Line #23 Film/GeminiMan


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/geminiman.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''"I think I know why he’s as good as you. He is you."'']]
3	%%
4	->''"Of all the people in the world to come after me, why would he send you?"''
5	-->-- '''Henry Brogan'''
6
7	''Gemini Man'' is a 2019 [=sci-fi/action=] film produced by Creator/JerryBruckheimer and directed by Creator/AngLee. The film stars Creator/WillSmith as Henry and Junior, Creator/MaryElizabethWinstead as Dani Zakarweski, Creator/CliveOwen as Clayton "Clay" Varris, and Creator/BenedictWong as Baron.
8
9	Henry Brogan, an aging government assassin seeking to exit his career, finds himself going up against a younger clone of himself named Junior, who's able to predict his every move. With no other choice, Henry must uncover the truth behind Junior's creation and save him from going down the same dark path he did, all while fighting against a corrupt system determined to "retire" him at all costs.
10
11	This is Lee's second film after ''Film/BillyLynnsLongHalftimeWalk'' to be filmed in 4K 3D at 120 fps, and further pushes the technological envelope by having Junior being [[https://www.inverse.com/article/58444-gemini-man-movie-will-smith-junior-cgi-technology-explained rendered as a fully digital character based on Will Smith's onset performance]] as opposed to traditional DigitalDeaging.
12
13	The film was released on October 11, 2019.
14
15	It is not related in any way to [[Series/GeminiMan the short-lived television series.]]
16
17	'''Previews:''' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbyJignbSj0 Trailer 1,]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6orc_lHvJKY Trailer 2.]]
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20	!!''Gemini Man'' contains examples of:
21
22	* AbusiveParents: Clay raised Junior and acted like his adopted father. However, he lied to him about his origins, and manipulated Junior to turn into a killer later. Junior is distraught at finding this out. [[spoiler:Henry also mentions his parents. His father left home when he was 5. His mother, who worked two jobs a day, for 40 years, used to beat him, because of his resemblance with his father. Henry said that, most of the time, it was deserved, and he found his real family in the Army. After that, he has been told about his mother's death]].
23	* ActionGirl: Dani is a trained agent, and is shown to be more than capable of holding her own as Henry's ad hoc partner, both with guns and in unarmed combat.
24	* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: It goes both ways. Henry is completely thrown by Junior's skills and abilities (even without the handicap of not wanting to kill him), and is constantly on the defensive in their fight. At the same time, a rattled Junior tells Clay he failed to kill Henry because Henry knew every move Junior would make before he did.
25	* AspectRatioSwitch: It happens only once. In the first scene, the aspect ratio gets shorter for a close-up of a train speeding by.
26	* BaitAndSwitch: On finding a TrackingDevice in his boat, Henry confronts Dani, who's a recent employee at the boat harbor. He seems to be being paranoid and offers to make it up to her by buying her a drink, only to confront her later with her DIA file.
27	* BatmanGambit: Junior uses Dani as bait to lure Henry into a death trap.
28	* BecauseImGoodAtIt: The reason that Henry's agency sent a clone instead of another hitman? Henry's the best hitman they ever had, so they needed someone to match that prowess.
29	* ButForMeItWasTuesday: Yuri notes that when the Russian government betrays and tries to kill you, it's a typical Tuesday.
30	* CarFu: Happens during the first Henry/Junior ChaseScene on [[HeroStoleMyBike motorcycles]]. It ends with both of them running out of ammunition or weapons, so Junior tries to kill Henry using his motorcycle.
31	* CastingGag: The Japanese dub is one of the few dubs when both Henry and Junior are voiced by different actors, and for a good reason in this case: Both Creator/MasashiEbara (Henry) and Creator/KoichiYamadera (Junior) had dubbed Smith in many of his films in Japan. This is invoked in a very funny way when one of the alternative posters used in the Japanese version replaced Smith as both characters [[https://www.fukikaeru.com/?p=12571 with both Yamadera and Ebara in his place instead.]]
