ReviewGemini Man film review: Will Smith confronts dodgy CGI double in Ang Lee’s actioner
- A predictable plot, terrible CGI and shaky camera work mar this sci-fi thriller
- Smith’s CGI double is reminiscent of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, but without the charisma
2/5 stars
One of the biggest complaints I have about modern Hong Kong actioners is that, despite filmmakers being afforded a far higher budget than their ’80s counterparts, the special effects that power the action scenes often look unrealistic.
An exploding car in a 2019 Hong Kong film shouldn’t look any more fake than an exploding car in an ’80s Jackie Chan flick – but alas, that’s often the case, because the former relies on CGI while the latter were practical stunts.
I kept thinking of that while watching Ang Lee’s Gemini Man, which sees Will Smith pull double duty portraying opposing assassins. One actor playing two or more roles on-screen at the same time is not new, but Lee made the decision to recreate the second Smith entirely using digital graphics, and the results are not good.
The digital Smith often looks more unrealistic than, say, the two Nicolas Cages in 2002’s Adaptation or two Marty McFlys in Back to the Future II, because the latter films pulled off the dual role trick by shooting the same scene with the actor twice, and then splicing the footage together.
It may be easier to forgive the below par special effects if everything else about Gemini Man – story, acting, action sequences – is top notch, but that’s also not the case.