GEMINI MAN
***
Dir: Ang Lee (12A, 120 mins)
Will Smith squares off against Will Smith in this technologically advanced if rather formulaic action sci-fi. A film that has been in various stages of development for over 20 years, Gemini Man now has the CGI skills to have a master assassin being pursued by his younger self. A massive ego trip for Smith, no doubt, but with an auteur like Ang Lee at the helm this should have had a bit more intelligence, despite its hackneyed plot. Smith plays Henry Brogan, legendary corporate hitman who finds himself on the run from a mysterious killer who can seemingly guess his every move, because, well, he is him: a 25-year-old clone of himself, Junior. He’s been created by a scenery-chewing Clive Owen, who dreams of creating an elite force but just needs the original bumped off. Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Benedict Wong aid and abet Smith as he tries to convince his younger self that he is being manipulated by his ‘father figure’ Owen, amidst some action-packed set pieces. There is some ruminating on the dangers of cloning and the CGI de-ageing of Smith is convincing, but this is still essentially a B-movie with a high-concept writ large, an 80s blockbuster with 2019 effects.
Opens Oct 11
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