32	* TheCenterpieceSpectacular: The catacombs fight at the end of Act 2 features Henry and Junior fighting one on one, mostly unarmed.
33	* CloneAngst: Junior has a really hard time coping with the fact that he is a clone once he finds out.
34	* ClonesArePeopleToo: Junior would rather not be used as an expendable RedshirtArmy. Henry is also horrified at Clay's plan to replace all US soldiers with clones to be expendable cannon fodder.
35	* CrazyPrepared: Henry has an alarm system covering not the house but the surrounding grounds. When it goes off in the middle of the night, he lifts a hatch in the floor right next to his bed and jumps into a cellar where he has a [[EmergencyStash bug-out bag]] waiting.
36	* CuttingTheElectronicLeash: Soon after Henry and Dani become fugitives, the latter throws her smartphone into the water.
37	* DangerRoomColdOpen: Used for foreshadowing, introducing the EliteMooks and battleground used in the final act.
38	* DeceptiveLegacy: Junior was told that Clay, mentor and father figure, adopted him because his birth parents "dumped him at a fire station". Junior grew up believing he was an orphan until he finds out he's a clone.
39	* DigitalDeaging: Smith plays Junior through special effects that make him look younger.[[note]]The mechanics represent a new approach to this, as stated above, with Junior being largely a [[SerkisFolk motion-capture based CGI performance]] as opposed to mapping out wrinkles.[[/note]]
40	* DisappearedDad:
41	** Played with: Clay thought that a loving, present father figure would improve Junior over Henry. Clay insists repeatedly that he loves Junior and that he is precious. Junior doesn't buy it once he learns the truth.
42	** Played straight: Henry's father was abusive and then abandoned Henry at a young age.
43	* DramaticUnmask: [[spoiler:When the [[GasMaskMook gas mask]] is removed from the SuperSoldier who attacks them, it turns out to be an even younger version of Junior.]]
44	* ExpendableClone: Despite pretending otherwise to Junior, Clay clearly views him along with clones in general as just being tools used instead of regular people who needn't be cared about. He even wants to replace ''all'' US soldiers with clones modified so as not to feel fear or pain, because no one need care about them.
45	* FireForgedFriends: Dani, Henry and Junior (who has taken a new name) end up as this by the end of their adventure together.
46	* GatlingGood: There's a Dillon gun mounted on the armored personnel carrier in the final battle. A more realistic version with the laser-beam like tracers and the aversion of BottomlessMagazines--meaning that once it shoots up the building they're hiding in, [[AwesomeButImpractical it plays no further part in the battle]].
47	* HeKnowsTooMuch: The DIA decides to kill Henry after he finds out that the "terrorist" he killed at the beginning of the film was actually an innocent scientist.
48	* HasAType: Henry admits that at Junior's age, Dani would definitely have been his type, so that's why he uses her for TheBait.
49	* HollywoodDarkness: Dark scenes were shot in brightly-lit places and edited to make it look like nighttime. The cameras needed bright lights because it filmed at 120fps, reducing the shutter speed to 1/120. Impressively, a flashlight casts a proper beam on Junior in the catacombs scene.
50	* IHatePastMe: Whenever Henry looks at Junior, he sees "every trigger [he] ever pulled."
51	* ImmuneToBullets: The [=GEMINI=] EliteMooks wear heavy body armor, though Henry and Dani are able to take them out fairly swiftly; Henry states that he and Dani should aim at the gaps in the armor such as the joints, neck, and visor, but at some points he just shoots through said armor such as when he scores two headshots with his last bullet. Played more straight with [[spoiler: the SuperSoldier at the end, who shrugs off multiple assault rifle shots to the head, chest, and limbs without any detrimental effect, due to a combination of advanced body armor and not feeling pain.]]
52	* ImprobableAimingSkills: Shown in the BatmanColdOpen when Henry shoots a man in a high speed train, moving horizontal to his line of fire, from two kilometers away.
