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Writer's pictureCharlie McGhee

Retro Round-Up 26th April

Some movie news to distract you from all things Avengers: Endgame related.

Gemini Man Trailer

The high-concept script for Gemini Man has been doing the rounds in Hollywood for over 20 years. It involves an aged hitman, yearning for retirement, who finds himself hunted by a clone in his prime, 20 years younger.

Over the years it has been mooted to star Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford and Clint Eastwood, using a mix of footage from earlier films. Apparently, the main reason for it languishing in development hell is due to the producers waiting for CGI technology to catch up. With de-ageing tech becoming a regular fixture in Marvel movies, it seems now is the time. The hitmen will be played by Will Smith (in grizzled I am Legend mode) versus… Will Smith (in his Fresh Prince Of Bel Air guise).

It’s not exactly a fresh idea – the excellent Looper covered similar ground – though admittedly Joseph Gordon Levitt’s “young Bruce Willis” prosthetics were a little distracting. Also, both Terminator Genisys and Logan featured older versus younger fights, if only for a brief few scenes..

Gemini Man is directed by Ang Lee and produced by action maestro and Retro Ramble hero, Jerry Bruckheimer, so it has some decent credentials. It’s a been a while since Lee has done action but let’s not forget, he’s the man who gave us Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Bruckheimer has had his hands full with Pirates of The Caribbean movies and various CSI series but with this and the upcoming Top Gun: Maverick, it’s good to see him back.



Bond 25 news…

We’re were promised a big reveal for the Bond 25 press launch yesterday and we got….some casting announcements.

Rami Malek is now confirmed as the official villain. Jeffrey Wright is back as Felix Leiter (after missing Skyfall and Spectre) and will be joined by new cast members Anna de Armas (Blade Runner 2049), Lashana Lynch (Captain Marvel) and Billy Magnussen (from director Cary Fukunaga’s Manic series on Netflix). It was also confirmed the Phoebe Waller-Bridge, hot off the acclaimed BBC series Fleabag, will be helping write the script.

No title reveal (which everyone expected) or much plot detail to go on but the official synopsis is as follows:

“Bond has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica,” it reads. “His peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from the CIA turns up asking for help. The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.”

New Podcast Alert!

Our latest podcast where we review 1990’s action classic, Speed was released late last week.

We give the film the usual Retro Ramble treatment whilst referencing pop culture spoofs like The Simpsons and the classic Irish sitcom, Father Ted which dedicated an entire episode, titled Speed 3, naturally…



Let us know your thoughts on the episode or any requests you have for films in the future.

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