Gemini Man will probably get an Oscar nomination on Monday morning. What does that mean to you? Well, it means about as much as its box office take. Yet there’s still a faction of online readers that will follow that financial drama like they own stock in Viacom. So, where does that leave us? If you’re like me, it’s wondering how in 8 years we can see Ang Lee go from Life of Pi to a movie that Rob Cohen should have directed.
Ang Lee is still quite an amazing director. However, he has the builder mentality. What is the builder mentality? Well, it’s that creative spark that stops you from producing evolving content. It’s how you get insanely fascinated with frame rate and tech development and then it’s been 12 years since Titanic hit screens. Annoying to fans, but frustrating to artists trying to develop into something more. Whether it’s Cameron, Jackson or Lee…this mental methodology strikes the best of us at times.
Will Smith might be the actor equivalent of this. But, I can’t think of a time where he ever took a lengthy absence from film. Smith is currently in the news talking about needing to be selective when picking sequels to make. Meanwhile, he’s in the middle of promoting a sequel. Still, you ask what does this have to do with Gemini Man?
Does anyone actually like Gemini Man?
Gemini Man was meant to be a big movie. Paramount didn’t put Scott Rudin and Ang Lee together on a major Will Smith movie not to have it deliver. Yet, what do you see when you watch it? A decent supporting turn from Mary Elizabeth Winstead? Some really cool CG work in creating the younger Will Smith as a younger character? More than anything, it feels like Doug Liman’s The Parent Trap more than a well-developed film.
The box tells me that this is the future of action movies. Normally, I scoff at the hyperbole on the marketing copy. It feels like a threat now. We live in an era of media saturation, but where big studio pictures are dwindling. Sure, it’s economics and that comes with any business. It’s just that when your business is making something close to art, it feels really cheap to turn it into a bare minimum commodity. Especially when there is so much talent that tried hard to turn this dreck into something workable.
As I get ready to tear into the Best Films of the Year, I find myself watching this one ever closely. What many considered to be one of the year’s biggest bombs and creative flops has a bit of magic in its makeup. What could’ve been a pedestrian story about cloning, turns into something a fun airplane novel style thriller. Clive Owen chews the scenery as a memorable villain, while Will Smith effectively plays a killer at various steps in his life. It’s quite the tall order.
The 4K Ultra HD disc comes with exclusive 4K special features at high frame rates. Can your brand-new Christmas setup handle 60 FPS? Want to find out? Look at that black screen…it ain’t working. It’ll be a great disc feature to check out in 2-4 years. But, the amount of people that will get the true presentation value is very narrow. You also get an alternate opening and deleted scenes.
An hour of special features coupled with a stacked 2160p transfer makes this film a must-own. Yeah, I know that killer A/V Quality can’t overcome a lackluster film. But, it’s fun to watch master directors strike out at times. They always come back super strong.
