Gemini Man is a 2019 action film directed by Ang Lee (Hulk, The Ice Storm, Life of Pi, & Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon).It was written by David Benioff (Game of Thrones, 25th Hour, Brothers, & X-Men Origins: Wolverine), Billy Ray (Terminator: Dark Fate, Overlord, The Hunger Games, & Color of Night), & Darren Lemke (Shazam!, The Parts You Lose, Goosebumps 1/2, & Lost). It was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer (Beverly Hills Cop franchise, Bad Boys franchise, Top Gun, The Rock, & Con Air), David Ellison (World War Z, Annihilation, Terminator franchise, Mission: Impossible franchise, & Star Trek franchise), & Don Granger (Snakes on a Plane, Death Race, 6 Underground, & Jack Reacher franchise). It was originally developed in 1997, it had several directors attached to the project over the years including Tony Scott, Curtis Hanson, & Joe Carnahan. Harrison Ford, Robert de Niro, Al Pacino, Michael Douglas, Chris O’Donnell, Mel Gibson, Tommy Lee Jones, Kevin Costner, Pierce Brosnan, Bruce Willis, John Travolta, Jon Voight, Denzel Washington, Johnny Depp, Nicolas Cage, Brad Pitt, Keanu Reeves, Tom Cruise, Clint Eastwood, Gerard Butler, Nick Nolte, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jason Statham, Dwayne Johnson, Michael B. Jordan, Idris Elba, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, & Sean Connery were all attached or considered for the lead at some point during it’s 22 year planning. The original script for written for Clint Eastwood to be the lead. Actor Nicolas Cage was committed to the project for 7 years until he moved on from it. The budget was $138 million & it grossed $173.3 million worldwide at the box office!!!!
Henry Brogan (played by: Will Smith from Bad Boys franchise, Men in Black franchise, Suicide Squad, & Independence Day), an aging former Marine Scout Sniper who now works as an assassin for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is sent on a mission to assassinate an anonymous terrorist aboard a bullet train from his handler Del (played by: Ralph Brown from Wayne’s World 2, Alien 3, The Crying Game, & Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace). Disillusioned with killing, Henry retires from government service. While adjusting to retirement, Henry meets boat rental manager Dani (played by: Mary Elizabeth Winstead from A Good Day to Die Hard, 10 Cloverfield Lane, Grindhouse, & Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) who is really an undercover agent tracking him & reconnects with an old friend Jack (played by: Douglas Hodge from The Joker, The Report, & Red Sparrow) who reveals that an informant named Yuri (played by: Ilia Volok from Hunter Killer, Air Force One, & Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol) told him that the man Henry killed was innocent. In retaliation for Henry knowing their deception, agency director Lassiter (played by: Linda Emond from The Professor, The Big Sick, & Oldboy) plans to kill him with Clay Varris (played by: Clive Owen from Shoot ‘Em Up, Inside Man, Children of Men, & The Bourne Identity) who is head of a top-secret black ops unit codenamed “GEMINI”. The D.I.A eliminates all of Henry’s close associates & ties up their loose ends on their last mission but they fail to take out their main target. Escaping to Colombia, Henry & Dani go to the home of Henry’s former colleague Baron (played by: Benedict Wong from Doctor Strange, Avengers: Infinity War/Endgame, Kick-Ass 2, & Annihilation). Meanwhile, Clay dispatches his top assassin to kill Henry named Junior (played by: Will Smith from Ali, Enemy of the State, Seven Pounds, & I am Legend). Fighting him off, Henry realizes the assassin bears an uncanny resemblance to himself as a young man with a similar skill set. Henry is also troubled by his similarities to the assassin, whom Dani suggests might be his child despite Henry’s denials. Testing DNA samples recovered from Junior, Dani discovers that his & Henry’s DNA are identical. Junior is Henry’s younger clone. Desperate for answers, Henry meets Yuri in Hungary. Can the aging Henry survive the younger & more dangerous Junior? or Will he be fighting himself until the death finally catches up with his questionable past????
