Hancock
Review by Matthew Rodgers
Peter Parker might whine about not being able to settle down with MJ, Superman might turn stalker outside the window of his unrequited love, Lois Lane, and even The Hulk would toss a tank for Betty Ross; what these melancholic do-gooders have in common is that they embrace their super-strength and sacrifice personal happiness for the greater good. So now we have Hancock, a drunk, foul-mouthed, self-centred hero of unknown origin who couldn’t care less but couldn’t cost more to those around him, both financially – his first “heroic act” involves $9M of damage – and emotionally. Say hello to the best superhero of the summer!
Introduced slumming it on a sidewalk bench, half-cut and barely conscious, Hancock (Will Smith – I Am Legend) is awoken by a small boy informing him that a crime is taking place somewhere in LA, it’s an exchange that end’s with the youngster calling our not-even-really-an-antihero an “asshole”. Situations like this convince good-natured PR man Ray (Jason Bateman – The Kingdom) to attempt a public perception makeover on the foul-mouthed superhero in an effort to repair his image with a less-than-appreciative public. Cue jail time, whale rescue and an intruiging love triangle with Ray’s wife, Mary (Charlize Theron – In the Valley of Elah).
Peter Berg has created, next to M.Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable, the best superhero movie not to have had comic book origins. It is based on a script that has been banded about Hollywood since the 70’s that had a much bleaker depiction of the life of a hero, and credit to the makers that some of that remains in Ngo and Gilligan’s screenplay. The only real problem with Hancock is that it cannot strike a balance between laugh-out-loud hilarity and serious drama, so instead of weaving the two into a cohesive plot it splits the movie into two very jarring halves of each.
The first half is typical “big willie” fare but with a slighlty adult twist, his Hancock is “mad at the world pissed” and threatens to put a foot up the ass (and a head in one of the more comically vulgar moments) of anyone who questions his actions. It’s not Smith againts type, it’s just a different spin on what he’s so good at.
That’s not to say that when the film switches gear to the more brow-furrowing latter half that he isn’t as convincing, nobody does teary-eyed quite like The Fresh Prince. He also gets to share screen time with Bateman who is steadily building on his Arrested Development brilliance with a series of quality roles, he bounces off Smith without having to revert to straightman stereotype and the realtionship that develops is quite endearing. The hitches lay with the introduction of Theron’s character, she cannot be blamed, or discussed in too much depth because of her characters plot mechanisms, but is weighed down with a character pushed to the peripheries of the comedy and her involvement in the love triangle is purely devisive.
Hancock is not the ball-busting action-comedy affair that people were expecting, Berg does handle the limited action with the same kinetic efficiency that served him so well during The Kingdom, and its extremely refreshing not to have a finale that features two overblown monsters having a street brawl a la Hulk and Iron Man. The dramatic showdown here actually carries some resonance for the characters.
Part Will Smith comedy, part action, part drama, sometimes a tonal mess, but never less than completely and utterley enjoyable.
