Gemini Man — How to Fail at Concept | Anatomy Of A Failure

[Music] oh that's hot [Music] that's gemini man is one of those films that hollywood has tried to get done for a long while it has roots all the way back in the 90s when it was still supposed to be a disney movie and it almost starred every 90s action hero you've ever heard of even david binioff's draft of the script that is very reflective of the final product was made back in 2007 and now after all this time the movie finally saw the light of day and um yeah to be straight with you i really wanted to like this film because it is an original concept and i always want to support original concept since every time original concepts don't do well it's bad for everybody and there are positive things to say about this movie like some of the outside the box visuals it uses the first shootout with our hero henry's clone for example is very effective and intimidating because they go the joe's route and try to keep the clone as hidden as possible there are some very cool bigger shots here that highlight the movie's budget and i also found the movie's very minimalistic way of filming firefights strangely refreshing but all that said the harsh truth is that all gemini man turns out to be is one of the most forgettable and generic hollywood action movies ever made and again that's so weird because the only reason hollywood has tried to get it made for so long is because it by nature should be the furthest thing from forgettable and generic as a movie can be because of its very strong and stand out original concept basically the concept of gemini man can be summed up in just a few words old versus new that's everything this movie is in terms of who it is about in terms of what it is about in terms of what it's trying to say that is gemini man or at least it was supposed to be see the problem is that somewhere down the long development line the filmmakers completely forgot the concept they were making and this way a movie specifically of old versus new became just another flopped hollywood action movie and now hollywood has yet another reason to avoid making original material when that was never the problem here to begin with so in hopes that hollywood is listening let's take a look at gemini man in order to see what its concept is and how it fails to adhere to it let's see how to take a great original idea and turn it into just the opposite the very core of gemini man's concept is in terms of character which here applies into the old versus new methodology as aging versus young essentially our hero henry is a 51 year old government assassin who has lost his tip due to his age and is now about to retire and the us government being the us government sends henry's 20 year old clone junior to assassinate him as in we have a deteriorating struggling old-timer being hunted by his own physically peaking younger self which at concept level is very intimidating and freaking genius the problem is that this movie never makes henry into a deteriorating struggling old timer who has lost his tip firstly there's the obvious issue of casting you have a movie that's all about age and you cast the one actor who is notorious for not aging what will smith is great and all but he just doesn't work here and it shows in the material itself i just can't believe that in 30 years i'm gonna look like you i just can't believe that in 30 years i'm gonna look like you but obvious casting fumbles aside the problem is even more evident in the character itself the movie for example opens with a sequence that is meant to establish henry as an aging old-timer who has lost his tip clear confirmed confirmed clear go to green in short henry's trying to kill a target by way of an impossible shot and even though he does make the shot and kills the target like planned he hits him in the neck instead of the head and so therefore he could have almost hit an innocent girl that was also there and this is why he chooses to retire this is why we should view him as a struggling has-been but the reason this doesn't work is because the sequence is not based on what happens but what almost happens henry almost misses the target but so what he doesn't miss he almost could have hit the little girl but so what he doesn't hit her and this doesn't establish henry as someone who has lost his tip it just establishes him as someone who is almost beginning to lose his step which in the audience's eyes is the same as him not losing his step at all it's not like james bond in skyfall is almost shot off a bridge at the start it's not like he's almost a shadow of his former self when he gets back he does get shot off a bridge he is a shadow of his former self and it baffles my mind why the sequence couldn't just do what the concept required it to do just have henry accidentally miss the target and kill the girl so that you clearly visually establish him as a shadow of his former self and create doubt in his abilities in the eyes of the audience as well as himself because when it comes to building character something almost happening is basically the same as it not happening injuring the girl works as well if killing is too much but then again the movie tries to imply that henry sees junior as an embodiment of the evil sins of his past which doesn't work here either because we are never given any visual evidence that he was ever an evil guy who committed any true evil sins i get it's because will smith always has to be a good guy maybe you just should have cast mel gibson and it doesn't help that this is all the movie does to set henry up as a struggling old-timer the next time he gets in a firefight with an elite swat team for example just guess how much trouble this deteriorating has been has i understand that henry is the best in the world and whatever but that doesn't mean you shouldn't make him flawed or someone who struggles because now even though junior is established as a deadly threat very well the confrontations between them don't work because what was supposed to be a movie about a has been shadow versus his peak former self just becomes a movie about the best in the world versus someone who is a bit better and that doesn't have stakes or tension or true conflict that's not interesting that's not what gemini man is supposed to be all it is is every generic forgettable action movie ever [Music] another big part of the gemini man concept is what it is about aka the theme which here appears as old versus new in form of old school versus new age what this means in a nutshell is that we have two distinctly different worlds clashing together skyfall for example handles this theme in a very strong memorable way bond represents the positive theme side of more traditional human way of espionage whereas the villains represent the negative anti-theme of technology and automation and drones and so on and the concept of gemini man allowed for a brand new take on this very timely theme of yesterday versus tomorrow henry would represent the positive theme side of old school warfare whereas junior would push the negative anti-theme of technology-heavy modern warfare and then you have a movie that's all about finding out which truly is superior the problem is that the movie we got not only doesn't offer the answer but also doesn't seem to give a single about the question on the villain side as before things are pretty great junior is a millennial soldier of tomorrow who uses a bunch of new cool guns and gadgets and whatnot and we also have the main villain clive owen who leads a big corporation specializing in future warfare fantastic the issue once again is on the hero side we have henry a man of yesterday who based on the concept should be someone who opposes futuristic stuff in a way that distinctly separates him from our villain side you hungry yeah i'm starving but those