If you'd like to be surprised by the Project Gemini film, I don't recommend you to watch the trailer beyond 1:27, because it starts to give away parts of the plot. It's not so bad that would totally spoil the movie, though.
Zvozdniy razum / Project Gemini, movie (2022) - Watch the Russian trailer on YouTube
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Article updated: 2023.06.19
The Project Gemini (2022) is a futuristic survival thriller / action film. The movie was reviewed by Kadmon.
Product: Zvozdniy razum / Project Gemini, movie (2022)
Original title: Звёздный разум (Zvozdniy razum, English: Star Mind), English title: Project Gemini
Series: -
Setting: future fantasy Earth
Product type: Film, Genre: futuristic survival thriller / action, Style: sci-fi, thriller, survival thriller, action, aliens, creature
Release: 2022.01.06
Reviewer: Kadmon, Type: Male, 40s, Preferences: Immersive, logical story, consistent setting, prefers surprises to spoilers, prefers establishing elements before referencing them
Watched: very recent (2022.02), first time
Rating: Weak (2- out of 3 points), Enjoyment: Bad (1 out of 3 points)
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This is my review of Project Gemini, a futuristic survival thriller / action movie from 2022. It's about the crew of a spaceship trying to establish a terraforming base on another planet, to save the uninhabitable Earth. The Project Gemini film is boring and irritatingly stupid, I don't recommend it to anyone.
Zvozdniy razum / Project Gemini, movie (2022) - Watch the US trailer on YouTube
video © KD Studios
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Review (spoiler-free) - Project Gemini, movie (2022)
I've found this movie without hearing anything about it. The premise looked interesting, so I give it a shot, without watching the trailer.
The Project Gemini movie is about the crew of a spaceship trying to establish a terraforming base on another planet, to save the uninhabitable Earth.
The basic concept of the story could be interesting. The execution, the dramatic structure, the dialogue - everything beyond the mere concept is weak. The pacing is not consistent, there are long stretches of nothing, with flashback scenes cut into the story. There are no character arcs. There are plenty of logical problems.
The cinematography is okay. The sets look good. The visual effects look good.
We don't get to know the characters, it takes a while to even get introduced to them. Their portrayal by the actors is okay, although everyone seems to be very slow.
The music (by Konstantin Poznekov) is probably okay, although not very noticeable.
I feel this film is a wasted opportunity. It looks like people were working hard on the designs, sets, and visual effects, and only a good script was missing.
Project Gemini is a boring and stupid futuristic survival thriller / action, that I think fans of the genre should avoid.
Zvozdniy razum / Project Gemini, movie (2022)
image © KD Studios
My experience
I was not satisfied with Project Gemini (2022). I prefer stories with well-thought, logical plots, and interesting stories, and Project Gemini couldn't deliver that.
Second watching
To make sense of the Project Gemini movie for the review, I've watched some parts again for a second time. I think watching it twice is a good way to understand what's going on, but I don't assume others would commit themselves to such a task again.
Rating: Weak (2- out of 3 points). Project Gemini looks good, but everything else is weak.
Enjoyment: Bad (1 out of 3 points). Project Gemini bored and irritated me.
Rewatchability: Average. Although it's mostly the surprise of the story that makes you feel interested, if you liked it for the first time, you probably found the themes engaging, so you might like to watch this again.
Chance of watching it again: No.
Chance of watching a sequel: I'd probably watch it, hoping that it would be better.
Zvozdniy razum / Project Gemini, movie (2022)
image © KD Studios
Will you enjoy this?
If you like mystery movies, you might like Project Gemini.
If you like horror or action thriller movies (Alien, Life, Splice), you might like the film, although there are not many interesting action scenes or scary scenes in the Project Gemini movie.
If you like scientific research stories, you might like Project Gemini, although the focus is not really on the research and investigation.
If you can get through the first half hour of the movie still interested, the rest will be similar, but slower, and it will make less sense.
