Like many action movies before it, “Gemini Man” features an outlandish plot paired with a grizzled action star. This typical action movie, however, is elevated by technology used to de-age a computer generated duplicate of its star — giving the film an edge.
Will Smith plays Henry Brogan, an aging government assassin who decides to retire and is forced to go on the run after his agency decides he must be killed. Further complications arise as Brogan realizes the assassin sent after him is a younger, cloned version of himself named “Junior”— also played by Smith.
The film uses digital de-aging technology to allow a 51-year-old Smith to face-off against a 23-year-old Smith. This digital trickery is impressively realistic, especially considering there’s a notable difference between the physicalities and voices of the two versions. It’s only in broad daylight when Junior feels artificial, almost like someone is wearing a rubber Smith mask.
For Brogan, a man who looks back upon his life with regret, Junior represents a chance for redemption. As Junior attempts to kill Brognan, the elder Smith is on a quest to save his clone’s soul by preventing Junior from following in his footsteps.
Despite the film’s intriguing premise, the script fails to say anything significant about Junior and Brogan’s relationship.
The script as a whole is hopelessly conventional and streamlined, with the film’s supporting cast, Benedict Wong and Mary Elizabeth Winstead, consistently failing to deliver the screenplay’s clunky dialogue with any real sincerity.
The script may be intentionally simple to focus the audience’s attention on the de-aging technology, but once the novelty of watching Smith fight himself fades, there’s nothing left for the audience to invest in.
Movies, in general, are shot with 24 frames per second, with every one second on screen consisting of 24 individual images. Aside from de-aging Smith, the filmmakers also strived to be ahead of the curve by shooting the film in an accelerated frame rate, using advanced cameras to shoot in 120 FPS.
This technique makes the images in “Gemini Man” feel crisp, smooth and hyper-realistic. When combined with 3-D, “Gemini Man” is likely the closest movies can get to replicating the depth, smoothness of motion and clarity that the human eye perceives naturally.
In other words, watching “Gemini Man” in a theater feels like peering into a stage or out a window as opposed to watching a flat screen.
During the action sequences in “Gemini Man,” the increased frame rate makes every moment feel more visceral.
However, when the action stops, the same technology makes the film look cheap and unnatural. Since soap operas and news coverage are also often shot at an increased frame-rate, some moments in the film are reminiscent of an amateurish TV drama.
The film’s use of increased frame-rate is ahead of its time. Currently, only 14 theaters in the United States (none of which are in New England) are playing the film in its intended 120 fps, 3-D format. Some theaters in Boston are screening the film in 60 fps 3-D, while others are showing the film in the standard 24 fps.
The fact that it’s so difficult to watch “Gemini Man” in the manner in which it was intended to be seen puts the viability of its technological advances into question.
As a story, “Gemini Man” is soulless and boring, but as a science experiment, the film’s use of digital de-aging and increased frame rates is thrilling.
