Gemini Man Review

Gemini Man

This action-packed thriller isn’t like your typical mystery; it keeps you guessing until the very end. Along the way, it provides some heartwarming messages too.

Positive Elements: Henry Brogan isn’t your typical hitman. Sure, he does kill people, but he feels guilty about it. In other words, his conscience nags him a lot. Henry tells a character “72 kills. It starts to mess with you a little bit.” In a way, Gemini Man suggests that our sinful actions do take a toll on and mess with us, physically plus mentally.

Henry isn’t alone though. When he finds out that another DIA agent named Danny is a target, he rushes to save her skin. In return, Danny becomes a helping hand on several occasions. For instance, when Henry is battered and bruised during a chase sequence, she nurses him back to health. She pleads with Junior to spare Henry’s life in two scenes.

(Spoiler Warning): Junior is Henry’s younger clone, trained to be the perfect assassin. He is sent by someone to kill Henry. When Junior discovers the truth, he sides with Henry and plays a key role in the final action sequence. By the film’s end, Junior is in college and enjoying life with Henry and Danny. Baron is another character who helps all three characters at times too.

Spiritual Content: One character says someone is “playing God with DNA.”

Sensual Content: An uncomfortable scene pictures Henry (who’s 51) and Danny (in her 20’s) on a date. Though it’s very platonic, the scene is sure to raise eyebrows. Later on, Danny is asked by Junior to strip because he desires to know if she’s wearing any wires. The somewhat long scene features Danny in her bra as Junior examines her.

Danny wears some revealing outfits. Henry’s friend Jack is cheating on his wife with another woman (we see her in a bikini). Henry asks Junior if he’s still a virgin. He also tells Danny that Junior might be attracted to her.

Violence: I have to give the filmmakers credit; Gemini Man doesn’t push the PG-13 rating when it comes to the action scenes. However, that doesn’t mean our heroes don’t suffer greatly. Henry is hit, punched, and shot repeatedly by Junior. A motorcycle chase scene is very intense: both motorcycles damage cars, speed recklessly throughout the street and are used as weapons. Junior is about to use a knife on Henry before the Colombia police arrive.

Henry is targeted by the government who set up eight snipers outside his house. He kills them all and we see their bodies drop dead. Danny and another agent get into a karate match with both hitting/punching each other multiple times. Two government men kill Jack and his lover on a boat (we see their dead bodies floating in the ocean). In the film’s beginning scene, Henry kills a man sitting inside a train. Video footage displays passengers screaming and blood on the seat.

Henry and Junior get into a scuffle, both men pushing/shoving each other. They fall into a well where Junior tries to drown Henry before Danny shoots a bullet into his shoulder. One agent has a rapid-fire gun which destroys a gas station as Henry and Danny crawl towards the other side. Another shooter is thrown back by a fiery explosion and shot three times before he dies. One character is killed using a shotgun. Someone dies inside a van after a missile destroys it. 

Henry recalls being whipped by his mother when he was young. Junior has a short melee with one character and knocks him out using the butt of a gun.

Language: Two f-words are combined with several uses of the s-word, h---, a--, and d--n. There are a few misuses of Jesus’s and Christ’s name. God’s name is paired with d--n once.

Drugs/Alcohol: Henry, Baron, and Danny drink various alcoholic beverages on a few occasions throughout the film.

Other Negative Elements: (Spoiler Warning): Clay Verris is the one who created Junior from Henry’s DNA. He lied to Junior about his upbringing: his parents dumped him at a gas station among other things. When Junior confronts Clay about this, Clay dismisses him, saying “That was a necessary lie.” Clay manipulates Junior telling him that Henry is a threat to Gemini. To make things worse, we learn that Clay was Henry’s former boss. Henry points out all the lies Clay told Junior, but it only angers Junior.

Clay tells Junior that he is “a loving and present father.” That’s anything but the truth and it’s obvious when Junior decides to side with Henry plus Danny that Clay cares only about himself.

Conclusion: Gemini Man is a visually breathtaking action movie. It blends digital age enhancing with well-choreographed fight sequences. Some critics have called it “the future of action movies.” I don’t disagree with that statement. Will Smith plays both older Henry and younger Junior with discreet judgment. Both of them know they’ve been manipulated by the government, and have to end it once and for all. The fight sequences are enthralling; keeping you on the edge of your seat.

A few content problems mar the film. As mentioned, the scene where older Henry and Danny have a date is sure to raise eyebrows from parents. It feels awkward, though nothing goes further. The violence isn’t graphic, but it’s hard to watch our heroes getting pummeled and shot at. Some harsh language appears too, which could spur teens and adults to repeat the words, which isn’t a great idea.

Despite those content concerns, Gemini Man is a fresh new take on the theme “man versus his creation.” Only this time, it’s the creation choosing right over wrong. The movie’s portrayal of Henry’s guilty conscience is well done and echoes Galatians 6:7. Clay Verris is the opposite of a “loving, present father,” and this is an exact demonstration of Proverbs 18:1-2.

Gemini Man is a thought-provoking thriller, providing questions about free will and learning who you are. It also speaks out against being forced into a job that will rob your life. Yes, there are problems, but Gemini Man is more restrained than multiple PG-13 action movies these days.