Every filmmaker has their own moments, and Ang Lee, one of China's most influential directors, is no exception.
From "Pushing Hands" to "Ice Storm", to "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", "Brokeback Mountain", to "Lust, Caution" and "Life of Pi", each of Ang Lee's works presents a unique charm. However, success did not always accompany him.
He has experienced the failures of 2005's "The Incredible Hulk" and 2016's "Billy Lynn's Halftime Fight," both of which fell short of expectations in terms of pacing and story.
Although these failures had taken a heavy toll on Ang Lee, he did not give up.
Now, at the age of 65, he invited Will Smith, who is in his 50s, and Will Smith, who is "23", to create the action thriller "Gemini Killer", will this bring him back to the top?
The behind-the-scenes feature of Gemini Killer focuses on the technology used in the film. Like "Billy Lynn's Halftime Fight," the film also uses a high-tech gimmick of 120 frames per second in 4K quality.
However, can this technology make up for the lack of story?Before the release of Billy Lynn, the expectation of "120 frames, 4K quality" had almost become a slogan for a technological revolution.
However, the film is not a war film, but an excellent but bland drama. Technology hasn't been able to rekindle the enthusiasm of disappointed audiences, much less to hide the flaws in the story.
In this regard, Ang Lee seems to have a new idea, he wants to use technology to create a character that everyone can see, just like the protagonist Alita in the previous "Battle Angel".
Therefore, he decided to use technology to turn 50-year-old Will Smith into 23-year-old Will Smith to add new ideas to "Gemini Killer".
This time, he used a unique filming technique that allowed two Will Smiths to coexist in the same scene. This technique not only poses a challenge to the actor himself, but also shows excellent results in the trailer.
The realistic face of the younger version of Will Smith is impressive, so at least in terms of the use of technology, this attempt seems to have taken the right step.
On the other hand, as you can see from the trailer, Gemini Killer will be filled with plenty of action sequences. This is actually the second time Ang Lee has tried to shoot so many Hollywood-style action scenes after "The Incredible Hulk".
However, hot scenes are not his usual pursuit. Of Ang Lee's many films, only "The Incredible Hulk," which is considered a typical commercial blockbuster, failed to do so.
Billy Lynn is a misplaced film, so in fact only "The Incredible Hulk" is a real failure on Ang Lee's resume. This time, it may be said that "Gemini Killer" is, to some extent, Ang Lee's confronting the pain of the past. He tries to tell a heart-touching story to young audiences with striking technical effects and a familiar rhythm.
Although it is impossible to ** whether "Gemini Killer" will be successful, it can be felt that Ang Lee, as a director who has been shooting art films for most of his life, is still trying to adapt to the trend of the times and lead the trend of the times. Therefore, look forward to the success of this film, and hope that in this era of violent reality, we will still be able to reach out to something that transcends time and allows us to have a useful conversation with the past.