Hancock

When a Great Character Finds Himself Stuck in a Terrible Movie.

July 07, 2008 – There are some movies that I go into with every expectation that I’ll be wowed. Hancock was one of those movies. It had an impeccable actor, a much needed twist on a familiar genre, humor and an underlying seriousness that I appreciate in my blockbuster summer movies. I was supremely disappointed.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot to like here. The film certainly begins well enough with a likeable superhero/street-bum character, Hancock, played by Will Smith, who stops the bad guys in humorous and delightfully destructive ways. The populous doesn’t appreciate his expensive and disastrous methods, and take it out on Hancock in mass verbal abuse. Will Smith’s portrayal of the character is one of the brightest aspects of the film, and will carry it for many movie-goers. He blends the various characteristics terrifically, portraying someone who wants to do the right thing, but because of a deep hurt and constant mistrust becomes apathetic and uncaring. The mixture is done perfectly, and in the few scenes where Smith is given the chance to show it, he let’s the audience into his burdened and complex psyche. Unfortunately this happens all too little, and the heart that Smith puts into his character is lost beneath the muddy plot and distractions.

Into this situation steps Ray Embrey, played by Jason Bateman, a PR executive whom Hancock saves from a train early on in the film. Looking back I really wish he hadn’t. That train could have saved this movie a lot of anguish. The plot of Hancock leaves its title character to focus on the struggles of Ray, an annoying and boring character who puts Hancock on the right path. How this idiot manages to reach Hancock I’ll never guess, but he encourages Hancock to go to jail willingly, so that when the people realize they need him, he can emerge as a true superhero.  Despite Ray’s presence, the movie still maintains a sense of action and humor that eclipses all of the negative aspects up to this point.  But then the second act begins.

Through the second half we find out more about Hancock’s past, how he got his powers, and what the heck is up with Ray’s wife Mary, played by Charlize Theron. Unfortunately none of it makes any impact. Every revelation only serves to convolute the plot and characters till even the most dedicated won’t really care what happens. The dropped hints allude to a very interesting back story that is never really elaborated on, which is a missed opportunity in my opinion. The mysterious loss of Hancock’s powers that are the climax of the film’s tension are based on a hugely gimmicky plot device. Kryptonite is a better plot device than this.

Ray gets more obnoxious every time he speaks, and you can feel everyone in the audience secretly wishing one of the bad guys would miss Hancock and nail him between the eyes. I’ll stop complaining about Ray after I say one more thing: Bateman, I don’t know if it was mostly you, or the writers, but please, please, please, stay out of my super hero movies. On a positive note, Kudos to the writer’s to make such a hot interracial couple out of Hancock and Mary, anti-kudos for not capitalizing on the inherent love-

triangle with Ray. He just sits back seemingly accepts it all. I was fully expecting him to turn on Hancock out of jealousy and become the villain. It would have saved Ray’s character and added a much needed sense of menace to the plot. This is ironic, in that it is the plot itself that is the menace.

Speaking of Villainy, the movie sure could have used some. The most dangerous enemy Hancock has is a typical I-Have-Explodable-Hostages bank robber. The man escapes from prison later in the film with a little help of a few new buddies to little fanfare. The escape gets all of 3 seconds of on-screen time and it’s in a news bulletin on a nearby tv. And his great plan for revenge? Find him and shoot him. That worked oh-so-well the last time, why shouldn’t it this time? Lucky for them they come right as Hancock is weakened by the gimmicky plot, but you don’t really care because even though Eddie Marsan does everything he can with the character, he can’t convincingly make his character scary because he has a grand total of about 10 minutes of screen-time. It’s a shame.

Underused is the key term for this movie. There’s not enough Hancock, not enough Mary, not enough Villainy, not enough back story, and not enough bullets in Ray’s head. Sorry, I said I’d not complain about him anymore. Everybody lies sometimes.

Oh, and please don’t ruin my perfectly beautiful moon for that looser, Hancock. He doesn’t deserve your kindness.

Closing Comments:

There was a lot of possibility in this film, and to some degree Hancock delivers. The main character is brilliant and well acted by the impeccable Will Smith. He is the biggest reason to watch this film, and if he weren’t in it, I would not recommend seeing it at all. However, it does enough right, and has enough humor, that you won’t kill yourself for watching it when the curtain closes. Just keep in mind that you won’t be patting yourself on the back either.

Rating out of 10     Description

         4/10               Story:  A great premise, a terrific setup, horrible follow-through.

         8/10               Character: Every bit of this score belongs to Will Smith and Charlize

                                                   Theron. Every bit that they didn’t get was because of 

                                                   Ray, Jason Bateman. They needed more of Hancock than

                                                   they had.

         7/10                Look:  The movie looked pretty great, the special effects for most of

                                            the super-hero antics were nice, but occasionally spotty

                                            graphics keeps this from reaching greatness.

          7/10              Cinematography: There were several lost opportunities for dramatic

                                                               or more affecting camera angles, and cutting to a

                                                               close-up pf the same shot is still a no-no.

          7/10                  Audio: Entirely unmemorable, but serviceable. The only track I

                                               remember occurred when Hancock came to the rescue at the

                                               bank. It was a slightly cheesy number with the typical

                                               trumpet crescendo. Meh.

          6/10                  The Spark: Hancock promised a superhero story about a repentant

                                                      super-powered bum, with plenty of action, heart, humor

                                                      and heroics. They only delivered this for half the film,

                                                      and even then it wasn’t always as good as it could have

                                                      been.

OVERALL:  6.2/10 (Not an Average)