Gemini Man
Year: 2019
Director: Ang Lee
Starring: Clive Owen, Will Smith, Mary-Elizabeth Winstead & Benedict Wong
Runtime: 117 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 10/10/19 (Legacy Review)
Director: Ang Lee
Starring: Clive Owen, Will Smith, Mary-Elizabeth Winstead & Benedict Wong
Runtime: 117 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 10/10/19 (Legacy Review)
In terms of a film, Gemini Man is very dull. Catch it on Netflix if you want to see Will Smith fight a younger Will Smith. It’s not atrocious as the critics may have you believe but it certainly isn’t much more than bargain bin material.
Why I really went to see it was for the ‘revolutionary special effects’ that the marketing material touts. To create an authentic looking younger Will Smith the film has been shot at 120 frames per second (to put this into perspective, a normal film is shot at 24 frames per second. As a result everything has a much more fluid, more ‘lifelike’ quality to it). If you are going to see the film at the cinema, I would suggest seeking out cinemas that are showing the film at 60+ frames per second and preferably with 3D, the reason being as this is the closest way to see the film as it was intended to be and it actually makes for a relatively unique viewing experience. I couldn’t find anywhere that was actually showing it at the full 120 frames per second, but 60 was relatively accessible.
The 3D effects as a result are actually some of the best I have encountered, the higher frame rate allows the image to be more persistently 3D resulting in a pretty good depth effect from the 3D. However, the higher frame rate actually makes the CGI much more noticeable and makes the action look extremely weird as a result. The CG Smith looks pretty good when he isn’t sharing the screen with other actors, but the moment they are side by side in a relatively well lit scene it all falls apart.
I will give credit where it is due though, if this technology is given a bit more work then it could be something great. Gemini Man is a competent enough tech demo to show what can be achieved with complex CGI and high frame rates. Could this be the future of filmmaking? Probably not for a long time but I like that directors like Ang Lee are giving it their best shot. The film itself may not be memorable, but it’s a film that’s trying to break itself away from the mould and for that I commend it.
Why I really went to see it was for the ‘revolutionary special effects’ that the marketing material touts. To create an authentic looking younger Will Smith the film has been shot at 120 frames per second (to put this into perspective, a normal film is shot at 24 frames per second. As a result everything has a much more fluid, more ‘lifelike’ quality to it). If you are going to see the film at the cinema, I would suggest seeking out cinemas that are showing the film at 60+ frames per second and preferably with 3D, the reason being as this is the closest way to see the film as it was intended to be and it actually makes for a relatively unique viewing experience. I couldn’t find anywhere that was actually showing it at the full 120 frames per second, but 60 was relatively accessible.
The 3D effects as a result are actually some of the best I have encountered, the higher frame rate allows the image to be more persistently 3D resulting in a pretty good depth effect from the 3D. However, the higher frame rate actually makes the CGI much more noticeable and makes the action look extremely weird as a result. The CG Smith looks pretty good when he isn’t sharing the screen with other actors, but the moment they are side by side in a relatively well lit scene it all falls apart.
I will give credit where it is due though, if this technology is given a bit more work then it could be something great. Gemini Man is a competent enough tech demo to show what can be achieved with complex CGI and high frame rates. Could this be the future of filmmaking? Probably not for a long time but I like that directors like Ang Lee are giving it their best shot. The film itself may not be memorable, but it’s a film that’s trying to break itself away from the mould and for that I commend it.