Hancock
With so many pre-made ones already out there, creating an original superhero tale is tricky business- Marvel and D.C. seem to have found all the angles. So the thing to do is to model your creation off of them and find your own. Joss Whedon did it beautifully with his Buffyverse, and is there any self-respecting geek who didn’t dig Brad Bird’s “The Incredibles?”
Those two projects alone make something like “Hancock” an oddity into itself. Instead of playing up the hero angle, writers Vincent Ngo & Vince Gilligan make John Hancock into an anti-hero. He’s got the powers of a superhero, but he’s- to quote many people in the film- an asshole, more interested in drinking and sleeping than helping people. The obsenities people scream after Hancock trashes an interstate on a high-speed pursuit or stops a train with his fist, only to cause more damage? He’s used to it, but watch what you say, he’ll put someone’s head up your ass.
If Hancock were played by anyone other than Will Smith, I doubt this movie would work at all. He’s the film’s chief saving grace, making us sympathize with Hancock even when he’s doing the wrong thing with his effortless charm. He’s helped along by Jason Bateman as a PR agent who sees an opportunity for both to succeed and Charlize Theron as Bateman’s wife, who has her reasons to want Hancock out of her family’s life. And for a while, the film is an interestingly unpolished superhero movie, with director Peter Berg (“The Kingdom,” “Friday Night Lights”) not showing his hand too quickly, and engrossing you in a story of a hero trying to discover himself. But while a particular subplot- helping to explain Hancock’s origins- is certainly a compelling twist, and is paid off well in the end, it seems like one twist too many for what was shaping up into a really good redemption story. There’s nothing in the film I object to overtly, but I simply didn’t find myself enjoying this film as much as I should have. All the best laughs were in the previews, a big effects sequence with storms and weather changes seems kind of pointless when all things are considered in the end, and the ending seemed over-stylized and obvious. Still, things could’ve been worse (anyone remember “Catwoman?”). I’m just trying to figure out how they could have been better for “Hancock.”
