Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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30 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Hancock, 4 Sep 2008
`In Development' are the two words which can strike fear onto the hearts of any screenwriter. What it basically means is studios like the idea, but what can they do to squeeze every last penny from it. It was the `In Development' curse which befell the film Tonight, He Comes. For 12 years, Vincent Ngo's script had been wandering around Hollywood, trying to find a home. In that time, it managed to morph from a dark tale about a morally bankrupt superhero, who smokes, drinks, and sleeps with prostitutes (who die when he...erm...gets his most excited, wink, wink) to a family friendly summer blockbuster staring Will Smith. Why oh why do things have to change so much???
John Hancock (Will Smith) is your typical super-hero. Unlike other super-heroes though, his lazy, drunken attempts at fighting crime have caused massive damage and given him a bad reputation with the public. One day though, he is taken under the wing of PR guru Ray (Jason Bateman), who thinks he can solve Hancock's image problems. But Mary (Charlize Theron), Ray's wife, is apprehensive about her husband getting involved with the fallen hero.
Hancock is one of those Hollywood films made up for two separate parts. The first half is the half where the director has been allowed to do what he wants. And the second half is where the studio suits came in and it becomes a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth. The first half of the film remains close to its anti-hero roots, with sharp, dark dialogue, and Hancock at his best when he's behaving badly, whether its launching mouthy children into the atmosphere, returning whales to the ocean or stopping the bad guys from getting away.
It is at exactly at the half way point of the film (honestly, at 46 minutes), when Hancock goes to jail, that the film turns. It then becomes a typical super-hero film, with all the usual hallmarks - a nemesis, a display of his range of powers and even a suit. However, these have all been ripped off from other films, mainly Superman. His nemesis, played by Eddie Marsan, is a poor man's Lex Luthor; he doesn't feel at all threatening, with Marsan seriously miscast in the role. Hancock's powers - flight, invulnerability and immortality - have also been taken from the famed Man of Steel. Even Hancock's suit looks like it has been stolen from Wolverine's wardrobe. When the studio suits eventually get their own way, they can't even get it right, with the final third unbearably melodramatic.
The producers of the film should be thankful at they managed to get Will Smith on board, as he is one of the few actors who can still open a distinctly average film. His initial portrayal as Hancock the drunk is different to many of the roles he normally takes on, and he delivers his put-downs beautifully, although he is mostly on auto-pilot. But like the rest of the film, the second half suffers, with too many emotions trying to be crammed into too few scenes. Also, his turn-around from drunken vigilante, to gleaming super-hero feels rushed and hollow.
Speaking of hollow, Jason Bateman's caring PR executive is a stretch of the imagination too far. Does director Peter Berg honestly expect the audience to believe money grabbing PR guys waste their time on the All-Heart charitable logo? Bateman pulls off the role well, but he does seem to be playing almost the exactly same character as he did in Juno earlier this year. Charlieze Theron is probably the biggest disappointment, with her character poorly directed by Berg. At the outset, there's an air of mystery about her, but by the time the twist in the film arrives, its more than obvious she was there to play more than `the wife'.
After so much promise in the first half, Hancock loses all momentum, and becomes another of the de-facto super-hero movies, but not as good as anything we're normally treated to.
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48 of 62 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Near-perfect feelgood flick. Will Smith in top form, 9 Jul 2008
Unlike most other blockbusters, the best bits of Hancock don't appear in the trailer. There's plenty more action, comedy and some serious dramatic plot twists, all of which adds up to a great two hours entertainment. So if you like the look of the trailer -- you're in luck: there's plenty more good stuff in the film itself.
Will Smith is on top form, ideally suited to the role of a scuzzy, down at heel superhero who's been hitting the booze (and hitting skyscrapers, trains, bad guys and anything else he blunders into). Hancock is a wise-ass and a careless, aggressive and anti-social guy who happens to be the most powerful person on the planet. So he isn't very popular with the general public... until he saves the life of a PR guy who then attempts to turn Hancock's situation around.
That's what the trailer shows us, together with some of the laugh-out-loud lines (including the moment when heads get inserted where the sun don't shine!). But the film has a lot more than that to offer including some snappy action scenes and (amazingly) A Real Plot which I'm not going to spoil here. It could almost be two movies, in fact; the first half sets up Hancock the drunk, and the second half explains the how and the why and resolves some of those issues -- but altogether it makes for funny and entertaining viewing. Hancock occasionally parodies 'serious' superhero movies but it never gets crass (well, not *too* crass), and the scattering of superhero in-jokes should keep fan boys happy while they don't detract at all from the action.
Hancock also manages to portray just what would happen if an ordinary bloke somehow became superhuman, without going into endless navel-gazing drizzle and teenage angst. Great power, in this case, can make a man mighty lonely. He doesn't even know if he's human, but Hancock certainly feels like an outsider when it comes to normal human society. So there's even some hidden depths to what looks at first glance like a superficial summer blockbuster...
Definitely worth seeing on a big screen or in high definition, and probably a DVD to buy and watch again when you need cheering up. If you enjoyed Men In Black then you'll love this: it suits Will Smith's style far more than the straight-laced I Am Legend.
Hancock is a 12A certificate, and pretty safe to watch with the whole family. Even the tasteless bit is redeemed by being excrutiatingly funny...
8/10
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Smith is very funny!, 25 Feb 2009
Ok so it's not the best story line ever, and a bit disappointing on that front, but still, it is well made, funny and very pacey. An easy enjoyable way to spend an hour and a half. And Will Smith is great as usual. Recommended.
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