Hancock

Hancock at its core is a film about a bad guy turned good. Will Smith’s Hancock is the superhero that everyone loves to hate; leaving a trail of destruction behind him, his drunken attempts at crime fighting have alienated him from the public. In steps PR guru Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman) who is on a mission to turn the public image of Hancock around, cue a shaven-faced, sober, leather-wearing Hancock. The reinvented Hancock now has the hard job of convincing the public that he is a superhero and not a very expensive liability, and the seemingly impossible job of persuading Ray’s wife Mary (Charlize Theron) that he is not a lost cause.

Will Smith is not only a good movie star, he is a good actor, and this film perfectly combines both of these traits. On one hand you have the comedy and action of a drunk, depressed superhero but also the more human side, the inner turmoil that Hancock’s facing.

It is refreshing to watch a superhero film that is not totally reliant on CGI; obviously there is CGI in this film, how else would Hancock be able to throw a whale back into the ocean? There are also stylishly shot scenes using hand-held cameras, a favourite style of director Peter Berg. Even though it does move away from the typical superhero genre, it is still unmistakably a superhero film, though there is not the traditional superhero vs. villain plot. Within Hancock’s character there are glimpses of Superman and Wolverine, and of course there is the obligatory crime fighting with the police being incapable of solving the crime without the help of a superhero!

Hancock is the only superhero film of the summer that doesn’t have its origins in a comic book: Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk and Hellboy II are all comics turned into films. The original script for Hancock, the much darker Tonight, He Comes, had been floating around Hollywood until it fell into the hands of Peter Berg and became Hancock.

Hancock is full of laughs, action sequences and drunken flying, the essential ingredients for any action film. If you want a superhero film with a difference then this is the one for you.

Vicky Forman