"HANCOCK" - A SUPERHERO WITH ATTITUDE

Ok, so this is another one I meant to watch for a while and forgot to get round to. That’s what happens if one lives one’s life surrounded by films. I live in a perpetual state of “what should I watch next”. I did not expect Hancock to be anything but an amusing fantastic /action movie that I would watch of an evening and forget. And to be absolutely fair, I highly doubt that Hancock is going to change anyone’s life. However, neither is it quite the soap bubble I thought it would be. I believe the character originated in some form of graphic art, this wasn’t something I’m aware of, but I do intend to “get round to it” sharpish. But let me tell you the story first.

Hancock is a super-hero. And you know what super-heroes are like, right? All honour, good manners and eat all your greens. Very nice in their place (say if aliens are attacking or, I don’t know, there’s a fire or an earthquake) but a little annoying in day to day life. I mean, that’s kinda what I think of old school super-heroes. This is why I loved the concept of Hancock. Because this super-hero has a serious attitude problem. He’s rude, he’s obnoxious, he’s a bum – as in he’s literally homeless – and he has a serious drinking problem. And yet he goes around the city, saving people as best he can. Now, Hancock is good enough at saving people. The thing is, it’s not only what you do, but the way you do it as well. So, as you can guess, Hancock is NOT  a very popular guy. Until, randomly, he saves a PR executive (Jason Bateman) from what is almost a fatal train accident. The PR executive decides to return the favour by doing some work on Hancock’s rep. This, as you can imagine, is the start of an amazing set of adventures in itself. But then, to add to all of that, there is the Exec’s wife, Mary, (Charlize Theron) who appears to hate Hancock with all her soul. But that’s another story all together.

Now, some people do not think much of Will Smith in general. Err, I do. I mean, I’m not a massive fan of his music, let’s be honest. And I highly doubt we will ever see him on a stage as King Lear or some such. However, in the movies he has acted in, his performance has always been brilliant. He is, in my view, especially good at comedies, and I mean honestly, I could not even imagine a better drunk and disorderly super-hero. What is more, in his numerous previous roles he has proved himself as an action star as well. So all in all, he is very, very successful in every single twist and turn of this film. I also think Jason Bateman and Charlize Theron are excellent choices as the PR exec and his wife too.

As I said, this film will not change your life. It is not, however, yet another badly put together action movie. It’s creators have taken some time to craft an original story in a genre that has all but been “done” completely.  And studios have invested the money it takes to give the story the technical backing it deserves to make rather spectacular special effects. In short, this is good quality entertainment folks. I can really think of worse films to turn my brain off to of a Friday night. Definitely recommended.