Hancock
Will Smith stars as surly superhero Hancock
Also In The News
|
Andy Murray has been knocked out of Wimbledon by Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals after suffering a 6-3 6-2 6-4 defeat to the number two seed. |  |
Thursday, 03, Jul 2008 10:15
Directed by Peter Berg, out now, starring Will Smith, Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman, 92 mins.
In a nutshell...
A brilliant premise left unexplored.
What's it all about?
Hancock (Will Smith) is a drunk superhero - much maligned for his actions, which often devastate the city of Los Angeles. PR agent Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman) is a do-gooder, trying to save the world one multinational corporation at a time. Their lives come together when Hancock saves Ray from certain doom at the hands of an oncoming train. Ray invites Hancock home, and offers him the chance of redemption via PR. Hancock, however, only has eyes for Ray's wife Mary (Charlize Theron). After the District Attorney issues an arrest warrant for Hancock, Ray suggests he go to make the city miss him. During a bank robbery, Hancock is released to save the city. Alcohol free and with a new lease on life, Hancock does the job admirably winning the acclaim of the city, and most importantly Mary, with whom sparks start to fly. Those sparks cause major problems, however. And not just for the marriage of the Embreys'...
Who's in it?
Will Smith leads the line admirably. And what more needs to be said about him. He's a one-man blockbuster-making machine. Oscar-winner Charlize Theron lends her innate ability to make droopy eyes better than anyone else in Hollywood to her role. The one you probably haven't heard of is Jason Bateman. He is the star of the quite brilliant TV comedy Arrested Development, and most recently featured as despicable Dad to be Mark Loring in Juno. Helmed by Peter Berg, most famous for his excellent action films such as Walking Tall, Friday Night Lights and the Kingdom. He does crash/bang/wallop as well as anyone else.
As an example...
"Call me an a**hole... one more time."
Likelihood of a trip to the Oscars
Quite possibly for its visual effects, which are stunning. Other than that, absolutely no chance. It's likely to be a big hit at the MTV movie awards, however.
What the others say
"Hancock is more intelligent than most summer blockbusters and features at its center a thought-out and committed performance by Will Smith. But in the end it's merely almost good." - Mick LaSalle - San Francisco Chronicle
"A lot of fun, if perhaps a little top-heavy with stuff being destroyed." - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times
So is it any good?
The short answer is yes. But it could have been so much more. Unfortunately, Will Smith's penchant for creating a family friendly movie has come to the foreground once more. Hancock is based on the incredibly dark screenplay - "Tonight, He Comes", by Vincent Ngo. It's pretty freely available online, and if you want a brief synopsis, I suggest you buy this month's Empire. The basic premise behind it, and indeed of this film, is the fallibility of a super-hero. It's very rarely explored - only briefly with the mainstream types of Daredevil and Wolverine, but Hancock does ask the question: "Why should I be a super-hero?" Do super-powers mean you have to be a hero, when there's nothing else to live for?
The first 45 minutes or so are brilliant and follow this question nicely. They really setup Hancock as a bit of an arse. The chase scene through LA to kick the film off is brilliant, and the CGI flawless. It's with the introduction of Charlize Theron's character that the film starts to fall down. With her, the story-arch continues to a twist that, if you don't see coming from a million miles off, you've been paying absolutely no attention whatsoever. The main criticism of the film is that it really feels as though Peter Berg has foregone a clever, intelligent script for more of what he does best. It rips through the dialogue to get to the (admittedly amazing) action scenes.
Smith is, as always, brilliant. If there's a more charismatic actor on the planet, I've yet to see him. Theron is fine, working quite well with what is a not particularly well developed role. But the star of the show is really Bateman. He's the glue which holds the film together. Any of the decent dialogue moves through him, and his reaction shots are the stuff of legends. I've still yet to see anyone that can say as much as him, without uttering a sound.
This is a decent enough film. No matter the review, it's going to top the charts purely for that man Smith. It's a nice stop-gap until The Dark Knight comes out, but it's just that - a stop-gap. It's probably worth a watch, if only for the amazing visuals. But for those of you expecting something intelligent in the super-hero genre, prepare to be disappointed. Instead, be ready for what is a quite good popcorn movie.
6.5/10
Rob Wheatley