Gemini Man – Review

Gemini Man – Budget of $138 – 158 million – 1 hour and 57 minutes

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Henry sits on a grassy hill taking notes and talking to his contact Marino.  Marino is sitting on a train going 238 km/h and a few rows away from their target, a bioterrorist.  Just as Henry is ready to take the shot, Marino stops him.  A little girl is in the way.  Henry waits for the all-clear, then takes his shot.  He hits the target in the neck.  While Marino is impressed, this is more confirmation to Henry that he should retire.  Henry explains to his handler, Dale, that one wrong variable and the little girl would have been dead.  Also, he was aiming for the target’s head and took the shot when he was unsure.  Henry is ready to retire.  At Buttermilk Sound, Georgia, Henry meets Danny, the dock manager, at the harbor.  She is an unfamiliar face and they spark a funny but brief conversation.   Henry sails off to his friend, Jack’s boat.  Jack tells Henry he was given bad intel.  The bioterrorist was really a molecular biologist on the run.  Henry can’t believe the DIA lied to him and wants Jack’s contact for clarification.  Jack tells him its Yuri in Budapest.  At that moment, Henry notices something flying overhead.  He gets off Jack’s boat and sails to the dock.  While on his boat, Henry finds a listening device.  He heads straight for Danny and pegs her for being an agent.  She tells Henry he is wrong but he proves she is lying later.  Since he burned her, he nicknames her, Toast.  That night, his sleep is interrupted when intruders break is perimeter.  Henry runs, grabs his burn bag, and heads for Danny.  Notices Danny is asleep.  He concludes she is not a part of the assassination attempt.  He wakes up Danny, tells her to get her burn bag, and gets a fast boat.  Clay has just been tipped off of Henry’s escape.  He pushes to use project Gemini to kill Henry.  Clay runs Gemini Global Defense and is obsessed with creating the perfect soldier.  Twenty-five years ago, Clay tried to hire Henry and his friends, but they all said no.   Later, Henry was hurt during a mission and had to go into surgery.  With the help of the biologist. Clay took Henry’s blood and create a clone.  Clay raised the clone as his own son and named him Junior.  The biologist learned that Clay wanted to alter DNA to create super clones and left the project.  Henry killed the biologist, now Junior is hunting Henry.  Will nature or nurture win?

This movie is definitely a cinematic feat in terms of computer graphics.  It uses live-action capture to get the movements and expressions of Will Smith with a de-aged image.  While the plotline is reminiscent of Looper (minus the time travel), the fight scenes are in line with Mission Impossible and the camera work of Alita: Battle Angel (FTC Affiliate Disclaimer).  During the bit confrontations between Henry and Junior, closes your eyes.  You can hear the pitch changes in voice.  The director acknowledged that voice changes as you age and made sure this was captured on screen.  With and without Will Smith’s help.  To fully appreciate the work that went into making this movie, you need to see it in IMAX 3D+ HFR (High Frame Rate).  You will leave feeling more like a witness to the events than a movie watcher.  You won’t have an urge to buy it but this movie can only be appreciated on the big screen.

I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars

You’re not really a live and let live guy? – Danny

Much like Henry, we’re all here to be collateral damage – Clay

It’s not every day you see a guy get his ass kicked on 2 continents … by himself – Barron

I’m not you. You hear me old man. I’m not you – Junior

Delete it – Henry

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The Addams Family – Review

The Addams Family – Budget of $24 million – 1 hour and 27 minutes

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During Morticia and Gomez’s wedding, villagers with torches come and force the Addams out of town (FTC Affiliate Disclaimer).  With the hope of raising a family in peace, they drive around to find a place no sane human been would ever want to live: New Jersey.  They hit a man in a straight jacket with their car while noticing a large home at the top of a hill.   They check to see and hope that the man is dead.  The man jumps up and screams in their faces.  It’s Lurch.  They checkout the hope on the hill and discover its an asylum.  They decide it’s the best place to stay for the night.  They hand Lurch their bags and head up the hill.  Upon entering, the asylum has been abandoned and it’s haunted.  Everything the Addams ever wanted.  Thirteen years later, the Addams have two children, Wednesday and Pugsley, who are cage schooled and never leave the property.  Wednesday hear something when she stands near the gate.  She knows there is something beyond the foggy abyss.  And when it rains confetti and balloons, Gomez and Morticia try to keep up the lie.  However, Margaux Needler is a DIY star on Home, Art, and Garden (Yes! HAG) TV has moved into the village below the Addam’s home.  This season, instead of fixing a single home, she as created a neighborhood of 50 homes.  The town is called Assimilation (yes, you read that right).  Everyone is the same and doesn’t see a need to be different.  To make this project a success, Margaux must have a successful finale and sell all 50 homes.  She can’t think of anything ruining her dream except the ugly marsh.  She drains the marsh and it lifts the fog that veiled the Addams home.  With the veil lifted Wednesday and Margaux both see reality and are horrified.  While Margaux wants to get rid of the Addams, Wednesday wants to learn more about Assimilation.  As Margaux and the Addams fight, they will see how much they truly have in common.

Yes, this is a cartoon.  But parents, it’s ‘the Addams Family‘ you know and love.  With plenty of adult jokes, you will laugh more than the kids.  To sum it up perfectly, the physical comedy of explosions, Three Stooges hijinks, and cartoon violence will have your kids laughing (FTC Affiliate Disclaimer).  But seeing Morticia using her parents’ ashes as makeup, hearing the theme song of Assimilation, and Fester’s jokes about his love life will have you in tears.  The movie’s soundtrack has the perfect blend of the 70s, 80s, 90s, and today’s music.  All the characters you grew up with will be on the screen.  In the end, you will be snapping and singing as a family.  The overall lesson: our differences can bring us all together because we all want the best for our family.

I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars

I can see my house from here. No, that’s a women’s prison – Fester

Didn’t you throw axes at my age – Pugsley

They blow up so fast these days – Gomez

You’re welcome in advance – Margaux

We call it surfing the web – Morticia

It makes me feel … the opposite of sad. What’s that word again? – Wednesday

You said she was beside herself – Grandma

Mom, I need help. Aren’t I people – Parker

YOOOOOU RAAAANNNNGGG – Lurch

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