Gemini Man

★★★✩✩

WHAT happens when a great director takes on a generic action movie? Gemini Man.

The filmmaker in question is Ang Lee, and the movie is mostly an excuse to not quite perfect the special effect in which a famous actor is de-aged.

Will Smith plays Henry Brogan, whose plan to retire as the world’s best assassin runs afoul of various covert agencies who hire him and who decide to eliminate him. And who better to knock him off than a younger clone, also played by Will Smith with the help of an expensive-but-unconvincing army of special effects? Believability is not high on the movie’s list of priorities, but it doesn’t take itself too seriously and everyone involved seems committed to making this so-so material work.

Lee’s fingerprints are all over Gemini Man, which is much more stylish and surprising than most movies of this ilk. The camera is always in an unexpected place, shooting from an unexpected angle and capturing unexpected textures and colours. Look, I know no one is going to action movies because of the rainwater, but Lee’s inventive choices make Gemini Man seem cleverer, which makes it more fun. And Lee also delivers on the things you’d expect in this sort of movie: speed, car chases, beautiful settings, good guys who never miss with their guns and bad guys who always do.

And, in trying to find ways to keep himself interested in this not terribly interesting movie, he also finds ways to keep us glued to our seats. – Chris Hewitt/star Tribune/tribune News Service