Hancock

Review by Loc

You know how Will Smith turned out some decent performances recently? Stuff like Hitch and The Pursuit of Happyness showcased Smith with an understated vulnerability that he rarely employed in earlier films. Yes, twas a unique time where Will Smith’s “awww, hell no” attitude took a vacation to the betterment of his films. But some changes are fleeting, and a return to normalcy expected. With Hancock, the old Will Smith surfaces with a twist. Quick hit: awww, hell no.

Hancock is supposed to be a new take on the superhero/comic genre. No fantastical embraces of spandex-clad heroes. No simple acceptance of their powers. No overlooking the after effects on civic destruction from superhero showdowns. Nope, Hancock is supposed to be a semi-comical, more realistic take on comics. And what happens when you strip away the super in the hero, you get mediocre.

This isn’t necessarily a bad film, but it’s slightly uneven. If fails to find a unified voice or scope, and basically throws a bunch of ideas at you. You have the “what would happen if a superhuman existed in today’s world”: a drunk, disillusioned guy apparently. You also get, “what is the actual toll of superhero heroism”: lots of destroyed pavement. How about, “what’s the mystery of his origin”: some random references to human history I guess. Is there, “will the hero redeem himself”: of course we address this issue. In the end, it’s a jumbled collection, focusing first on one thing before shifting over to something else, and never spending the time to develop any one idea sufficiently.

However, it doesn’t play bad. It doesn’t even bore you. The action is relatively fun to see, as destruction on this scale is usually reserved for world-altering disasters. Watching how a superhero could devastate our world is interesting. Sure, we’ve seen Wolverine cut and shred stuff, but it’s not often we see Superman crush the ground beneath him, halt a speeding train with his body, or toss a car with reckless abandon. In that sense, Hancock is literally fun, summer diversion.

Yet, as we move through the various plot points, it’s hard to get invested in anything. There’s the beginning thread about Hancock’s non-adaptive, antisocial interactions with us Earthlings. Why not follow on that and really build a story around that? Maybe it’s too mundane, too played out, and as the movie eventually closes off that piece of the story, it does come off bland. But maybe that’s because the flick jumped off into other things rather than expand into a full story. You get the same thing with the plot points about Hancock’s mysterious past or the redemption to himself.

Now, moving on to Will Smith, what to say. Well, it’s not that he pulls the whole “I’m so cool you should know” act. However, the entire first half of the movie is built around his sour, cranky, half-drunk, mostly belligerent attitude, and it comes off, well, like he’s acting. When you see someone acting, you notice how hard they’re trying to be this or that, and in Hancock, you see how an unnatural Will Smith acts like an a-hole. It works OK in the trailers, but it doesn’t pass in the movie. And that’s the annoying part, if he were a more natural dick, he’d play it better. Which is a good thing? I guess. But a bad thing for the flick.

The other performances are there, nothing too special. Jason Bateman is the good-hearted PR guy. He plays a pretty decent guy and has some quippy lines. Charlize Theron is his good-hearted wife and Hancock-cynic. She’s mostly there too, giving long glances and mysterious pauses. Not exactly rocket science to figure out her character.

Overall, Hancock is decent. It’s one of those movies that you’ll like or dislike depending on your mood. It doesn’t really hold your attention without your willingness to try. There’s some action, very little humor, or more accurately, very little good humor. The special effects are decent. But everything is a bit scattered and doesn’t offer all that much. Out of 10 acts of unkind heroism, Hancock manages to toss 5 kids in the air unapologetically. And that’s all you get.