WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Gemini Man, in theaters now.
Gemini Man approaches a number of weighty topics, among them: the question of rediscovering innocence and the effectiveness of compassion and fear within war. But most of the time, it's more focused on the gimmick of Will Smith fighting a younger Will Smith.
The film also includes a number of frankly strange pieces that make the movie more bizarre than you would expect, even within a narrative wherein Will Smith finds out he was cloned before sheep were even attempted.
Here are all the weirdest and silliest things that happen in Gemini Man.
EVERYTHING ABOUT BARON
After escaping the initial group of soldiers sent to kill them, Brogan (Will Smith) calls his friend Baron (Benedict Wong) for backup. Baron serves as the backup for the rest of the film, carting Brogan and Zakrzewski (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) around the world. He's also just a colossally weird guy.
When they pick him up, he makes sure to steal some of the crackers that Zakrzewski is munching on, despite the fact that they've been expired for ages. He likes to watch soccer and smoke cigars while sitting next to his pet parrot.
While flying the pair to their next location in a private jet, he listens to Ray Charles and sings along. Loudly. Specifically, loud enough that everyone else on the plane is forced to listen along. He's just a strange man who is friendly and loyal enough to help out a friend in need.
Unfortunately, this all ends up getting him killed. When the group is ambushed by soldiers working under Clay (Clive Own), they shoot a rocket at the van carrying the group. Although Brogan, Zakrzewski, and Junior all escape, Baron is caught by surprise and blown up along with the van.
Goodnight, sweet weirdo.
TIP, PLEASE
While trying to learn why he's being targeted by someone who has the same face as he had in his youth, Brogan ends up calling Janet Lassiter (Linda Emond), one of the acting heads of the DIA. Brogan contacts her by ordering a cell phone to be delivered to the coffee shop she frequents. It arrives via bike courier, who reveals he's staying long enough to watch Lassiter open the package containing the phone because Brogan paid him an additional $100 to do so.
The entire time that Brogan is threatening Lassiter and asking about the cloning program, the doofy bike courier stands there, watching with a simple smile on his face. There is legitimate talk of scientific breakthroughs the world has never prepared for happening right in front of him, and he just looks around with a blissfully dumb expression.
It's a frankly hilarious sequence, contrasting the high stakes of the phone call with the reality of the situation. Unfortunately for the courier, Lassiter ignores Brogan's demand that she tips the courier, sending him off with a disappointed expression. It's such a weird detail, but it is genuinely -- and intentionally -- funny.
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STING LIKE A BEE
Brogan, one of the most dangerous men in the world, is revealed to have two fatal weaknesses early in the film. The first is a psychological fear of drowning that developed when he was a child. It's the only real scene with Brogan's father, holding him underwater so he can try to learn how to kick. Clay even uses this to push Brogan while he's training to become a more efficient killer, drowning in the lake before being revived by Clay so that Brogan can no longer have fear. It's a surprisingly deep character beat considering how much Brogan enjoys going out onto the ocean in his boat, and could have been played up more to explore the psychology of the character.
His other greatest fear is bees. Yes, bees. It turns out that Brogan has an allergy to bee stings, and he's always wary of any insect as a result. He swats one, in the beginning, to establish this contrivance. But the absurd part is this small detail ends up coming back into play during the build-up to the climax of the film.
While luring Brogan into a trap, Junior uses a dart gun loaded with bee toxin to shoot Brogan in the back, sending him into anaphylactic shock. He could have tased him or stunned him some other way, but instead Junior prepared a bee dart to take down one of the most dangerous men in the world. It's only thanks to Junior's own epi-pen that Brogan survives.
It would have been wild if the nigh-unkillable Brogan had actually been taken down by a bee sting though, especially considering the otherwise ultra-prepared Brogan apparently doesn't carry an epi-pen around at all times.
DADDY ISSUES
The most complex relationship in the film is between Junior and his surrogate father, Clay. Clay is the man behind the plans to clone an army of Brogans to use as soldiers in future wars, the first of which was Junior. But he personally raised Junior, and made sure that he still has access to all the trappings of humanity. The two have a complicated relationship that plays out in probably the best developed dramatic beat in the film. But that doesn't stop the two from coming to blows in the climax when Junior tries to tell his father to stop the assault against Brogan.
Their fight is... not as well done as the more nuanced conflict earlier in the film. Clay quickly beats down Junior, with the fight transitioning from the older man pulling leg swipes and kicks to Clay just open hand slapping his son as if he had been caught shoplifting.
It's comical to watch as the film juxtaposes the genuinely dangerous and exciting action happening just down the block with Brogan and Zakrzewski before cutting back to Owen awkwardly trying to discipline his son like a child.
Opening Oct. 11, Gemini Man is directed by Ang Lee from a script written by David Benioff, Billy Ray and Darren Lemke. The film stars Will Smith, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clive Owen, and Benedict Wong.