Rated PG-13 for some intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, and language.
92 Minutes

Directed By: Peter Berg
Written By: Vincent Ngo and Vincent Gilligan
Staring: Will Smith, Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman, Jae Head, Eddie Marsan, and David Mattey

Did you shove a man’s head up another man’s ass? -Ray Embrey

Review

Don’t drink and fly or you’ll end up smashing into random buildings, breaking expensive personal property and apparently become the bad kind of good guy.  The world might even want to imprison you instead of give you thanks for keeping it safer.  This is the kind content that surrounds the plot of Hancock, a super hero that isn’t quite like the books have described them to be.  This film is a giant side step from your typical hero flick, and for the most part succeeds in it’s endeavors.

Los Angelas would seem to be a lucky city with a superhero protecting the streets, but their hero isn’t the kind written about in books and in the movies.  Hancock can fly and seems impervious to bullets and probably anything else tossed his way, but the way he goes about doing his good deeds is a bitunorthodox .  He generally flies drunk, which results in more city property than the citizens would like.  Even after rescuing or saving someone his insight leads him to yell at all the normals calling them dumb amongst other choice phrases.  The good guy hero has a drinking problem and needs anger management so bad that the city he saves has issued a warrant for his arrest.  Only a do-gooder PR sees the potential of Hancock and offers to help him.

Aside from Hancock’s bad attitude and drunken flights, there is also something else that separates itself from other films in this genre and that is Hancock having an actualnemesis .  Sure things happen in the final moments that make villains his equals briefly, but for the first three quarters of the film, he doesn’t have someone who can physically challenge him.  Having anuntypical setup and no real precedent for this kind of brand of film, Hancock was a fresh and exciting film.

The effects in this film are pure escapism fun.  From Hancock stumbling threw the air, drunk out of his mind, to the apprehension of villains, to the smashing train crash this film pulled out all the stops, and made for a film worth watching just for the excitement of great effects.  With Will Smith as the leading man, Hancock had every right to be unapologetic for it’s relentless action, and simplistic one liners that only had real flair because of the actors delivering them.  It’s was what a good popcorn flick is all about.

While Hancock was mostly successful in it’s adventure there were places of disappointment and wilted momentum.  This twist that springs about three quarters through is undoubtedly cool, but the film shifts gears to a more morose and dramatic type mood than the rest of the film had omitted.  Even inHancock’s reflective jail moments, there was enough comedy and exciting moments mixed in between that the thrill of the film never left.  When this “secret” is revealed, the fun feels like it’s been sucked out of the story and the drama of a film more along the lines of X-Men has interrupted.  What was so great about the beginning was the overwhelming sense of fun the audience could get caught up in.  The last twenty minutes was a complete downer.  It’s not as though what happened was a bad idea, the concept itself was pretty exciting, but it’s execution was far from the adrenaline rush of fun and fantastic that the rest of the film had boasted.

There is no questioning how great Will Smith was in this movie.  If another actor had been in his place, I doubt it would have been half the fun it was.  He was cast perfect, but the balance of his character was met by the brilliant timing of JasonBateman , who’s character’s nature and outlook on life was quite the opposite of Hancock.  Nonetheless the two have amazing chemistry and laughing out loud kind of comic timing. Bateman’s character Ray is the one who really makes the twist of a superhero being an ass funny instead of a guy just being a jerk.  Though the two became friends the dynamic of their relationship kept each true to their nature.  Hancock may have helped by giving Ray a ride home, but how he and his car get there is far from the gentle and kind impact one would expect from a “hero”.  Ray never strays away from his good heart, nor his own need to help, and that follows through to the very end.  Bateman was the true “X” factor of Hancock.

Movies like this should have comedy, but “R” rated comedy and action is something that doesn’t come by too often anymore, especially executed as well as it was in Hancock.  Some of the jail scenes, particularly how Hancock makes one of his adversaries at the end of the flick is just hysterical.  It makes you think, what would a normal person do if they had superpowers?  Not everyone would become a maniacal villain or become the moral leader of humanity.  Sometimes you might get mad, and why not abuse that power a little bit.  Hancock just takes that notion to the tenth power, and of course it makes it more interesting for the audience.

Hancock may have let down it’s pace and excitement at the end, but I’m impressed by it’s ingenuity and ability to go places other filmmakers have been too afraid too.  Instead of a spin-off or remake it was a film entirely of it’s own, and it was still fun to watch.  The trio of Will Smith, Jason Bateman, and Charlize Theron was casting at it’s best.  The connection between the three of them was kinetic and the result was gregarious entertainment.  I really enjoyed Hancock even though many of my fellow critics didn’t, I was impressed what it attempted to achieve, because for the most part it was successful.

Popularity: 1% [?]