Gemini Man

When I first saw the trailers for Gemini Man a few months ago, I thought the idea of a man forced to confront a younger version of himself sounded really intriguing so I saw a Thursday preview last night.  While there are quite a few problems, I actually enjoyed this movie.  Henry Brogan (Will Smith) is a highly trained government assassin who is getting older and starting to feel conflicted about what he does so he wants to retire.  However, he learns that his last assignment was a set-up to cover the tracks of a covert black ops agency run by Clay Varris (Clive Owen) known as GEMINI.  Fearing Brogan’s response, his own agency sends a team of assassins to kill him but he eludes them easily with the help of two other colleagues who remain loyal to him (Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Benedict Wong).  The three of them travel to Colombia, where Brogan believes he will be safe, but Varris sends another assassin who seems to know his every move before he makes it.  He eventually learns that this assassin is a clone created by Varris to have all of his strengths without his any of his weaknesses (like having a conscience).  This leads to an epic confrontation between Brogan, his clone, and Varris.  The action sequences in this movie are incredibly intense and inventive (I saw this in 3D+ HFR and I actually thought it was amazing but others might not like it and I've heard that the action is not as good in other formats), particularly a motorcycle chase in the streets of Cartegena, hand-to-hand combat in the catacombs of Budapest, and a wild fire fight in a warehouse in Atlanta.  I liked Smith's sincerity in this dual role (although the younger version sometimes looks a little creepy) but I especially enjoyed Winstead because she really kicks ass and Wong because he adds a bit of levity.  The dialogue in this movie is very clunky (much of it is even cringe-worthy) and the story isn't as fully realized as it could be with such an interesting premise.  However, the biggest problem for me is that the movie spends quite a bit of time trying to solve the mystery of who this secret assassin is and the big reveal is played as if it is a major plot twist.  Because of the marketing for this movie, everyone knows going in that the assassin is a younger version of the main character so the build up falls a bit flat.  It is almost laughable how long it takes Brogan to realize that this assassin looks just like him.  Still, I had a lot of fun watching it and I recommend it to fans of action movies.