More than a blockbuster

Rating: 7/10 (5 July 2008)

A drunken-slob superhero with an attitude bordering on nihilist, John Hancock (Will Smith) is despised by the people of Los Angeles. His spectacularly destructive efforts to fight crime usually end up costing the city millions. So when Hancock saves budding PR executive Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman) from certain death at a level crossing, Embrey offers to repay Hancock by helping reinvent his image. Embrey's young son is thrilled to have a superhero hanging around, but Ray's wife, Mary (Charlize Theron), seems to be wrestling with both attraction and alarm... "Hancock" is outrageous, funny, smart, knowingly ridiculous and surprisingly moving. Yes, moving. I was expecting "Bad Boys + super powers", or at most a spoof on the clichés of the rapidly tiring superhero genre. What we get is something else entirely. The surprising tonal shift of the second half is neither as grating nor as abrupt as preview audiences had us believing. For me, it really worked. So much so that this is one of the few blockbusters I wish had been longer, giving writers Gilligan and Ngo and director Berg more time to explore the backstory and the resonant depths it potentially had. The problem isn't so much that the tone changes, but rather that more isn't made of it. I also wanted to spend more time with these thoroughly likable characters. As it stands, "Hancock" is still a winner. The script is sharp, the direction kinetic, the music and lens work appropriately manic, and the performances fine. Most surprising is Smith who manages to keep his shirt on and wring a lot more than laughs out of Hancock. While Smith can stoke a box-office inferno with his name alone, he shows once again that he's also a pretty good actor. He can certainly do vulnerable, even in superhero mode.