First, the good news: It's an ambitious film; the deep fake special effects have come a long, long way; and somehow Will Smith enables to bring the film across the finish line despite its glaring weaknesses.
So, the bad news: Despite a pantheon of industry genii at the helm (director Ang Lee [Life of Pi, Brokeback Mountain, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon], writer David Benioff [Game of Thrones, Kite Runner, Wolverine, and Troy], and Jerry Bruckheimer [Pirates of the Caribbean, Armageddon, Remember the Titans, Beverly Hills Cop, National Treasure, and 104 other multi-million-dollar blockbusters since 1972]), the film is flat and boring.
Worst of all, shockingly, is the lighting and cinematography! Gosh, these two things are basic, and in the hands of someone like The Revenant's Emmanuel Lubezki, Gemini Man might have been Oscar-worthy.
As it is, the film feels overexposed, light, and tinny, the same way soap operas do.
That's terrible, of course, distracting and dragging the entire film down.
The same can be said for audio, the production sounding like a 1980s cassette versus state-of-the-art THX or Dolby Surround 7.1.
But like I said, Smith being who he is (a lot like Dwayne Johnson), charisma carries the day and the film is serviceable, but barely.
I won't see it again, and I recommend you not waste your time.
Too bad, cuz it coulda been glorious or 'next level' like Titanic or Avatar, pushing the boundaries of what's possible and inspiring young filmmakers all the way to the bank.