If you enjoyed Prometheus (2012), you might be interested in this story. It's very similar on multiple levels.
If you don't mind illogical elements in your movies, you can enjoy this.
If you like to be surprised by the development of events, you might enjoy this movie.
If you hate subtitles, it's your lucky day, because the movie is already available with English dubbing.
If you prefer visuals over story, you'll be probably still be bored by the movie, although it has some nice visuals.
Watching for plot points
If you are interested in futuristic space travel stories, it might be worth watching the Project Gemini movie for the plot points, but I'm almost sure you'll understand more from my plot summary than from the film.
Should you watch this on your own screen at home, or is it worth going to the cinema?
The visuals probably look better if you watch it in cinema.
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Zvozdniy razum / Project Gemini, movie (2022)
image © KD Studios
Review with spoilers - Project Gemini, movie (2022)
I didn't like the Project Gemini movie.
By 1 hour, I was bored. It didn't improve, and it started to make less and less sense.
Cover
The covers of the movie are okay, they don't say much, but they doesn't spoil the movie.
The trailer
The trailer is okay, although it spoils some parts of the movie.
If you prefer spoilers, it's a great trailer for the Project Gemini film. If you prefer to avoid spoilers, it will make the movie less fun for you.
Promise of the first scene
We get exposition about how the Earth is getting uninhabitable. They tell us that there were alien objects found on Earth. I assume they'll either use these objects to repair the problems on Earth, or use them to escape the planet.
Execution: Wow, both of these happened. So, while I'm not satisfied with this movie, I'm satisfied with the fulfilment of the promise.
Plot summary / Synopsis
The Earth is struck by a catastrophe, making it uninhabitable. Scientists were able to repair two ancient alien spaceships. They've also found a potentially habitable planet (Tess).
They launch one of the spaceships, to terraform that planet with the alien device, that is able to create life. There's a crew of seven people. While the crew doesn't see it, there's something happening to the terraforming device, then we see a tentacle moving in a tunnel. The make the hyperspace jump, but all of the crew falls unconscious.
When they wake up, there's a planet nearby, with multiple moons. But it looks like the star-maps don't match their intended location. The engineer (Pyotr Romanov as Peter Taylor) gets reprimanded, as the leader of the project (Egor Koreshkov as Dr. Stephen Ross) blames him. They check their flight record, and it looks like they went to the right location, but they were unable to leave hyperspace there, so they fell out in real space somewhere else.
In a flashback, we see that something strange was happening in the control room on Earth.
The engineer gets out of the airlock, killing him. They consider this a suicide, thinking that he blamed himself for the fault of the jump. The old astronaut gets depressed. The leader decides to go down to the planet in their shuttle, without examining it first from orbit. Five of them get in the shuttle - beside the leader, the captain (Konstantin Samoukov as Edward Ryan), an old astronaut (Dmitry Frid as David Kurtz), a male crewmember (Nikita Dyuvbanov as Frank) and a female crewmember (Liza Martines Kardenas as Leona Riva). One of them (Viktor Potapeshkin as Richard Wilson) stays on the spaceship. The shuttle takes damage during the flight, and crash lands on the planet.
On the planet, they take the terraforming device from the shuttle, to take it to a nearby cave that will protect it from the elements. We see that there's some slime on the shuttle where they kept the device.
On the spaceship, one of the crewmembers also finds slime in the corridors.
On the planet, when they arrive in the cave, they start the terraformer device, that projects a blue light.
When they get back on the shuttle, it turns out that they've found a recording of the engineer, inspecting the engines after the jump, when he is attacked by a creature. After checking the security cameras, they find that a creature crawled out of the terraforming device, and got into the engine right before they've jumped. They also realise that the terraforming device is not running properly, the programmed parameters have changed. The leader wants to get back to the cave, but the captain tells them not to.
We see a flashback, where the leader and the old astronaut are talking.
