Hancock
Year of release : 2008
Run time : 1h37min
Genre : Action / Comedy / Fantasy
Cast : Will Smith, Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman
Directed by Peter Berg, the superhero movie has been in the making since 1996, when Vy Vincent Ngo wrote a spec script, “Tonight, he comes”, about a fallen superhero and a troubled 12 year old boy .
The movie opens with Hancock sleeping on a bench like a homeless man, with a lot of empty alcohol bottles around him. A kid wakes him up telling him some gang members are sho0ting up the freeway. After he scolds the kid for waking him up, he goes to help, but he does more harm than good, as he damages the road signs, the police cars, and he dumps the gang members’ car on top of a tall building.
Ray Embry is trying to sell his idea to big corporate people of giving their products for free, so they could get his heart symbol on their logo. They are not interested, and fire him.
Leaving his wife a voice message, he realizes he is caught on the train tracks in a line of cars, and no matter how much he honks at them to move, they aren’t moving (I don’t understand how is this even possible, as when the train is coming, the barriers go down, and everybody knows not to stop on the tracks).
Hancock comes to the rescue, and throws Ray’s car on top of others, upside down, like a maniac would.He then stops the train for no reason, destroying it.
People are not pleased with his antics, and tell him he could have taken the car and gone up, instead of doing all this damage. Ray is the only one who thanks him for helping him, saying that because of him he can go home to his wife and kid,instead of being dead.
Ray is asking Hancock to take his car home, so he flies it in the parking lot (although, if it’s damaged, shouldn’t he have taken it to the repair shop?)
Ray’s wife, Mary, comes out of the house, and is stunned when she sees Hancock (later on, we understand why).Ray invites him for dinner, and Mary doesn’t seem to like it.
When Hancock leaves, Ray offers to change his image, as people hate him.He tells him he needs to start by taking accountability for the things he’s done (damaging city property) and going to jail. Hancock reluctantly agrees, and Ray proceeds into turning him into the superhero he knows he could be.
With Hancock in jail, in only 5 days, the crime rate increased 30%.
After 2 weeks in jail, Hancock is called by the chief of police who needs his help in getting hostages out from a bank robbery, where the robbers put explosives vests on them.
I personally enjoyed the movie.
Hancock is a different kind of superhero. Different as in,he doesn’t really want to help, he doesn’t want to be a hero,but does it more because people expect it of him. Also,while trying to catch the bad guys he does more harm and damage than good,so it seems like the city would have been better without his help.
After rescuing Ray,in one of his usual style rescues,creating more damage,seeing how people react to Hancock,complaining and fighting him,Ray decides to help him,change his image and make him lovable.Ray really likes Hancock, and so does his son.
Mary has a secret which comes out due to her own fault.
One thing that bothered me is that at times the movie had the shaky camera syndrome, and when it got close-ups to Charlize or Will’s face towards the end (in the hospital), it cut half of their face.
Also, after finding out who he is, Hancock never asks what his real name is.
The acting was good.
I didn’t like the soundtrack and songs chosen for it, as it was Jazzy, funk or country.
The visual effects were good.
The movie grossed 629.4 million dollars at the box office, against a budget of 150 million, being the 4th highest grossing movie of 2008, although released in December.
It received mixed reviews, with a rating of under 50% from the critics on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, and a 59% popcornmeter on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 6.2 user score on Metacritic.
Rating : Worth a watch !