53	* InsultBackfire: Henry asks why Clay didn't just [[CloneArmy create a whole]] [[MesACrowd army of Juniors]], Clay's response is a simple "Why not?".
54	* IronicEcho:
55	** A mook holds Dani at gunpoint and informs her that she can either tell him where Henry is right now, or in [[ToThePain five minutes minus her teeth]]. Dani beats him up, holds him at gunpoint, and informs him that he can either tell her who sent him right now, or in five minutes minus his teeth. Cut to the next scene, and she presents Henry with a [[TheToothHurts handful of extracted teeth]] when he wonders how she knows the mook was telling the truth.
56	** Henry says that Junior was like a ghost (meaning a ghost from his past) during his AfterActionPatchUp, then we cut to Junior getting his own AfterActionPatchUp from Clay and he says Henry was like a ghost (referring to how Junior couldn't kill him because Henry kept anticipating his moves).
57	* KickTheDog: The DIA sanctions a hit not only only on Jack and Henry who are asking dangerous questions, but Jack's mistress, Henry's former spotter, and Dani are also targeted as potential loose ends.
58	* KillingYourAlternateSelf: Junior confronts his creator about the fact that said creator made a conscious choice to send Junior to kill Henry, who he is a clone of.
59	* KillMeNowOrForeverStayYourHand: Varris to Junior, knowing that he will be reluctant to kill his surrogate father.
60	* LostInTransmission: [[spoiler:Henry calls his former spotter Marino to warn him to start running, only for him to be KilledMidSentence just [[TemptingFate when he's saying that Henry's fears are exaggerated]].]]
61	* MalevolentMaskedMen: The DIA RedshirtArmy that attempt to kill Henry, and the [[EliteMooks Gemini soldiers]] that we see training who turn up in the final act [[spoiler:along with the SuperSoldier version of Junior, covered head-to-toe in [[FutureSpandex flexible body armor]] and gas mask/NightVisionGoggles.]]
62	* MsFanservice: When Junior has Dani [[TakeOffYourClothes strip down to her underwear]], the viewers get more than a few shots of Winstead in just a lacy bra.
63	* MeaningfulName: GEMINI, as in the Gemini Twins.
64	* MenAreTheExpendableGender: Henry explains he didn’t have to think about making sure Dani was safe as soon as the government began targeting him and his associates. Although a bit defied when you consider he was generous enough to ''think'' about contacting Marino and making sure he got as far away as possible before someone is sent to kill him before getting to Dani. [[spoiler:Not that it helps Marino, but points for trying.]]
65	* MenacingHandShot: After Junior revs up his motorcycle and then launches it at Henry to try to kill him, the camera focuses on his left hand as he pulls out a SinisterSwitchblade while walking toward Henry to try to finish the job. We get a similar shot in the catacombs fight, this time with Henry holding the switchblade.
66	* NotHyperbole: At one point Dani subdues a mook and throws back at him his earlier threat that he can "talk later or talk now with all your teeth". By the time Henry catches up with her, she has the information... [[JackBauerInterrogationTechnique and a handful of the mook's teeth]].
67	* OneBulletLeft: And used to kill two mooks at once. [[spoiler:Fortunately Junior enters and kills the rest.]]
68	* OutGambitted: Junior sets up a death trap for Henry in the catacombs of Budapest. He strip searches Dani for a wire, then ties her to a post as bait. He also sets a tripwire with a grenade, disables the lights and uses night vision goggles. [[spoiler:However, Henry comes in knowing the whole plan and busting it. It turns out Dani was wearing a special wire that slipped through Junior's search, and she was "narrating" Junior's plan by [[YouTalkTooMuch commenting on everything he does]].]]
69	* ParentalSubstitute: Invoked by Clay, who raised Henry's clone as his adopted 'orphan' son Clay Junior.