On the planet, they find it out that the terraformer device is releasing the same virus that struck the Earth. They get back to the cave, and see that the projected light is red. The creature starts to chase them, but they are able to get back to the shuttle. The creature gets on board, and kills the male crewmember. They decide to lure the creature outside, and burn it with the engine. When they are almost successful, the female crewmember in front of the engines decide to start shooting the creature. So, the creature doesn't reach the engine, but the female crewmember dies.
We see a flashback, where the leader and his girlfriend (Alyona Konstantinova as Emily Novak) is talking.
On the planet, it turns out that during the fight, the creature infected the old astronaut. Luckily, the old astronaut has such a good immune system, that his blood can be used to cure the infected on Earth. The captain decides to put the leader under arrest.
The leader decides to calculate how the stars have looked 4 billion years ago, and they match the stars around them. It turns out that the planet below them is the Earth. He came to this realisation, because he recognised a fragment, that broke apart from the device when the creature attacked them, that he found on Earth, and gave it to his girlfriend, who threw it away. He creates an inscription on the piece, hoping that his girlfriend will read it.
We see another flashback, where the leader and the girlfriend are talking.
Back on Earth, we see that the girlfriend reads online articles about the space mission.
The captain decides to blow up the terraforming device. The guy that was left on the spaceship opens the door for the leader to get out to stop him. However, the old astronaut starts to shoot at both of them, because he realised that the creature infected him, so he'd help him prevent the creation of life that would lead to humans. The leader sets the timer on the captain's bombs, and runs out of the shuttle. The explosion probably kills every other crewmember, and the creature.
On the planet, the leader goes to the cave, and reprograms the terraforming device to be fit for life on Earth.
Back on Earth, we see the girl finding the inscription on the bracelet, then quickly entering the code into the machine, that allows her a two-way communication with the leader, trapped in the past. He dictates the antidote formula to the girl.
Then we see that the girl was able to create the antidote, and cured the plants.
The setting
The story is set in the future of Earth.
A dangerous pathogen started to ravage plants on Earth, causing a drop in the Oxygen level on Earth, and several other natural disasters. Humans started to have auto-immune diseases.
Zvozdniy razum / Project Gemini, movie (2022)
image © KD Studios
The alien technology
An alien spaceships have been found on Earth, that arrived here 4 billion years ago. They were able to repair it. The repaired spaceship is able to make hyperspace jumps, but the humans on board fall unconscious during that. The spaceship seem to be designed for human sized passengers, although it might be that humans redesigned or modified the insides. The shuttle is not sturdy enough to land on a planet that barely has an atmosphere.
There's also an alien device, that is able to create life out of the materials found in the environment. They've deducted, that the device created life on Earth. They are able to set parameters for the life it creates.
When water touches the surface of the material they are made of, the material emits fluorescent light.
The creature
The creature was hiding inside the terraforming device. The creature is made of the same material as the terraforming device.
It's not clear whether the creature is one of the aliens, or if it's a creation of the aliens.
It causes malfunction in nearby electronic devices.
They call the creature "a Trojan", as it was hiding in the terraforming device.
The creature has tentacles.
What really happened in Project Gemini?
Circa 4 billion years ago, humans arrived on Earth, on the repaired alien spaceship, that brought the terraforming device and the alien creature.
After they've planted the terraforming device on the primitive Earth, hoping to create habitat for humans, the creature reprogrammed it, to fit the habitat the aliens needed.
They killed the creature, found a cure for the plant disease, reprogrammed the terraforming device, and left a message for the humans about the cure for the plant disease to find it later.
They left the terraforming device on Earth, but they probably didn't find it. We also don't know what happened to the repaired spaceship.
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Then, there were aliens, who sent a spaceship to Earth (that was later found and repaired), to terraform it to their liking.
When they arrived, some malfunction happened to the terraforming device, and instead of terraforming to the aliens' habitat, it randomly created the life on Earth, as we know it.
(I assume this happened after the arrival of the humans, because the humans didn't find any signs of terraforming going on, or signs of the presence of the aliens.)
