‘Hancock’ is its Own Worst Enemy
-----This Will Smith vehicle looked great from the moment I saw the trailer. Finally there would be a potentially great action/comedy about a superhero who doesn’t follow the archetypes. With Smith backing it, it was sure to be a quality film. It definitely wouldn’t do what recent Smith films have done and have a cop-out ending (*ahem* ‘I Am Legend’)…would it?
-----Hancock is the story of a superhero in Los Angeles. He isn’t your typical hero though. He frequently indulges in drinking, destroying public property, and being a major bum. When the city seems pushed to the breaking point, local PR guy Aaron Embrey, grateful for Hancock’s rescue of him, offers Hancock a chance at a new image. How far Hancock is willing to go for the public’s approval is put the test as his mysterious past begins to catch up to him.
-----Will Smith brings a lot of laughs, energy, and charisma to the title role of loser hero Hancock. His screen presence saves a lot of the film’s more conventional and even unnecessary points. Familiar face Jason Bateman plays the struggling, but well meaning PR man Ray Embrey. He has a certain chemistry with Smith that leads to many laughs and a good number of character moments. Rounding out the cast are reluctant wife Mary Embrey played adequately by Charlize Theron, and Eddie Marsan as typical villain Kenneth ‘Red’ Parker Jr.
-----‘Hancock’ was on its way to being a classic before an unnecessary and somewhat loose end plot twist. A good two thirds into the film you’ll have laughed a number of times, and been thrilled by the effects sold by way of Smith. When the twist occurs, you’ll soon realize that it is going to take the rest of the movie trying to explain this somewhat uncalled for and completely unnecessary change in pace. While it does explain most of our hero’s past, it makes an already strong story fall into convention with complications that hardly seem true to the quality of story so far. After this, you’ll be wandering what exactly the movie was trying to be, and though you loved the first half, the weak second half is the one that sticks with you.
-----‘Hancock’s effects are fun and wild, showing us a Superman lugging liquor through the air. The music too has that epic sense and depth that lives up to the quality of the first half of the film. Many of the technical subtleties are done with excellent precision making the film have a unique and interesting feel…for the first half. Unfortunately, like much of the film the first half boasts better quality than the rushed second half. The sad part too is that the film could have gone on another 10-20 minutes, being only 92 minutes in runtime.
-----The finished product is not what it could have been given the original and fresh first half. However, despite these flaws, Smith’s charisma affords the film an entertaining hour and a half. You’ll probably forget much of it after a week or so though, and all but the most die hard Smith fans may find one viewing perfectly adequate. So it’s not a masterpiece, and it nearly self destructs, but it’s still a fairly original and fun popcorn flick.
