Movie Review of Hancock

John Hancock (Smith) is a crass, drunk, inconsiderate superhero who, despite some efforts, does more damage than good when trying to save the day.

When rescuing conscientious ad exec, Ray Embrey (Bateman) from being smooshed by a speeding train, Hancock, once again, leaves a costly trail of destruction behind. This is the last straw in the public eye and the country turns against him and his destructive antics.

Grateful for saving his life, Embrey convinces Hancock to enlist his advertising expertise to improve his PR. After a stint in jail, the police and public are desperate to get Hancock back fighting the escalating crime rate since being incarcerated, and his new-improved persona moulded by Embrey's non-stop niceness is thoroughly welcomed.

Hancock is soon faced with an unexpected turn of events that reveal much about his past, leaving him vulnerable to a menacing villain who's teamed up with some unfriendly characters from prison.

A partially surprising yet still somewhat Hollywood ending is satisfying enough but leaves open sequel possibilities (but seriously, let's hope not).

What I found particularly entertaining about this film, aside from some pretty cool action sequences injected with well-timed humour, were the gripping and surprising twists the film takes (which I won't spoil for you) and the genuine drama that these twists elicit.

Effective on-screen chemistry and a script that seamlessly interweaves action, humour and romance makes this a perfect popcorn night at the movies. The decent soundtrack doesn't go astray either.

On the downside, for a superhero flick, the villain isn't a strongly built character and is introduced far too late, leaving an imbalance of what the genre generally demands. But then again, this isn't your typical superhero film, so an engaging sub-plot compensates, to some degree, for the weaker villain.

Basically, this isn't something you'll want to try to analyse to death, but for on-the-surface entertainment value, this is a good, fun, all-rounder.

If you're stuck for a film to watch at the cinema, you really can't go wrong with Hancock.

- Colette Smith (no relation to Will!)

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Movie Review - Hancock

All ye DC Comics and Marvel aficionados need to reorient your conception of superheroes. In the constantly meandering labyrinths of social transactions where the nature of man is redefined everyday our good old superhero hasn't remained unaffected. Gone is the emotionless face wearing which he would clinically execute the fall of his super foes. Now they feel the love, get affected by loss & rejection and also get drunk & roundly abused. Are these the super guys we have grown up with? I am not complaining but merely marveling at the imaginative twist that the movie makers have come up with.

Will Smith has come a long way since his hip hop days. Back in the mid eighties to early nineties he was better known as The Fresh Prince, the lead vocalist of the group DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince. His rendition of "Summertime" still remains one of my favorite songs. The movie's Big Willie, Mr. Hancock is a thousands of years old fellow whose flying skills can put Superman to shame. And while he is not busting the villains, destroying property worth several million dollars in the process he is busy emptying bottles of whiskey and taking a nap where he wills (pun intended). Besides defying gravity he is also bullet proof, knife proof and hit proof. In short nothing affects him physically. And here is the twist! The superhero goes ballistic whenever he is abused. How human! Due to his flawed crime fighting abilities and a foul mouth the media, the police and finally the public turns against him.

This is the age of celebrities who conjure up a hyped image of themselves aided and abetted by media manipulators euphemistically called image consultants. In walks Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman) who becomes eternally grateful to Hancock for saving him from being run over by a train. Sensing an opportunity to put his PR skills to test he proposes an image makeover to Hancock which involves surrendering to the police, spending some time in the jail and waiting for the police to call him back because crime is bound to rise in his absence from the streets even as the public property is safe from him. There are some interesting shots of the jail. One of them is of the self purging meetings on the lines of those of Alcoholics Anonymous. After consistent refusals to open up, a single line comment "I am Hancock and I drink and stuff" is enough to be reciprocated by loud and encouraging applause. Soon Embrey's plan begins to bear fruit and Hancock is back in mainstream circulation and this time without the previous opprobrium. At this time everyone can happily live ever after but what about twist number 2?

Mrs Embrey (Charlize Theron), as it turns out, is a super heroine as well and to top that she is "technically" Hancock's wife since the like of them were made in pairs. The cynical Hancock suddenly finds that his love quotient has taken a northward swing. Only the object of his affection is torn between the loyalty to her husband and the love of three thousand years. The raison d'etre is twist number 3. The invulnerability of the super couple goes down when they come closer emotionally. In some ways it is a Greek tragedy where love is doomed despite best intentions. The resolution of this mess is what rest of the movie is all about. Its entertaining, its different and its fun. Go watch!