The alien creature, for some reason, hid inside the terraforming device.
The humans only found one terraforming device, it's probably this one. So, the other one might have been destroyed, or it's still there to be found. Unless the alien creature got into the terraforming device left by humans.
The alien spaceship will be found later.
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Then, in our current time, humans have found the spaceship, and the terraforming device. They repaired spaceship and probably experimented with the terraforming device.
A strange virus started to spread from the terraforming device, unknown to humans. The device started to terraform the planet to the aliens' habitat.
As the conditions on Earth worsened, they decided to use the repaired spaceship to travel to another star system, and they wanted to use the terraforming device to create a habitat for humans on the other planet. After they took off, the creature, for some reason, got out of the terraforming device, and reprogrammed their route. So, they were taken back 4 billion years, instead of getting to another star system.
After they have left, humans found the inscription they've left 4 billion years ago, and used it to create a cure for the disease.
The message of the story
I'm not sure there's one. "Don't use alien devices, until you are absolutely sure about their intents."
The structure of the story
The scenes of the Project Gemini film are mostly played in sequence, following the same storyline. There are some flashbacks, some of them are not indicated as flashbacks, the audience has to recognise this. There are scenes with parallel times, one showing the planning phase, and one the actual execution. There are also parallel timelines, when they show the people on the spaceship, then the people, back on Earth.
There's no single viewpoint character.
It has the usual arc of the dramatic structure - introduction, action, resolution.
Parallels to other stories
The whole movie feels like they decided to remake Alien (1979), with the cinematic qualities of Prometheus (2012).
Alien (1979)
- The look of the spaceship.
- Seven crewmembers (although not a single cat).
- The creature is shown on the motion detector, while the character works on the spaceship.
- They set to blow up the ship, and then try to escape.
Aliens (1986)
- Slime falls on the shoulder of the character, who looks up.
- The creature is in the ceiling, the character starts to shoot at it, while it bursts out.
- A character is impaled by the creature's tail.
Alien 3 (1992)
- Trapping the alien: People are running in corridors, and close doors, to funnel the alien towards the trap.
- We see the prey of the creature through the creature's vision.
Prometheus (2012)
- The look of the space suits.
The Sphere (1998)
- There's an alien made sphere.
- There's a spaceship found, buried under rocks, that travelled back in time, with humans on board.
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Things I liked
- I liked the look of the creature. I also liked it that they didn't show it in full.
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How does it compare to the other works of the creators?
I haven't seen any other works of the writers (Dmitriy Zhigalov, Natalya Lebedeva) or the director (Serik Beyseu). Based on Project Gemini, I'll probably avoid their works in the future.
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Zvozdniy razum / Project Gemini, movie (2022)
image © KD Studios
Analysis of the story - Project Gemini, movie (2022)
I didn't like the story, and it was so full of problems that I couldn't enjoy Project Gemini.
Problematic elements
The exposition at the beginning: It should have been more clear. As they kept mentioning "the two alien artifacts", I thought they've meant they've found and repaired two alien spaceships.
Watching the girl: When the spaceship starts, there are multiple seconds wasted on watching a girl running. First, it's mostly unnecessary, because she is not going. Second, if she really wanted to reach the launch, she should have started earlier.
The sex scene: After the leader sends the engineer to his bunk, he also goes to goes to his own, and the first thing that comes to his mind is how great was it to have sex with his girlfriend. This shows me that he doesn't take the mission seriously. (Also, at first, due to the editing of the movie, I though we see the engineer, sitting in his bunk, and that he contemplates on his punishment by thinking of sex.)
Not establishing the characters: By 30 minutes, I still couldn't tell the crew members apart. At 1 hour, I got bored, so I checked the WikiPedia page of the movie while watching it, to find it that Ryan is the captain, that I wouldn't have guessed, as it was Steve who constantly ordered people around.
The crew: The members of the crew should be the best that Earth can provide. Yet, they don't seem to be very competent.
