Will Smith once shouted at Director Ang Lee, saying that he would be old if he didn't make a film with him.
And then there was Gemini Man, and maybe that's one of the things that made this movie come out and made. Because "Gemini Man" began to try to make as early as 1997, during which time I also tried to find Harrison Ford, Clint Eastwood, Chris O'Donnell, Mel Gibson, Jon Voight , and Nicolas Cage, the big names on the front line at the time, to star.
However, the film needs to use CGI technology to create the appearance of the protagonist when he was young, which accounts for a large proportion of the film, so there are serious technical defects in the film technology at that time in terms of expression performance, 3D modeling, and realism. It has also led to the fact that the film cannot meet the audience until today. Now, restoring the appearance of the leading actor when he was young is obviously not a new thing in movies, but it is unprecedented to create a young Shi Huang like "Gemini Killer", and play with the real middle-aged Shi Huang on the same stage for a long time.
Moreover, director Ang Lee continues the high-tech black technology of the movie. This time, "Gemini Man" still adopts the immersive viewing technology of 120 frames + 4K + 3D, which is consistent with the last "Billy Lynn's Midfield War". Many people will think that the two films are a bundled agreement. Director Ang Lee signed a contract to make two films, but in fact, apart from the same film technology, the film is completely different from the distribution company to the production supervisor, from the screenwriter to the photography, etc. Different.
It can be said that the 120-frame film technology is director Ang Lee's own insistence. In the interview about "Billy Lynn's Halftime Battle", director Ang Lee said that promoting film technology is a kind of thing for him. A sense of mission, destiny.
Well, aside from the film technology, let’s go back to the film itself. There are no spoilers in this review, so please watch it with confidence.
"Gemini Killer" tells the story of Henry, a 50-year-old spy, starring Shi Huang, who knew his destiny. After killing the last "terrorist", Henry was about to wash his hands and retire. He was chased by a well-trained agent, this young and strong agent was just when Shi Huangben was young, a mystery and conspiracy were gradually being revealed..." As I said earlier, The concept of "Gemini Killer" began to exist as early as 1997, and even then there was a relatively complete outline of the story.
Let's recall, what happened to the movie 22 years ago, and the topic of cloning technology has only just begun to heat up. On July 5, 1996, the world's first cloned sheep Dolly was born, or this is also the birth of the idea of "Gemini Man". the source of.
After that, clone-themed movies began to shine. The most popular clone-related films were "The Sixth Day" in 2000, "Escape from Clone Island" in 2005, "Moon" in 2009, and the Star Wars series "The Clone Wars". ", etc., many film and television works have begun to use cloning technology as one of the topics of science fiction movies. So on the innovative level of the script, "Gemini Man" is no longer a new topic, let alone cloning, even the time-traveling "Ring Messenger" has played the stalk of killing itself.
Moreover, an elderly agent found in his conscience, and finally turned to the anti-antigen organization. These creative bridges have also been performed by countless agents in film and television works. The two tepid and slightly outdated creative bridges are first of all attractive. Appears a little weak. At present, the ratings of "Gemini Man" in foreign countries are not ideal, even worse than "Billy Lynn's Midfield War". Could it be that director Jiang Lang has run out of talent? !
Let’s talk about the conclusion first, I don’t think so, let’s look at the screenwriter of the film first.
There are three screenwriters this time, including Darren Lemke, who wrote "Shazam of Thunder", and he is also the original author of the story of "Gemini Man". In addition, there is David Benioff in "Game of Thrones", emmmm, it seems that the last season of "Game of Thrones" did not like double-D, and there was Billy Ray in "Captain Philip". In fact, the past works of the three screenwriters are still remarkable, and the "Gemini Man" with an investment of 130 million US dollars will naturally not spend less effort in the script.
And in fact, the script of "Gemini Man" has actually gone through the hands of six or seven screenwriters, revised repeatedly, and changed different producers. In 2017, it was decided to be directed by Ang Lee and starred Will Smith.
Therefore, Director Ang Lee has almost no right to change the script, and there is no way to add more plots that he wants to express. This is just a regular action blockbuster mode where the director signs a contract and gets paid. There are too many screenwriters, which may be the reason why the script of "Gemini Man" is too stable but has no bright spots. There are too many changes in the script, and each screenwriter has his own more important projects to complete. Under the Hollywood production industry order, signing a contract The director does not have more say.
I have always emphasized it before, and I will stress it again here. The paradox of the art of film is that although film is the crystallization of collective creation in production, sometimes the core expression of film is very personal. , and even the more personal the work, the more it can become a work of art. So this may also cause "Gemini Man" to appear too neat as a whole. The film follows the standard routine of an action movie, and the event narrative is greater than the characterization, so that "Gemini Man" is just an action sci-fi film with a given process, nothing more.
Of course, as an action film directed by Ang Lee and starring Shi Huang, compared with the more rigid and stable character images of most action films, the film spent more time studying the delicate emotions of the protagonist Henry. It also incorporates the gentleness of Eastern Confucianism into the character.
Although this time it is not moving, I can also feel that Director Ang Lee is working hard to add these emotional elements to make the characters in the film more realistic and three-dimensional. What the film really wants to convey at the core level is that when everyone has the opportunity to face their younger self, they hope to give themselves a chance to come again, and at the same time, they can re-examine themselves and face their hearts.
I believe that people who have seen the movie can easily feel the warm atmosphere created by Director Ang Lee. In the action scenes, we can also see Director Ang Lee trying to expand all dimensions of his director's career.
If Director Ang Lee is in the family, the character emotional construction is already a hall-level player, then in the action genre, he may only be a player who is still leveling up, just like Director Ang Lee talked about in the previous interview, Some investors burned money for him to do experiments, why not do it.
In terms of action scenes, "Gemini Man" is not as impossible as "Mission Impossible", and it is not as powerful as the "Speed" series. Of course, there is no extremely personal style. The messy, sharp Bourne series. However, the three important action scenes of "Gemini Man" can actually be described as flowing clouds and flowing water. The action links are tense and exciting, and the rhythm control and control are intertwined. The settings of some of the long shots make the film look very smooth in one go.
So in fact, in my eyes, this "Gemini Man" is not as unbearable as foreign professional reviews describe it, and there is a serious aesthetic separation between the professional and the public, which is exactly the same as the previous "First Blood 5" ( Rotten Tomatoes for professional ratings, Popcorn for popular ratings). So to a certain extent, perhaps many film critics went to see "Gemini Man" with the expectation that Director Ang would make Oscar statuettes again, but they only saw a slightly normal action blockbuster.
Director Ang Lee has won 3 Oscars, 2 Golden Globes, 2 Venice Golden Lions, and 2 Berlin Golden Bears before, let alone the light of the Chinese, they are all cattle on the list of international directors. X sparkling.
Perhaps it is this kind of brilliance that made director Ang Lee despised by film critics who are used to seeing literary styles when he tried to step into the field of action blockbusters, but I still want to say that this time Rotten Tomatoes scored 27 points? ! Excuse me, as for how big of a prejudice is against Director Ang Lee? Or how high are your expectations for Director Ang Lee?
In short, if you put aside the aura of director Ang Lee and watch "Gemini Man" with the mentality of watching a Hollywood blockbuster, you will get more surprises, because there are many movies that can make us as Chinese, more personal The oriental father-son-like emotion carried in the heart of the character.
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