITER: David Benioff, Billy Ray, Darren Lemke; EDITOR: Tim Squyres; CINEMATOGRAPHY: Dione Beebe,; MUSIC: Lorne Balfe; GENRE: Sci-fi Action; COUNTRY: USA LANGUAGE: English RUNNING TIME: 117 minutes

CBCPCINEMA

The film rating and classification board of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), Episcopal Commission for Social Communication and Mass Media.

CInEMA

Written by

CInEMA

The film rating and classification board of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines.

CBCPCINEMA

The film rating and classification board of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), Episcopal Commission for Social Communication and Mass Media.

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