The film is one of the biggest box office bombs of its time

A divisive Will Smith action film with a unique twist is airing on TV tonight (Tuesday, April 30) for free across the UK.

While the career of the 56-year-old may have been hampered by a certain slap, it’s wrong to ignore what Smith has achieved in Hollywood.

Rising to fame on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, premiering in 1990, Smith quickly established himself as a popular leading man.

The 1990s alone saw him launch the Bad Boys and Men in Black franchises, as well as starring in Independence Day and Enemy of the States.

Known for his comedic style, Smith proved himself as a serious professional through Ali, The Pursuit of Happiness and Seven Pounds in the 2000s.

In the years that preceded his infamous Oscar win for King Richard, Hollywood still placed a lot of trust in Smith.

DC chose him to lead the Suicide Squad in 2016 before Disney decided he was the right man to take on Robin Williams’ Genie in the 2019 Aladdin reboot.

One film from Smith’s current stage of his career that tends to be forgotten about is Gemini Man, which is bizarre considering what it’s about.

Directed by Face/Off’s Ang Lee, Gemini Man sees Smith starring in a dual role alongside Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clive Owen and Benedict Wong.

Gemini man follows Smith’s retiring Force Recon Marine scout sniper who is targeted by a much younger clone of himself while on the run from a corrupt private military company.

The project spent almost 20 years in development, with Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson and Sean Connery all set to star in it at one point.

The main reason that it took so long to hit the big screen was that the technology wasn’t convincing enough to de-age its star.

After signing Smith on to star, director Lee incorporated a high filming frame rate of 20 frames per second to make Gemini Man look like a movie from the 2050s rather than a 2019 one.

There’s no denying that the action in Gemini Man is off the charts bonkers, with Smith fighting a younger version of himself a premise so ridiculous it works.

However, the issue for most people was that it was hard to buy Smith as a version of himself who was 20 years younger than he was.

Uncanny CGI aside, the performance Smith used didn’t feel much different from how he would normally play characters his own age.

Critics were not impressed with Gemini Man, giving it a score of just 27% on Rotten Tomatoes, claiming it was ‘fatally undermined by a frustratingly subpar story’.

Fans weren’t as harsh on the project, with it currently having an audience score of 83%. The problem was that not enough people showed up to see it.

Boasting a production budget of $138 million, Gemini Man grossed just $174 million, making it one of the biggest bombs of its time.

Regardless of whether you love or despise it, Gemini Man is the kind of film that should be watched at least once in your life.

Gemini Man airs on Tuesday, April 30, at 9pm on Film 4 and channel4.com