If I was allowed to shout I would shout "Avoid Spoilers!!!!!!!!!!!"

Rating: 10/10 (2 July 2008)

Let me start by saying two things. Number one - go and see this movie! Number two - steer clear of spoilers.
I like Will Smith well enough, but I've never yet been to see a movie simply because he's in it. But I like superhero movies well enough, and that was sufficient to get me into a cinema with a good-sized audience of mostly young people.
For the benefit of those who haven't caught a trailer, Will Smith is Hancock, a super-powered drunk. He does good deeds in a messy way and is generally frowned upon by society as a result. He saves the life of a PR consultant who determines to rehabilitate him. Not the easiest project in town, as first of all, Hancock has to want to be rehabilitated....
The trailers are fun and, as expected, there are laughs to be had. Most of these derive from Hancock's curmudgeonly character and couldn't-give-a-stuff way of doing things. But most of the stuff in the trailers feature in the first half hour or so. The film then takes a turn in an unpredictable direction - not featured in the trailers at all, and certainly not spoilered here - and becomes rather darker before heading for a satisfying but unexpected ending.
The superhero stuff in Hancock is excellent - a totally convincing depiction of superpowered activity in the real world. Hancock works as a superhero movie. It also has its share of laughs, although it isn't a comedy - far from it. Instead, it's a film about people - Ray (Jason Bateman), a decent man who simply wants to turn Hancock from a perceived liability into an asset, his wife Mary (Charlize Theron), who is deeply concerned about the impact this graceless drunk with godlike powers is having on their life, and Hancock himself. Smith's portrayal is not unlike his morose detective in I, Robot, but sunk even further into depression and unhappiness for reasons which become clear.
I loved this film.