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Will There Be a Hancock 2?

Is there going to be a Hancock 2? Well, it is not a surprise for a movie to have a sequel, most especially if the first movie is doing great in terms of its box office success. For the movie Hancock, the Independence Day viewing date strategy may have been a very good scheme to lift the movie's gross up to the stratosphere. This movie by Sony, which showcases the acting prowess of Will Smith may be his 8th consecutive $100 million movie, a feat achieved by nobody else not even Tom Hanks or Tom Cruise. Hence, a part 2 may be close at hand.

The first Hancock anti-hero movie had practically left open a chance for another follow-up film. It is the story of a superhero that everybody loves to hate who is saving the world whether you like it or not. He is the careless, drunk and filthy Hancock, the exact opposite of your typical superhero who loves to save the world but with expensive consequences. With its "untypical" concept and the resolution of that concept at the end of the movie, the film really leaves its viewers with a weird feeling and maybe a puzzled mind. The plot twists, which started from the later half of the movie created more questions, resolved fewer answers, and maybe made the audience a little bit annoyed.

Although considerable amounts of comedy can save this action flick, it seems unavoidable that not everything will make sense in the end. Therefore, it is up for the men of Sony Pictures to produce a Hancock 2, who now have their fingers crossed hoping that this weekend's earnings will continue to make the movie a hit.

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Hancock - Great Idea, Wasted Film - A Movie Review

BOTTOM LINE: Will Smith does his best to elevate this film beyond its extremely mediocre script and direction but unfortunately he is only able to do so much, leaving us with a D-grade, un-dynamic superhero film that could have had the potential to deliver so much more than it does.

THE GOOD: We've been inundated with superhero flicks in the past decade, and it won't be long before every single comic book ever written is transformed in to a movie because some producer will think they can make five bucks out of it (and they probably will). Along comes "Hancock", a film that takes a different slant on this genre by making the hero character a complete jerk. He's careless, inconsiderate, rude and obnoxious. In a great opening scene, Hancock stops a bunch of bad guys in a chase sequence that ends with Hancock depositing their car on a pointy tower, while causing nine million dollars worth of damage. In the end, the police don't want his help because he causes more problems than he solves. These characteristics work in the film's favour, and as played so charismatically by Will Smith, creates the potential for a number of very comedic scenes involving Hancock's interactions with people. Will Smith has come a long way since being the Fresh Prince, and the surprising thing that I've found in his recent movies is that he seems to have improved his presence within a film dramatically. I was never a fan, but with films like I Am Legend and Hancock, he's single-handedly able to hold your attention and make his character very watchable. Hancock is bad, but he's good bad and you enjoy watching it.

THE BAD: It's not all good for this movie, which on the surface, has so many good things going for it. There's a different take on the superhero genre, there's an anti-hero character, there's the potential for sarcastic and witty comedy. So where does it go wrong? Aside from Will Smith's great presence, this film doesn't deliver on any of its potential. It's short, skimming over any development of story or character, relying solely on Smith's star power to drive the film. Smith has some great one-liners, but they're few and far between. The script is a mess, leaving a story that doesn't really go anywhere and doesn't give you much access in to the character or the scenario at all. Jason Bateman is unfortunately very naive and silly in his role, and this detracts from Smith's presence. Charlize Theron fares better but the direction her character takes, although good if it had been done properly, is a convoluted mess and the filmmakers spend more time explaining the elaborate backstory between her character and Hancock to the point that there's no room to even get Hancock fighting the villains which are almost an afterthought in the story. When Theron's character is revealed to be just like Hancock, the film degenerates in to an embarrassing mess of bad CGI and clunky dialogue. In the end you're wondering what is this film about? Is there any journey at all? There is a journey but it's badly executed. A lot of these criticisms you could find in many movies, but I think the sad thing for me is that I saw the potential for a great, funny, sarcastic superhero movie and unfortunately all I got was a completely wasted great idea turned in to an extremely mediocre movie.

For the original review, follow this link: http://www.allaboutmovies.net/filmreviewhancock.htm

Todd Murphy is a staff reviewer at the film/DVD review web site, http://www.allaboutmovies.net - for all the latest reviews on the newest releases.

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