GEMINI MAN Review

There are few things more disappointing than a movie that moots the charisma of Will Smith. And yet, somehow, Ang Lee's Gemini Man manages to not only do this, but do so as the film literally doubles the amount Smith while equally subduing the level of charm the movie star typically brings. Gemini Man is a science project of a movie in which Lee once again tries to make a case for the practice of utilizing higher frame rates as opposed to the traditional 24 frames per second, which is pretty much how all movies have been shot since moving pictures and sound collided. As with his previous feature, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, the filmmaker shot Gemini Man at 120 frames per second and though only a handful of theaters in North America will be able to show the film in this intended format Lee continues to insist this is the way of the future of cinema or more appropriately-the next step in salvaging the theater-going experience. To this point, Lee's intentions are obviously admirable as he is experimenting in these techniques to try and enhance the immersiveness of the theatrical experience and it might even be further to this point that Lee has tried to implement such techniques through as generic a genre thriller as Gemini Man, but despite the technology (and this is something Lee should have learned on Billy Lynn) the level at which an audience is immersed in a film and the experience of movie-going as a whole is still rooted in the basics of story and character. That's not to say the core concept of Gemini Man doesn't have potential-films cut from the same cloth such as Looper, Minority Report or even The Terminator to a certain extent have all succeeded in different ways while more or less using the same tools-but here, the premise seems to simply be an excuse to try these new advancements in the field of filmmaking; essentially making Gemini Man a crapshoot of a movie that will help the film industry figure out what works and what doesn't. Furthermore, in the age of properties and brands being bigger than old school movie stars Will Smith is still arguably still one of the biggest celebrities if not movie stars on the planet still as well as being one of the most charming and likable personalities to boot, but in Gemini Man all of that presence and personality is squandered in a movie uninterested in who Smith's character is. Gemini Man ultimately feels less like a step forward in any aspect of its production and more like a regression in the ability of Lee to tell a compelling story with or without all the bells and whistles.

First Trailer for Ang Lee's GEMINI MAN Starring Will Smith

Paramount Pictures has released the first trailer for Ang Lee's latest directorial effort, Gemini Man, a sci-fi thriller that employs Will Smith as an assassin tasked with hunting down his younger self-a clone. While the premise may sound more than a little familiar (Looper anyone?) and it's not a great sign that the screenplay is credited to at least seven individuals this is still an Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain, The Ice Storm) production and for that reason alone is worthy of some attention. Lee, who last won an Oscar for his directing effort on 2012's visually stunning Life of PI had a rough time with his follow-up in 2016's war drama, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk. The filmmaker, who has always been known to push the technological limits, shot that film completely in 4K and at 120 frames-per-second, but unlike PI (at least during it's theatrical run) the film made no cultural impact and even less of a box office impact as the $40 million production barely made it past $30 million at the worldwide box office. With Gemini Man, Lee enters into a more straightforward genre picture and with a double dose of one of our most charismatic stars as Smith is pulling double duty in portraying both the younger and older versions of himself (unlike Looper) as Lee is using de-aging VFX to portray the 50-year-old Smith hunting down his 23-year-old self. All of this said, the trailer looks a little more bland than I was hoping given the team involved and the story they're telling, but the action looks to be executed in a top notch fashion (as it should coming from the guy who made Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) even if trailer trope of using a sad cover song-especially a song like “Forever Young”-really puts into perspective how kind of "behind the current" this trailer makes the movie feel despite the fact it's undoubtedly on the cutting edge of technology. Here's to hoping this is just a bad piece of marketing rather than a true indication of the final product. Gemini Man also stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clive Owen, Benedict Wong, Douglas Hodge, and opens on October 11th, 2019.

THE FAMILY FANG Review

Note: This is a reprint of my review for The Family Fang, which originally ran on September 16, 2015 after seeing it at the Toronto Film Festival. I am publishing it again today as it hits select theaters and VOD this weekend.

