Gemini Man

Dir. Ang Lee

117 Minutes

China/USA

2019

Starring: Will Smith, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clive Owen, Benedict Wong

**/***** Ang Lee's growing interest in being a name behind pioneered technologies continues to supersede his interest in human drama as he tells this messy and hastily written action film about as assassin ("he's the best!") who is pegged for disposal from his employers through a genetically engineered younger killer partially made up of his DNA. Gemini Man is primarily a chase narrative, with Will Smith accompanied by a effortlessly charming Mary Elizabeth Winstead both trying to evade capture from the CGI Smith and get a one-up on figuring out who is behind the hit. In the end, everybody except Smith and Winstead are surprised (though a late in the film "reveal" led to a nice comedic exultation from the weary audience). One would think that in the amount of time it took for the technology to catch up with the vision a few additionally rewrites could have been performed, with an awful blend of action, cringeworthy symbolism (our protagonist finds that he just. . . cannot look in a mirror anymore. . .), and poor, often useless set-up (after viciously killing a bee near the start, our hero proclaims that he is deathly allergic. . . might this could into play later on?) making up the narrative. Whatever Lee might have on his mind on any kind of thematic level is completely undercut by poor and awkward special effects, though the continued heaps of praise and trust that film maker receives remains more perplexing than the mystery driving the film. ​October 11th, 2019