No difference between the spaceship and the shuttle: There's no indication in the movie where is the current scene playing. As there are two locations, the spaceship and the shuttle, and both look the same, I just can't tell what are we seeing at the moment.
The flashbacks: Most of the flashbacks are fillers. They could just be cut from the movie.
- The sex scene
- The apparition in the control room - we see it later anyway
- The leader and the commander talking.
- The leader and the girlfriend talking, more than once.
The fuel in the shuttle: There's not enough fuel in the shuttle for even one landing. Why didn't they fill it properly? What did they plan to do?
The structure of the shuttle: The shuttle starts to melt while trying to land on a planet with a minimal atmosphere. How did they design it? What would have happened, if they wanted to land on Earth?
The terraforming malfunction: The device releases the same virus as it did on Earth, destroying the planet. Except that there's no life on the planet, the device could destroy.
Series of bad decisions: The crew members keep making bad decisions. It would be somewhat acceptable if they would state that the malfunction caused some brain damage, or it deprived their Oxygen supply, or something that would explain these.
- Switching off the camera before inspection: The engineer should keep the cameras going. Why would he switch them off "to make sure he doesn't get disturbed"? If they see the cameras being switched off, it's more likely that they'll try to find out what is happening. As the creature causes electronic malfunctions anyway, a malfunction in the camera could have been caused by the creature.
- Rushing to the planet: Why do they go their? They have plenty of supplies, they can take their time to examine the planet.
- The captain on the shuttle: Why does the captain leave the spaceship? It makes no sense.
- Shooting the creature: Why does the guy in front of the engine start shooting? If he really wants to shoot, why doesn't he take a few steps, so he won't burn to death? Not to mention that his shots made the creature miss the engine exhaust.
Slow fade-outs: Every single scene ends with a slow fade-out, making the movie run even more slower.
Slow talking: Everyone talks very slowly, taking their time, as if they were explaining things to hearing impaired children.
The reveal about Earth: That would be fine, but we have seen that the planet has multiple moons, while the Earth didn't have more than a single one.
The structure of the terraforming device: If a stray shot from a firearm can damage it, I find it highly unlikely that it would withstand the pressure of aeons, as it will get buried under the ground.
The inscription: If there were an inscription on the fragment, the leader would have seen it, while creating the bracelet. But he didn't seem to do that. Also, the scene when the girl finds the inscription is really weak.
Unanswered questions
- How did the creature get inside the terraforming device? Also, why did it get in? If it were able to reprogram it, why didn't it do that in the past?
- Why does the creature get out of the terraforming device? Was it awaken by the launch? Or was the creature awake for the whole time? If the latter is true, why did it stay inside up to that time?
- What will happen to the repaired spaceship? As they've found it on Earth, will the guy just land it, waiting for the supplies to run out?
- What will happen to the original spaceship, with the original terraforming device?
- What have happened to the second moon of the Earth in the past 4 billion years?
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Possibilities of improvement
- Cut the part when the girl tries to reach the launch.
- Cut the flashbacks.
- Cut the part when the engineer switches off the camera. Cut it again in the replay.
- Cut the fade-outs between scenes.
How it could have been better?
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Behind the scenes
Thoughts about the reviews of others
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Zvozdniy razum / Project Gemini, movie (2022)
image © KD Studios
Uses for the film - Project Gemini, movie (2022)
Plot
- The Earth is getting to be uninhabitable, so humans send a spaceship to another planet to terraform it.
- A spaceship tries to jump through hyperspace, but ends up at a wrong destination.
- And also, the wrong time.
- Aliens tried to terraform Earth to their liking, but it malfunctioned, and created the life on Earth.
Scenes
- The hyper-jump scene can be useful.
- Landing the shuttle can be used to show how a shuttle crash lands onto a barren planet.
- The running in the corridors scenes can be used for anything in a futuristic setting.
