Review: Hancock (2008)

[tom elce]

Hancock (2008)
2.5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Tom Elce
Director: Peter Berg
Cast: Will Smith, Jason Bateman, Charlize Theron, Darrell Foster, Daeg
Faerch, Valerie Azlynn, Lauren Hill, David Mattey, Kate Clarke, Shea
Curry, Lily Mariye, Rio Ahn, Trieu Tran, Adam Del Rio, Alexandra
Nowak, Sumalee Montano, Kyla Dang, Atticus Shaffer
Rated: PG-13 (MPAA), 12A (BBFC)

Hancock (Will Smith) is the superhero everybody in his city seems to
hate. Everytime he tries to use his powers for good, he messes it up
somehow, usually costing the city millions of dollars in damage, and
he never cares. He's halfway towards fulfilling the requirements set
out by Spider-Man's uncle, having the power but none of the
responsibility. Enter public relations guy Ray (Jason Bateman), who
come up with some ideas to transform Hancock's image when the
alcoholic superhero saves him from a train-collision death. Obviously,
it won't be easy transforming a superhero as rude as Hancock.

The latest superhero flick to come swooping in, "Hancock" wants to
think itself original by having a superhero who isn't immediately
likeable and whose personal problems stretch beyond simply having that
girl next door he always loves. Once the main plot sets in, however,
the film begins to reveal itself, eventually conforming to the demands
of formulaic plotting. Aside from that, it simply isn't as
entertaining as the better superhero films to have come out in recent
years, like the underrated "Hulk," the "Spider-Man" movies or the soon-
to-be sequelized "Batman Begins."

For a film also considered to be a comedy, "Hancock" isn't nearly as
funny as it seems to think itself. Too many of the jokes, for example,
go the homophobic route (as in an opening scene in which Hancock makes
suggestive comments about three guys in a car, and another in which he
refers to various comic-book heroes as homos), distasteful and
disheartening in the way they seem to appear in every studio
blockbuster. Better is a scene in which Hancock has a run-in with the
taunting Michel (Daeg Faerch), though even this was given away in the
marketing campaign.

One thing that the marketing campaign didn't give away is the
storyline involving Ray's wife Mary (Charlize Theron), one of
"Hancock"'s few refreshing elements. The way in which a connection
between herself and Hancock is revealed shouldn't really be given
away. Simply put, it's one of the film's most worthwhile elements,
though the dullness of Mary in general cannot be totally put to the
back of the mind.

Will Smith, having recently been in a couple of good films with 2006's
"The Pursuit of Happyness" and 2007's "I Am Legend," takes a step down
with his latest role. Whereas Hancock is supposed to be difficult to
like, it's impossible to commit to disliking him simply because of
Will Smith's natural, familiar charm. The way he performs as Hancock,
too, is more deadpan-humorous than believably mean. In supporting
parts, Charlize Theron (taking a much-needed break from dirtying
herself up for the camera) and Jason Bateman don't stretch themselves
whatsoever, instead being overshadowed by a few of the film's smaller
parts, notably Daeg Faerch's excellent appearance as Michel.

Opening with a car chase in which Hancock costs the city millions of
dollars through his "heroics," director Peter Berg (he of 2007's ham-
fisted "The Kingdom") and screenwriters Vincent Ngo and Vince Gilligan
introduce the title character as an appropriately inept crimefighter
but don't appear to know where to go from there. His inevitable
transformation into a more capable superhero achieved with little
surprise or inspiration along the way, reliant more on cheap emotional
moments and even cheaper humour than on forward-moving plot
developments.

In a summer that has already scene the good, if overpraised, "Iron
Man" and looks forward to the upcoming "The Dark Knight" and "Hellboy
II," "Hancock" is destined to disappear from the memory upon
visitation of these more promising films. The supposed victim of
several script re-writes, it would have been interesting to see what
the initial finished product would have looked like. As is, however,
the film is consistent with far too many hollow summer films, nowhere
near as bad as last year's "Transformers" but, as I said, nowhere near
the level of a "Batman Begins" or "Spider-Man 2."