Just recently we went to Vista Mall in Las Pinas to watch an advanced special screening of a Will Smith movie, Gemini Man, at the first IMAX Cinema with Laser technology in Southeast Asia. It was both our first time to see a movie using that technology and here’s what we thought.
Gemini Man is rated PG and will be showing in Philippine Cinemas starting October 9,2019.
What Marcus Thinks of it? His POV
I’ve always thought that for people to understand the real horror of Christ being tortured and hung on a cross, that they would need to see it in the form of a documentary. A cinematic movie dramatizes everything with lighting and music to where our minds know it’s not real. That was very evident in the new Gemini Man movie. The technology used to shoot this movie made it very realistic. So much so, some of the special effects seemed obvious and fake. But if you want to hear about the technology, please check out our post on that topic.
Gemini Man suffered from a weak story. I believe it had great intentions, asking us to question the morality of creating life in a laboratory. Maybe because my views on that topic are one of “why not”, the driving force behind the characters seemed a little weak. There was no world-ending event to prevent. Maybe I have gotten too desensitized by action films, needing that big consequence, but I just didn’t feel that urgency for the characters to act like they did. So, the movie relied on us making an emotional connection with the characters. I usually can get into a Will Smith performance, but maybe because of the technology, or the director’s choice to use very long takes, it just seemed like acting to me, and so I didn’t connect with the daemons the characters were feeling.
If you can watch this movie in an IMAX with Laser, it will be a treat. I don’t know if this is what cinema is going towards, but it is interesting to get a view of what it could be. We had the same reaction when movies were shot in digital instead of film. It’s just too clear. Not cinematic. Now it is cinematic. The Gemini Man story is a little weak. One action sequence was pretty cool (until the end with the ridiculous motorcycle thing). No real sexiness to speak of. Special effects and technology is the only real draw to see this movie.
What Earth Thinks of it? Her POV
I’ve always been a fan of Will Smith because he does innovative type of movies. Gemini Man utilizes never-before-seen visual effects designed to dramatically enhance the movie-going experience for audiences. Ang Lee and director of photography DION BEEBE shot the film in 120 frames per second (as opposed to the standard 24 frames per second), as well as in 4K 3D, which creates incredible visual and aural immediacy for the audience.
With that said, the IMAX with Laser Cinema was the perfect venue to see the difference. Images was so crips and clear like every detail of a drop of water is very obvious. Growing facial hair, wrinkles and pores are so enhanced like seeing a person face-to-face.
Seems the technology is new, the feel is also different than normal movie or the usual movies we have seen. The filter is different or well no filter at all. It’s like a documentary movie shot by National Geographic or like when you are trying to buy a new TV then they have videos showing in there that is so real and clear, that’s how the movie is like especially in the IMAX with Laser Cinema.
Now as for the movie itself, it felt more like a computer game to me . The choreographed movements the action scenes. As for the story it felt short to me , it’s all centric to the main character , no big save the world kind of thing but instead how to save myself. Which was actually the movie theme.
They featured a UNESCO world heritage site in the movie and desecrated it. I’m glad it was all digital and not real or else historical conservation people will get outraged.
Should you watch it? Sure, if you want to see the new technology in movies that will be the next thing in cinematic creations.
