Jul 11, 2008
Cast: Will Smith
Director: Peter Berg
Will Smith stars as an unlikely superhero who drinks and swears and causes mass destruction when he’s saving the world in Hancock. He can fly, he can derail a speeding train, he’s even bulletproof.
But he’s the kind of guy who doesn’t exactly worry or even think about the consequences of his deeds. Like what he does to the stranded whale on the beach. He decides to send it back to sea, but by yanking the thing by its tail and flinging it so hard it lands smack on a yacht in the water.
Naturally Americans hate Hancock. He’s got hundreds of lawsuits pending against him, and the damage he’s inadvertently caused to state property would run into millions of dollars. His life changes when a PR guy he saves in a train accident volunteers to give him an image makeover. Trust Hancock to repay the guy by falling for his wife.
On paper, Hancock is a fantastic idea, the perfect twist to a superhero tale. Some of the scenes in the film are really amusing – like the ones in which Hancock is trained to ask politely before rescuing someone, and to say “good job” even when the person isn’t doing one.
In fact the film’s fairly enjoyable until it gets all serious and makes a completely unexpected plot turn that derails the film in a way that it never recovers from. That’s a pity because Will Smith is in really good form as the boorish superhero and there’s really so much potential here. Hancock promises the real deal, but delivers a lot less.
So that’s two out of five and at best an average rating for Hancock. Watch it for yourself and you’ll understand what I mean when I say they ruined a perfectly good movie and how!
(This review first aired on CNN-IBN)