things expired three years ago huh still tastes good but of course here he's as much if not more of a millennial as the millennial version of him thanks for the tip on the grenade you were talking to him the whole time got a message for you ma'am from a man who transferred a thousand dollars into my feathercoin account just to make sure you got it once again it baffles me why this movie couldn't just utilize the inherent divide between good and evil that is in the very dna of the concept instead of henry securing his perimeter with a smartphone app you couldn't just have him use dogs or whatever instead of him using the same modern weapons and attachments as junior you couldn't just give him more old-school gear that would separate them instead of the technology-dependent millennial using b venom to take down the old timer you couldn't turn it around and have the old-timer usb venom to take down the millennial to show that more traditional non-technology ways of combat can be effective as well like you couldn't put in the effort to distinctly separate these worlds from each other in a way that would make this movie be about something same with the side characters there's a great opportunity to have henry's old war body represent the positive theme of yesterday whereas the young agent would represent the negative anti-theme of the future and always tell henry that technology is better and then the whole point of the movie would be for henry to struggle with that thematic question of which is better when he gets his butt kicked by junior's futuristic gear until at the end it's finally established that the old ways might be useful too or whatever answer you choose but instead the war body just flies a brand new jet and the young agent has nothing to do with the theme whatsoever still tastes good to give this movie some credit there is one good moment relating to the theme when henry intelligently uses junior's own technology against him unfortunately this tiny moment is all there is everything else is just undivided indistinct noise instead of the chase scene being a competition between a traditional vehicle versus a futuristic vehicle both henry and junior just drive the same exact thing instead of the final battle taking place in a futuristic setting where henry is out of his element it's just in some random small town for some reason which is why a film that was designed to be about old school versus new age becomes just another gun vs gun movie about nothing and we already have enough of those for this to be remembered [Music] thirdly there's the philosophical aspect of the concept in which we explore what it's trying to say about a specific topic and considering this movie is all about manufacturing and cloning that topic very evidently here is humanity versus inhumanity in essence we have our main villain clive owen who views humans as flawed soldiers because they're held back by human nature of emotions and doubts and whatever and so his mission is to create his own manufactured super soldiers free of human flaws which he seeks to do by taking henry's dna and creating junior henry brogan is like any other soldier when they're young and stupid they believe anything you tell them then they get older they wear out grow a conscience this is why we need a new breed of soldier do you have an asset in place i have the perfect thousand but still you get tired you have fears doubts feel pain perhaps remorse this makes you human but sub as a soldier less than perfect don't you think your country deserves a perfect version of you and since we have junior to represent clive owens vision of the perfect soldier we can excellently explore the philosophical question of the movie in a very cool visual manner when junior clashes against henry is it truly better for soldier to be machine-like or is there something useful about the flaws of human nature and in addition to that we can also have a nice character arc for junior as he begins discovering his human side and what it means to be human bit like a more extreme version of arnold in terminator 2 that is in a perfect world at least see in actuality none of that stuff happens in this movie whatsoever because from the very beginning it destroys all of its potential by making junior the manufactured inhuman clone more human than a human he was cloned from ma'am i was raised to respect my elders do they understand the rules of engagement or just whatever moves they shoot it everybody tell you why they wanted him dead guy cracked killed eight ops in a single night and his spot that's what they told you that's what he did in 12 minutes i'm putting two bullets in the back of her head you must really know the city i watch a lot of nat geo that's great see you're getting it watch a lot of nat cheo when we first encountered junior in the shootout sequence he is fantastic he's just what the concept requires him to be a deadly machine like terminator but then right after the movie out of nowhere begins presenting him as a full-on human he's eating ice cream he's talking about his favorite tv shows he's crying like a little kid and to be clear him doing all that isn't the problem the problem is that he's clearly done it before and therefore isn't just now discovering it as in how can a movie explore the topic of humanity and inhumanity when the clone that topic is meant to be explore through is already fully human and if he is already fully human what's the point of him being a clone in the first place why not just have it be henry's real son it's not like it makes any difference oh yeah it's because the concept demands him to be a clone you wonder this far from your original concept not only do you get a movie that wastes all of its potential you also get one that is incapable of following the most basic logic clibowen for example here's a guy who per the concept seeks to create his own manufactured unfeeling inhuman soldier but then he raises that inhuman soldier like a real human son and wants him to embrace his humanity and overcome his human flaws like humans are supposed to it doesn't make any sense then they get older they wear out grow a conscience you have a loving dedicated present father this is why we need a new breed of soldier who tells you every goddamn day that you are precious and that you matter do you have an asset in place i have the perfect thousand you're struggling with this strangeness it's fear don't hate it lean into it and i understand why this happened the filmmakers were so obsessed to make junior as human and real and good and relatable as possible that they forgot that per the concept he was never supposed to be human or real or good or relatable he was supposed to become that arnold in terminator 2 isn't a great character because he smiles like a beauty queen it's because he learns to smile like a beauty queen because he discovers humanity but here instead of learning or discovering anything instead of fighting henry at the end and then making a tough final decision between humanity and inhumanity junior is right away a nice human kid who just suddenly joins the good side at the beginning of the third act for no real reason at all it's him can i talk to him i want to be the one to tell them we're all bffs now and then they fight another more machine like clone who jr was supposed to be to begin with and then the movie just ends and as a result now hollywood can look at this movie and have yet another reason not to make original concepts when the problem here wasn't the original concept in the first place but the fact that the concept isn't what was made so thanks a lot gemini man [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: Filmento

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Id: gsvaFONqEus

Length: 16min 26sec (986 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 06 2019