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    Hancock

    Reviewed by
    adamwatchesmovies@

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    “Hancock” begins with a clever premise and abandons it completely halfway through. Hancock (Will Smith) is a boozing, womanizing loser who somehow ended up with superpowers. He can fly, is invulnerable, immortal, super strong... and he’s an [...]. Every time the lazy would-be hero can be bothered to step away from his latest hangover, he helps apprehend criminals... and in the process causes millions of dollars in damage. After saving Ray Emery (Jason Bateman), a PR guy who dreams of making the world a better place, Hancock gets the opportunity to re-invent himself as a real hero. The change of heart couldn’t have come at a better time.

    When the film begins, it’s something you’ve never seen before, at least in a film: a superhero who’s life has real-world consequences. People see him as a menace, a celebrity to be gawked at or are simply bored with him. Even criminals barely consider him a threat. His wanton disregard for rules makes him unpopular with the police and politicians. This is a guy that never asked to be a hero and he’s in no way qualified to use his powers. It’s a wonder the U. S. government hasn’t figured out a way to either contain him permanently or eliminated him with some kind of Kryptonite bullet. It’s a lot of fun. Just as it could’ve become stale, we’re introduced to Ray. I like the fallen hero story, particularly when he’s given a chance to rise to the top again. What’s going to happen next? Will he find his new position in the sun uncomfortable? Will he relapse into alcoholism or find that his past catches up with him? Will a sudden tragedy or new-found weakness make him unable to be the hero he wants to be?

    In addition to being dramatic, the film also wants to be funny. It isn't very often, but it's not too bad. The problem is that it pulls you out of the movie. At one point, a man gets his head shoved up another’s rear. It's a fantasy story, I know, but when the previous scene has Hancock accepting the real-world consequences of his incarceration and the following one shows him seriously his confronting alcoholism, it clashes. I could’ve let it go if the ending had been strong. It isn’t.

    The entire second half of “Hancock” is a mess. There’s a needless desire to explain how Hancock got his powers and what his origins are. Not only unnecessary, it’s ludicrous. Once you know what the skinny is, it all falls apart. Characters act illogically, things happen out of nowhere and people coincidently find themselves in the right place, at the right time repeatedly. It proves to me that no one involved in this film has ever written or read an actual comic book. Let’s say you happen to have some crucial information and you need to tell it to say, Superman. Problem is, your latest adventure has coated you head-to-toe with deadly Kryptonite. You need to tell Superman, but if you come near him, he’ll be weakened, what do you do? Show up in person? Without giving too much away, that's basically what happens here. Letters? Phone calls? What are those?

    If at least the villains were cool, that could make up for the second half, but they suck. Let’s say you were humiliated and gravely injured by Thor. Problem is, you’re just a regular guy. In fact, you’re worse than a regular guy because now you're permanently crippled. What do you do? Well, certainly not break out of jail and head to where the hero is staying, armed with conventional weapons to get revenge on him; that would be idiotic! Sure enough, the “main” villain of this film does precisely that. He’s a character so flat and so stupid he can’t even formulate a vendetta. There’s a big climactic fight where Hancock faces a worthy opponent and as soon as the two get into it, all sorts of unexplained weather phenomena start to manifest. We’ve got tornadoes and storms appearing out of nowhere. Why? To make the scene more epic I guess because no one bats an eye at all of these unconventional weather phenomena. As for the conveniences, it’s pretty blatant. When Hancock is caught in a compromising position with Ray’s wife, they just happen to be outside of the building where he was hosting a presentation; when the bad guys escape prison, the stars have all aligned and he tumbles into a stash of weapons. What follows is a quick discovery of a way to enter a crucial location and a and a way to sneak into a hospital unnoticed and find the correct room where Hancock is hanging out.

    “Hancock” could have been something really special. A superhero movie set in our world, where a single man is handed great power and where people expect him to act the way people in comic books do. What they don’t realize is that those are fictional stories that don’t think about the unpleasant little details of everyday life. Instead, we get what feels like two completely different movies stitched together at the middle. One is an interesting drama about a down on his luck super-powered vigilante, the other one is a generic, nonsensical costumed hero story with action thrown in for the dummies that don’t like talking. The humor is infrequently funny and the action is nothing new, meaning the meat of the film is about halfway through. It’s all downhill from there. (Unrated version on DVD, December 27, 2013)

    4
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    adamwatchesmovies@  31.10.2016 age: 26-35 2,867 reviews

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