Henry Brogan was the best highly-skilled assassin in the service of a covert government agency. After his last assignment to kill a supposed terrorist on a train, Henry wanted to retire. To prevent Henry from discovering his illicit involvement in that last hit, Clay Varis of the secret Gemini project sent his top assassin named Junior, to put Henry away. When Henry saw young Junior's face though, he noted something very familiar.
We saw and marveled at the de-aging special effects in short scenes, from films like "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (for Brad Pitt) to "Captain Marvel" (for Samuel L. Jackson). But here, this de-aging special effect is front and center for practically the whole film here, so they had to wait for the correct technology to be developed to support such an ambitious premise. This is why this project only got off the ground recently, long after was originally written back by Darren Lemke back in 1997.
We see two Will Smiths in this film -- the older Will Smith whom we know currently and a younger Will Smith circa "Six Degrees of Separation" but of heftier build. Despite playing the hardened assassin Henry, Will Smith still gave his older character his usual easy-going swagger and charm that his fans knew and loved. Meanwhile, the de-aged Will Smith gave the seemingly invincible warrior Junior a sense of youthful vulnerability as only he could give. Smith's dual performance kept this sci-fi on solid ground.
The first encounter between Henry and Junior, set in a colorful Colombian neighborhood in broad daylight, was the best action sequence as it turned from a running gun fight indoors to a shaky motorcycle chase scene in crowded city streets. This whole sequence ended with a crazy scene where we see a motorcycle itself being used as a weapon of assault. This motorcycle fighting was a bit of a far-fetched idea, but with Will Smith doing the scene, it actually looked cool than silly.
Producer Jerry. Bruckheimer brought in his signature explosive high-tech action style. Director Ang Lee brought in his ability to bring out poignant emotion, from digital tiger in "Life of Pi" to digital Junior here. However, the film as a whole had a predictable story that even "Game of Thrones" writer David Benioff could not save in his rewrites of the script. It was really only Will Smith's star power and personality that kept this project afloat and still entertaining. 6/10.
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