While the wife and kid’s away, this cat will check out a couple of movies at the theater that I’m not sure I’d otherwise get a chance to see there — though, in the case of Hancock, I’d very much like to get Margie to go see it, too.
Hancock (2008)
| Overall |  | Story | |
| Production | | Acting |  |
Story: Hancock is the only super-hero in the world. A basic brick, he’s super-strong, nigh-invulnerable, and can fly. He’s also an asshole, nasty to people he meets, usually drunk, and prone to causing massive collateral damage while capturing out bad guys.
But what’s his secret? Why is he the way he is, physically and emotionally? Why does he keep trying to do good. Can an idealistic PR rep turn him around? And why does Hancock keep giving the guy’s wife the eye …?
The movie starts as a bit of a funny romp, but gradually grows more serious and emotional as it progresses. While some reviews have lambasted it for veering wildly off course, having now seen it I’d have to say the story arc is both logical and well done, and it has plenty of big action, and white-knuckle suspense, to keep the standard Will Smith Fourth of July crowd happy.
In some places it over-reaches. Some bits of relationship storyline are never resolved, or never quite gel the way it looks like they were supposed to. I suspect there’s some “Director’s Cut” editing that might fix some of that. And there are some tone issues — some over the top humor (and dubious physics) early on that doesn’t quite align with the drama to come.
But overall, I had no big complaints, and I walked out of the theater feeling like it was a good investment of time and money.
Acting: Will Smith is a naturally likable character. That makes playing the initial “asshole” that Hancock is (and I keep using the term only because the movie does) a tough sell, but Smith does it okay. His emotional evolution is equally fitful, not helped by distraction from a lot of other events and personalities. Jason Bateman is one of those, an idealistic PR guy who makes Hancock his new project, with unexpected impacts on his home life. Charleze Theron as the wife also gets some interestingly meaty bits to play with, though we don’t get enough of her character’s story to really do her justice.
This would make a fabulous novel. As it is, the character parts tend to get short shrift in favor of the action.
Production: Figure a super-hero film will have a lot of CG, a lot of explosions, and a lot of vehicles crashing, smashing, and blowing up, and you’ll figure right. The movie makes the whole super-hero thing work, though, with the powers manifested looking pretty “right” (if with a bit of a “Greatest American Hero” feeling to them at times).
Music works okay, too — a mixture of somewhat forgettable action fare and some appropriately chosen rock/rap pieces.
Overall: Rated PG-13, this is probably too intense and violent for Katherine (age 8) at the moment, but I think Margie would enjoy it. And I wouldn’t mind seeing it again, honey.
Hancock is not the best super-hero flick of all time — but it’s most definitely in the Top 5. ‘Nuff said.