Gemini Man Trailer #2: Will Smith vs. Young Will Smith

[Ulquiorra]

Paramount has released the second trailer for Ang Lee's upcoming sci-fi film, Gemini Man. 2019 has been good to Will Smith so far, with this year's Aladdin having become the actor's highest-grossing movie ever, and even earned him some praise for his efforts in bringing Robin Williams' iconic animated Genie to life in live-action. Up next, Smith will tackle another challenging role - make that roles - in a film that had been in development for some twenty years, prior to Lee and Smith signing on in 2017.

Written by David Benioff (Game of Thrones), Darren Lemke (Shazam!), and Billy Ray (Overlord), with Lee directing, Gemini Man stars Smith as Henry Brogen, an aging hitman who's planning to call it a day when he discovers that his boss, Clay Varris (Clive Owen), has not only cloned him, but also sent his younger clone to permanently "retire" him. The first trailer arrived in May and highlighted the movie's CGI'd young Will Smith, while at the same time offering a general outline of its overarching story. Now, the film's marketing machine is revving up again.A new Gemini Man trailer dropped online today and is expected to begin screening in theaters this weekend. You can check it out in the space below.

Compared to the previous trailer, the new Gemini Man preview focuses more on the film's action sequences, as well as the psychological battle that ensues between Henry and his clone (who goes by simply "Junior", as seen here) once they realize who the other one is. Just like his last film, Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, Lee shot Gemini Man at a much-higher than normal frame rate, which is why the fight scenes and set pieces look so clearly photographed in the trailer footage. This also serves to make "Junior" - who, as a featurette that released this week explained, is actually a fully digital creation and not really a digitally de-aged Smith - seem more realistic whenever he appears onscreen.

Altogether, Gemini Man continues to look like an intriguingly experimental genre movie, but also one that's more cerebral than your run of the mill shoot 'em up popcorn film. Lee, for his part, has increasingly focused his efforts on using groundbreaking visual effects and moviemaking techniques to push the boundaries of storytelling in cinema over the last decade, and Gemini Man is a natural continuation of that trend. He hasn't always been successful in those efforts, of course, so it will be interesting to whether this one is more of a hit on the level of his Life of Pi adaptation or an admirable misfire, but a miss all the same.