There's plenty talk online about how Will Smith hasn't made a good movie for at least a decade or more, but I contend that you simply haven't watched a Will Smith movie in the correct way.
Now, take that hot take with a grain of salt because I live for movies that have bad dialogue and even worse plots.
And Gemini Man has bad dialogue and a routine plot, but Ang Lee has found a way to make it a perfect throwback to the late-90s movies that Smith was known for.
Smith plays Henry Brogan, a government assassin, who just wants to retire but the government has decided to kill him.
But he's the best at what he does, so eventually he has to be chased down by a younger clone of himself. Yes and it's actually better than it sounds.
That clone works for Clay Varris (Clive Owen), who owns a private military business that secretly works with the government to assassinate Brogan.
What makes Gemini Man a fun action movie is that Ang Lee knows exactly when to ramp up the insanity of such a premise.
The motorcycle chase in the middle of the movie starts off as your typical chase through crowded streets, but soon turns into the younger Smith punching the older Smith with the motorcycle.
It's insanely fun. Part of me thinks Lee wanted to get a second shot at an action movie after the weird, introspective Hulk that flopped with critics.
Yeah, the dialogue is bad, but that's the beauty of a Will Smith movie to me. It's fun watching him try to deliver such corny lines with a serious face.
And the cast here has great chemistry. Smith is joined by Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Benedict Wong as he journeys to discover why he was cloned and why the government wants him dead.
It's not a great movie by any means, but if you loved movies like Face/Off and Bad Boys then you are in for a treat.