Gemini Man (2019)

[D00mM4r1n3]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Just came back from seeing this in 120fps HFR 3D. I believe my theater was just one of 14 in the country that had it in 120.

[Show spoiler]For the most part I was really impressed with the HFR format. it takes a little getting used to, but once my brain sort of adapted to it, it worked quite well. The HFR provided an unbelievably detailed, and realistic picture, with stunning colors and probably the best 3D I've ever seen. 3D is one of those thing that I tend to get used to quickly, and the effect wears off, but it was very effective for the whole film this time. The few underwater scenes, especially, were absolutely amazing with this presentation. It made me think how well it could be used for a franchise like Aquaman, or something. I still would consider this to be experimental only though. Scenes still look unnaturally sped up at times, and it's certainly not what I'd consider the future of film.

As for the movie itself, perhaps it was my lower expectations going in, but I actually thought it was pretty good. It's perhaps nothing we haven't seen before in some shape or form, but I still found it entertaining, and was never bored. The movie does have some super clunky dialogue, though every now and then it churns out some solid one-liner gems. The entire premise, combined with the cheesy dialogue, makes this feel like a Nicholas Cage vehicle. I say that almost lovingly, as I do adore Cage's performances, even when he's in a terrible film.

Part of the issue with this film is that the premise just doesn't have any sort of "wow" factor to it. Apparently Gemini Man was in development since the late 90's and that definitely shows. The story line completely feels like something inspired by the hot headlines of that era, when the cloning of a sheep was major news, and there was a huge concern over human cloning. Fast-forward some 25 years later, and the notion of human cloning just doesn't have the same impact it may have had back then. I liken it to Gattaca in this regard. Gattaca was a brilliant movie, well ahead of its time, but had it been released now, people wouldn't look at the premise of children being designed as something unrealistic, and well out of reach.

Despite the limitations in its story, I do feel like the movie benefited greatly from being delayed till now. Say what you will, but I think Will Smith was absolutely the perfect casting for this role. More than any other action star (or star in general maybe), we got to know him really well as a young adult, so it really gave a sense of familiarity in seeing a young and old version of the Smith that I really don't think you could get from many, if any other major stars today. The technology to reproduce a younger Smith is of course another plus for having it made now than in the past. While I do feel like the CGI wasn't always that convincing, there are definitely times when my brain was "tricked" by it. I still think they did a pretty admirable job nonetheless, given that it's an entirely CGI character.

The rest of the cast was very good too. Mary Elizabeth Winstead was so damn dreamy (as always). She hasn't been in many action roles as extensive as this before, but she was able to be a complete bad ass, while somehow also being cute as hell the whole time. She also had great chemistry with Smith's older self too. Benedict Wong, like his role in the MCU, plays a solid side character, with decent comic relief. I also thought Clive Owen made for a pretty believable villain too.

Gemini Man as a regular movie would be nothing special. A cheesy popcorn flick that would be quickly forgotten. It's probably still that, but the HFR 3D definitely enhanced my experience of it greatly. I actually feel like this was the closest film to mimicking a video game. Many of the action sequences, if not the entire movie, feels like one very long video game cut-scene. The exotic and colorful locales of Colombia, and the beautiful architecture and catacombs in Budapest really makes it feel like it was inspired directly by the Uncharted franchise. Uncharted, being another project that's been stuck in development hell, could perhaps benefit from using HFR too. Overall, I guess you could say I'm sold on using HFR..in a limited capacity. I don't feel like filmmakers have truly found that "sweet spot" as far as framerate goes, but with technology always improving, I definitely want to see ambitious directors like Ang Lee continuing to try it.

Story - 3/5
HFR/3D presentation - 4/5

Overall: 3.5/5 (rounded to 4 for the poll)

IIRC, Polygon had an article about how the movie was being released and said that the limited list of 14 theaters were a handful of AMC theaters showing it in 4K 3D 120FPS, while there were countless other theaters showing it in 2K 3D 120FPS. I saw it at Regal, so I assume it was in 2K, but the effect was still jaw dropping to look at.