It took 22 years to finally make Gemini Man & it’s definitely worth the wait! This is a must watch for Will Smith fans, he has two different roles in this. I loved how he separated them from each other, It’s one of his best performances in a long time. The technology & visual fx here are top notch when it comes to cinema. I can’t believe how much stuff has changed over the years. The younger version of Will Smith looked so real, they can basically do anything now for movies. They can literally bring someone back from the dead or create a past version of an older actor like they did in Gemini Man. That alone makes this feature worth checking out. It had am interesting story & concept to it. Ang Lee is on the top of his game especially when it comes to the visuals. It had a nice pace & flow to it. The supporting cast was great. It featured lots of familiar faces. They boosted the overall quality of the production. I love Mary Elizabeth Winstead, I’ll check out anything with her in it & this was awesome character for her. This is loaded with all kinds of action, fights, gun play, & violence. It’s a very fun & entertaining viewing experience. I seen it on it’s opening week & the replay value was strong on this revisit for the review. Everything about Gemini Man is at a high quality, it delivers on every level. It was one of my favorite action films from last year, RECOMMENDED!!!!
Let’s talk about the high definition presentation from Paramount Pictures! This 2160p (1.85:1) with Dolby Vision & HDR10 is incredible! It was shot in a high film rate (120FPS) & it’s already the best looking 4K release of 2020, this is beyond reference quality. It’s loaded with a variety of audio options that includes English: Dolby Atmos, English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1, French: Dolby Digital 5.1, French (Canada): Dolby Digital 5.1, Italian: Dolby Digital 5.1, Japanese: Dolby Digital 5.1, & Thai: Dolby Digital 5.1 on this UHD disc. Just like the picture, the audio on this release is top notch. It’s loaded with action so it’s roars through your home set up. The dialogue is crystal clear, all the chaos is elevated, & the music has a huge boost to it. It has a nice variety of subtitles which includes English, English SDH, French, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Cantonese, Dutch, Korean, Malay, Mandarin (Simplified), & Thai. Paramount proves once again they are one of the best when it comes to technical aspects!!!!
Let’s discuss the special features from Paramount on this UHD release! The little over 3 minute “Visual Effects Progression by Weta” is exclusive to the 4K & it’s only extra on that disc. The quick featurette goes over various scenes & the visual fx for the production. The rest of the extras are located on the blu ray disc. The almost 6 minute “Alternate Opening”. A little over 4 minutes of “Deleted Scenes” that include I Found a Plane for Us & Original Yuri Scene. Nice bonus materials to have but I definitely see why they didn’t make the final cut. “The Genesis of Gemini Man” is almost 3 minutes. It has interviews with producer Jerry Bruckheimer, director Ang Lee, & lead Will Smith. Jerry & Ang bring up that this project has been in the making for over 20 years. They bring up that it wasn’t really ready for technology until now. They mention it went from Clint Eastwood to Harrison Ford to Will Smith over the years. Ang talks about not usually directing action or science fiction but the story got his attention. They talk about Smith being the right age for this role & how easy it was to reference his younger self for the film. “Facing Your Younger Self” is almost 6 minutes. It has interviews with producer Jerry Bruckheimer, director Ang Lee, actors Will Smith & Clive Owen. They chat about the lead actor & his duel performances in the movie. They bring up technology & putting this together. Smith goes over how it was like acting against his younger self. “The Future Is Now” is a little over 18 minutes. It has interviews with various cast & crew members. They go over Will Smith’s look & appearance. They take you through the visual process to create a younger version of the actor. This focuses on the amazing technology they have in cinema right now to do stuff like this. It takes you behind the scenes filming the scenes together. It gives you an inside look into some of the action from the production. “Setting the Action” is almost 16 minutes. It has interviews with various members of the cast & crew. It showcases the beautiful locations, stunts, & going behind the scenes for various action scenes. “Next Level Detail” is almost 4 minutes. It has interviews with the crew. They chat about the production design. They talk about putting together the catacombs set. “The Vision of Ang Lee” is a little over 6 minutes. It has interviews with the director, the cast, & various members of the production. They pay tribute to the director. They praise his work & directing style. They go over the visuals & how detailed he was during the production. They bring up the high film rate & shooting for various formats. It also includes a slipcover, a digital code, & a blu ray copy of the release. This release has a few store exclusives. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!
