Hancock Review!

July 4th, 2008

Let me preface this review with a statement...I am a huge, HUGE, Will Smith fan. I would go see a movie of his if it was entitled "This Movie is absolute GARBAGE, my worst effort EVER!" starring Smith and Madonna. That's how big a fan I am of his work.

Hancock is a good movie gone wrong 3/4th's of the way home. Will Smith is his usual charming self even when he is playing an asshole (ironically he hates being called that in the movie). He plays dysfunctional Superhero, John Hancock...Hancock for short, who has fallen out of favor with the public and city of Los Angeles. Often times he begrudgingly saves the day so he can go back to sleeping off his alcohol induced coma that he has endured from days of boozing. We see this in the films opening scene in which a little boy wakes Hancock from his slumber on a city bench on the side of the road to tell him that there is peril on the loose on the highways of LA. Hancock's response..."What do you want? A cookie? Get the hell out of my face!" in which the little boy (who can only be the ripe old age of 6 or 7...maybe) labels Hancock an Asshole, in which Hancock responds, "What did you say?" to which the boy tells him "You heard me," as he walks away with the helpless face he first approached Hancock with. We then see Hancock flying through the air with a bottle of alcohol in his hand, five oclock shadow and all to the tune of "Move, Bitch" by Ludacris. He joins the high speed car chase taking place only to leave more damage than before he got there. The scene ends with him barreling into the back of the SUV being pursued occupied by a group of Asian gang bangers and Hancock drops the SUV onto the antenna of the Capitol Records building.

Now, the acting is spot on in this movie by just about everyone but the bad guys, and surprisingly Charlize Theron. She just seemed too caught up into trying to be vindictive and scornful that she forgot how to act. It's a shame too, she had a very large role in the movie.

Jason Bateman's character, Ray Embrey, a struggling Public Relations guy gets saved by Hancock before a Train made him meat drivel. Bateman is a rising star in the acting game, with recent Home Run performances such as The Kingdom and Juno. He should start getting calls to star in a movie here shortly...not share screen time.

There are plenty of plot holes in this movie but in what Will Smith summer blockbuster has there not been plot holes? Smith is the one last true "Movie Star" out there that can draw people to see his movie by just his name recognition alone. He succeeds with "Hancock" as well, it will no doubtedly gross $100 million by it's first month domestically. The bad guys in Hancock seemed childish to me, the movie itself also lost steam at about the "Bank Robbery" scene 3/4ths of the way to the end. Much like the maligned "I Am Legend" did. I'll blame lack of story on this one...the acting was there, just no plot.

I got to see it on a free pass, but I would have gone to see it sooner or later, at some point. I'd recommend it before Batman: The Dark Knight comes out 7/18 (later this month) due to it being the only big release from this week until then. If you wait past the 18th, you might as well see one hell of a movie in Batman: TDK.

HANCOCK: 2.5 out of 5- see it if you absolutely have to go to the movie theaters and waste $10, otherwise just wait a few weeks and see a real movie.