Designs
Scenario ideas - Role-playing game scenario ideas
Scenario ideas - Wargame scenario ideas
Four way fight: There's an alien device that can cause problems in the long term. There's an alien side, who wants to kill everybody. There's a human side that wants to destroy the alien device, to make sure it won't cause problems. There's a human side that wants to prevent the destruction of the alien device, as they think they can repurpose it. There's also a human side who think the aliens are right, and they want to get rid of the other two sides. Prepare a playing area, with an alien device in the middle. The forces can enter from the four edges of a gaming board, or they might be randomly deployed around the area. The first two human forces are reluctant to shoot at each other, unless they get attacked. The third human force has no problems shooting other humans. The aliens attack the closest human, or those humans who get close to the alien device. The aliens win if they kill everybody. The destroyers win if the destroy the device. The preventers win, if the destroyers are defeated. The alien sympathisers win if the other two human sides get defeated, while the device is still working.
Survive the monster: Use the scenario from the Planet Dune, movie (2021) article.
Movie accurate fight: The creature also causes problems in electronic devices. If the device or the console is nearby the creature, you have to roll a d6 to activate it. On 1-3, it's working, on 4-6, there's a malfunction. It's also true of bulkhead doors.
Miniatures - 1/50-1/60 (28-32mm scale)
Astronauts: Human-sized futuristic human civilians in protective suits, sometimes with breathing mask.
The creature: Large alien thing.
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Similar stories - Project Gemini, movie (2022)
Movies
Breach (2020): In a futuristic setting, they try to reach another planet to build a colony, as Earth is getting to be uninhabitable. A creature gets on board of their spaceship, and infects crewmembers. The crew has to fight the creature.
Prometheus (2012): In a futuristic setting, humans go to another planet, with an incompetent crew. They find it out that life on Earth was created by aliens. Prometheus is very similar to Project Gemini, but probably better.
Sea Fever (2019): In a contemporary setting, a creature gets on board of a ship. It infects crewmembers of the ship. The crew has to fight the creature.
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Frequently asked questions - Project Gemini, movie (2022)
Will the Project Gemini movie be available with English audio dub?
By now, Project Gemini is already available with an English audio dub.
Is the Project Gemini film based on a book or comics?
No, Project Gemini is not based on either books or comics.
Is the Project Gemini film a remake or reboot?
No, the Project Gemini film is neither a remake nor a reboot.
Is there a post credit scene in Project Gemini? Does Project Gemini have end credit scenes?
No, there's no post credit scene in Project Gemini.
Where can I see Project Gemini? What is Project Gemini playing on? What streaming service is Project Gemini on? Where can I watch Project Gemini online? Is Project Gemini available on Netflix? Is Project Gemini on Amazon?
As of 2023.06.19, Project Gemini is available on Amazon Prime, Microsoft Movies.
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Resources - Project Gemini, movie (2022)
Official
KD Studio: Project Gemini: Official article.
https://www.instagram.com/kdstudiosco/
https://www.facebook.com/KDStudiosCo/
Information
IMDB: Proekt Gemini / Project Gemini (2022): Database article.
WikiPedia: Project Gemini (film): Database article.
Letterboxd: Project Gemini 2022: Database article.
Rotten Tomatoes: Project Gemini 2022: Database article.
Creation
: Concept art article.¤
Reviews with no spoilers - Project Gemini film (2022)
: Review video about the Project Gemini film with no spoilers.¤
Reviews with spoilers - Project Gemini film (2022)
: Review article of the Project Gemini movie, with spoilers. Includes a very detailed plot summary.¤
https://www.voicesfromthebalcony.com/2022/02/10/project-gemini-2022-review/
Analysis - Project Gemini movie (2022)
: Analysis video, explaining the finale of Project Gemini.¤
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Buying the product - Project Gemini, movie (2022)
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Have you seen the Project Gemini film? How do you like the movie? Would you recommend it to others? Do you know reviews or resources you'd like to add? What further thoughts do you have about it? Tell your opinion in the comments!
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