Review: “Hancock”
Posted on July 10, 2008 @ 10:33 am
Sandwiched between comic book features like Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and the upcoming Dark Knight, I can’t help but think this was simply the wrong summer to release Hancock. A film that, at a more opportune time, might have been a mildly entertaining — if uneven — deconstruction of the superhero genre instead comes off as a mediocre also-ran in a summer already packed with superhuman do-good freaks.
Will Smith and Jason Bateman serve up exactly the performances you’d expect to see as a down-on-his-luck, alcoholic superhero and his self-appointed PR guy, respectively. Mind you, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Smith and Bateman certainly acquit themselves well in these roles, but if you’ve seen the previews for Hancock, you’ll know precisely what to expect from the first half of the movie. The film’s second half, on the other hand, offers a “shocking” twist that’s clumsily telegraphed by director Peter Berg well in advance of the big reveal. From there, Hancock stumbles along toward to a muddled, anticlimactic finale.
Hancock isn’t all bad. In fact, the premise of a troubled, reluctant superhero is quite compelling. It just doesn’t measure up to the high standards set by other recent movies in the genre. In turn, something tells me that Hancock’s best attempt at a catchphrase — an invitation to “call me asshole, one more time” — isn’t going to replace “with great power comes responsibility” anytime soon.
The verdict: C-
Posted by Jess | Filed Under Pop Culture |
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I knew about the shocking plot twist pretty much from the get go. Now, I can’t take credit for that bit of detection. After reading Ebert’s review, I got a hint of what to look out for and I gotta say, it wasn’t that interesting. I liked the movie fine enough but, as you said, sandwiched between all the other super hero movies, it just falls short.
I still want to see this, although everyone is saying it falls short of a great movie. I knew about the plot twist right from the get go.
There are plenty of other movies to see out there too.
I actually liked the movie quite a bit in spite of itself. There are so many things that are just done the wrong way, the pacing is all wrong, you dont hear anything about Hancocks past (which is actually interesting) until the last half hour of the movie. The twist (which I suspected really from the get go) is interested. I really don’t know why but I liked it.
Objectively I’d agree with your grade, but it just clicked for me and I’d personally say it was a solid B. You can’t tell me its not better than that Hulk trash.
@meatrace: Yeah, I’ve had my share of movies through the years that have just clicked with me despite the presence of both minor and major flaws. The Resident Evil movies spring to mind almost immediately. I didn’t hate Hancock; I just think a little tweaking here and there could have made it a much better film.
I was there mostly for Jason Bateman and I wasn’t disappointed.
I didn’t know the twist but thought the people involved were acting a bit odd….I liked Hancock! But I’m also not a big super hero movie fan.