VarietyReviews Hancock
Posted by Dirty Harry on Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
More from the review that caught a whiff of The Last Action Hero:
As much in need of rehab as this week’s tabloid celebrity, the raggedly attired Hancock finds an eager savior in PR whiz Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman). Rescued from certain death by the rasty hero, Ray returns the favor by inviting him to dinner with wife Mary (Charlize Theron) and son Aaron (Jae Head) and announcing he’s going to remake Hancock’s image. The strongman’s first step will be to submit to rehab and anger-management training, along with some prison time (although Hancock resists wearing an actual superhero outfit because it’s too “homo”). What he shortly does to two tough-talking inmates in the pen crudely literalizes the taunt about sticking your head where the sun don’t shine.
Such vulgar goofiness is one thing in an Adam Sandler film, but doesn’t sit well in the rough-and-ready realism of Berg’s raw visuals, which grievously misapply hand-held jitteriness to material that demands more precise stylization.
The genre satire and numerous Will Smith moments, with the star throwing off the attitude-laden quips and looks auds expect from him, carry the first half without too much trouble, in anticipation of where the film will go from there.
Where it goes, unfortunately, is right down the tubes. All along, there’s something oddly hostile about Mary’s attitude toward Hancock, and at the 55-minute mark, a major revelation sends the story veering off into territory that feels unmapped even in the minds of the filmmakers. All the potential the premise seemed to offer is frittered away, mind-boggling gaps of logic come to the fore, and arbitrary plot devices serve to shortchange a story that could have gone in much more interesting directions.
Methinks that veer may be Chalize Theron rising up as Hancock’s nemesis. Her career isn’t in enough trouble for her to be relegated to “the wife,” is it?
Now that Obama has made it ‘good to be an American‘ again, I won’t be sitting in a movie theatre watching this over the 4th of July, I’ll be home feeling good about being an American. Thanks, Barack!
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Steve W.on 25 Jun 2008 at 6:56 am 1Very disappointing. The trailer and previews looked promising too.
Thudon 25 Jun 2008 at 7:04 am 2I arrive in Ca next week for 2 months..one of my favourite things to do whilst visiting is to go to the movies…so much more enjoyable than in U.K. the list of worthwhile films is looking rather poor this visit…big willy is well off my list…whats left?
Patrickon 25 Jun 2008 at 7:59 am 3Uh oh, Peter Berg is a practitioner of the shaky cam school of direcing (The Kingdom, Friday Night Lights), that could be a problem.
E Porvaznikon 25 Jun 2008 at 8:26 am 4Dark Knight, Thud. Hopefully playing right up the street from me at the Universal IMAX.
Templaron 25 Jun 2008 at 9:26 am 5Methinks that veer may be Chalize Theron rising up as Hancock’s nemesis. Her career isn’t in enough trouble for her to relegated to “the wife,” is it?
If anything, her appearance towards the end of that one trailer would suggest that Hancock is not, in fact, the only one of his kind.
CTDeLudeon 25 Jun 2008 at 11:14 am 6[quote]Methinks that veer may be Chalize Theron rising up as Hancock’s nemesis. Her career isn’t in enough trouble for her to relegated to “the wife,” is it?[/quote]
CALLED IT! Booyah!
Mike18xxon 25 Jun 2008 at 12:28 pm 7Three things instantly struck me about “Hancock”’s trailer:
1) “I am so tired of Will Smith’s mouth….will I ever live to see the day it gets punched?”
2) “I am so tired of over-the-top CGI.”
3) “‘Hancock’? That’s a stupid title — not a good sign.”)
Carlitoson 25 Jun 2008 at 12:42 pm 8Never did like comedic scifi or superhero movies. I like mine played straight. I’ll catch this on cable someday.
JohnLockeon 25 Jun 2008 at 1:36 pm 9That’s too bad. It seemed like such an original idea with a lot of potential. And though I disagree with his politics, I really like Will Smith as an actor.
Wolf23on 22 Oct 2009 at 12:11 pm 10Fertilizer or toothpaste, the woman image is all about the femininity of the modern woman and her accoutrement. ,