I rather enjoyed Jason Bateman's 2014 directorial debut Bad Words. I think I've watched it more times than I initially imagined I would given I thought it was fine, but little more. That said, I was really excited to see what Bateman would do next in the director's chair and boy does he deliver. While I had tempered expectations for The Family Fang it was clear after the films cold open that we were in for something pretty unique. This is in fact the strongest element the film has going for it in that you never quite know where it's going. Eventually, given the circumstances presented, we understand the themes of family and liberation that are being touched upon, but never do we know exactly what will happen next. This is due largely in part to the fact the premise is so different and off the wall. Adapted from a 2011 Kevin Wilson novel by screenwriter David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole, Oz the Great and Powerful) The Family Fang is a film that is telling a dysfunctional family story through the conduit of performance art. With this material Bateman has taken advantage of the dark comedic tones the story highlights and is really able to explore not only his growth as a filmmaker (you can feel the more assured hand at work), but a more complex range of emotions. Bad Words was very on the nose for the sarcastic, cynical straight man, but The Family Fang requires more layers and it is layers he has provided as his latest film never stops evolving and the characters only grow out of the demons they're forced to come face to face with.

TIFF 2015: THE FAMILY FANG Review

I rather enjoyed Jason Bateman's 2014 directorial debut Bad Words. I think I've watched it more times than I initially imagined I would given I thought it was fine, but little more. That said, I was really excited to see what Bateman would do next in the director's chair and boy does he deliver. While I had tempered expectations for The Family Fang it was clear after the films cold open that we were in for something pretty unique. This is in fact the strongest element the film has going for it in that you never quite know where it's going. Eventually, given the circumstances presented, we understand the themes of family and liberation that are being touched upon, but never do we know exactly what will happen next. This is due largely in part to the fact the premise is so different and off the wall. Adapted from a 2011 Kevin Wilson novel by screenwriter David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole, Oz the Great and Powerful) The Family Fang is a film that is telling a dysfunctional family story through the conduit of performance art. With this material Bateman has taken advantage of the dark comedic tones the story highlights and is really able to explore not only his growth as a filmmaker (you can feel the more assured hand at work), but a more complex range of emotions. Bad Words was very on the nose for the sarcastic, cynical straight man, but Family Fang requires more layers and layers he has provided as his latest film never stops evolving and the characters only grow out of the demons they're forced to come face to face with.

OLDBOY Review

Spike Lee's remake of Oldboy will go down as one of the bigger disappointments of 2013, that is, if it is remembered at all. This is unfortunate though as it feels to me that this is one of those films that was locked out and given up on before it even had a chance. Initial reaction to that previous statement goes to the fact this was originally planned as a wide release, but was quickly cut back to a limited roll-out which typically accompanies smaller films where the studios expect positive buzz and strong word of mouth to build anticipation for it once they expand to more cities. This obviously didn't happen in the case of Oldboy as it was pretty much dead in the water from the time the earlier decision was made to push it back a month from October 25th to November 27th. Back to the initial reaction statement though, while it may go to the aforementioned unfortunate scenario it seems the truth is that this project was probably dead from the moment it was greenlit by whatever studio head thought it a good idea to remake the 2003 Korean film that has amassed an extremely loyal following and is considered a masterpiece by many. Though I always thought the purpose of re-making something was to bring it to the attention of those who might not otherwise discover the original there are those more cynical who believe the sole purpose of piggy-backing off the name of a successful foreign film and Americanizing it is purely for profit while hopefully guaranteeing a win financially; they are probably right. Still, that clearly all but backfired here as no one thought through how you might market a film where much of its story and the suspense that goes along with it are dealt in the twists and surprises the film holds close to its chest. No one seems to have thought through that this brutally dark picture isn't what most moviegoers are looking for at Thanksgiving and that it would have likely been better facing off against Bad Grandpa than Frozen. This piece is not meant to question why the film failed financially or in its marketing though, but instead if the film itself was even necessary. I haven't seen the original Chan-wook Park film and so I was no less than intrigued by the trailers and anxious to see what a director like Lee might do with this perplexing material.