70	* PrecisionFStrike: Dani definitively proves you can say "motherfucker" and still get a PG-13 rating.
71	* ProductPlacement: Coca[=-=]Cola, Budweiser, Stella Artois, among others, all with brand name in clear view.
72	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Played with when Henry gives one to Junior regarding his character flaws, as they're all flaws he himself had to deal with.
73	* RetiredBadass: Henry ''tries'' to become this, but his agency won't let him. Not because YouCanNeverLeave, but because YouKnowTooMuch.
74	* RhetoricalQuestionBlunder: Henry wonders why someone with the capability to clone people doesn't clone someone like Nelson Mandela, only for Dani to reply that Nelson Mandela couldn't kill a man in a moving train from 2 kilometers away.
75	* RogueAgent: In all its incarnations--GEMINI are PrivateMilitaryContractors who run off the books operations for the DIA including the cloning project, and Henry is cited as a rogue operative to justify killing him, so he won't expose the real rogue operation.
76	* SceneryCensor: When Dani is forced to get through a strip search, convenient walls and a fountain hide her from the waist down. We still get plenty of chance to look at her bra, abs and back.
77	* SwordOverHead: [[spoiler:Subverted; Henry and Junior know that Varris will go on to create a CloneArmy if left alive, but Henry stops Junior from killing his ParentalSubstitute, knowing the act will scar him for life. Henry takes the shotgun off Junior, and Varris smiles in triumph...only to be [[ShootTheDog shot dead by Henry]].]]
78	* TrackingChip: Henry wonders how Junior keeps knowing where to find him. Turns out a subdermal tracking chip was implanted on him during after-action surgery a few years back.
79	* TravelingAtTheSpeedOfPlot: Junior gets shot in the shoulder in Hungary, Henry & Co hop on a jet back to the United States, yet Junior somehow has time to return to the US and confront Varris, then be waiting [[OnlyAFleshWound uninjured]] on the ground when the jet arrives in the United States.
80	* UnexpectedVirgin: Dani's first assumption is that Junior is a long-lost son of Henry, an idea that Henry curtly rejects. At first it seems that this is because he's MarriedToTheJob and so has avoided long-term relationships, but Henry later guesses that Junior is a virgin, [[HormoneAddledTeenager despite being in his twenties]], because he considers himself a freak and is worried that others will see it, implying that Henry has avoided relationships too for this reason.
81	* UpgradeVsPrototypeFight:
82	** The movie's main conflict is between aging assassin Henry and his younger, less traumatized clone Junior.
83	** The final battle is between [[spoiler:the original Henry and his first clone Junior on one side (plus Dani) and a perfected sociopathic clone assassin on the other]].
84	* TheVillainKnowsWhereYouLive: Henry uses this to frighten Janet Lassiter into making a deal.
85	* WeaponizedWeakness: An instance that can also be a case of WeaksauceWeakness, as Henry is highly allergic to bee stings, something Junior exploits in a later scene by darting him with bee stinger venom. [[spoiler:Fortunately he only wants to prove beyond doubt that he really is Henry's clone.]]
86	* WellIntentionedExtremist: Clay's ultimate endgame is to [[spoiler:create a clone army so as to reduce the human cost of war significantly]].
87	* WhatMeasureIsAMook: Even before we really get to know him, Varris is shown expressing this attitude towards Henry, raising the question over [[TheSociopath just how genuine his feelings towards Junior ever were]].
88	* WhoAreYou: Henry's inevitable question when he finds himself facing an assassin who looks like himself at a younger age.
89	* YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame: Clay tells Henry that he was the inspiration for Junior's emergence.
90	-->'''Clay:''' You should be flattered.\
91	'''Henry:''' You should be dead.
92	* YouTalkTooMuch: Junior to Dani while holding her hostage as TheBait. He eventually has her BoundAndGagged. [[spoiler:Turns out Dani is wearing a HiddenWire and was relaying information to Henry.]]
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Context Film / GeminiMan