Hancock is a mixed bag with an interesting premise.

Rating: 7/10 (16 August 2017)

Hancock is a mixed bag with an interesting premise. It was released back in 2008, during the whole superhero resurgence with films such as Iron Man and The Dark Knight that were both well received both commercially and financially. Of course, now in 2017 superhero movies are pretty much a cottage industry, with some feeling there's an over-saturation, but that's neither here or there. Hancock is about an alcoholic superhero with a big PR problem. He's rude, crass, and he's an alcoholic, and it goes without saying the public doesn't like him.
Hancock saves Ray, a PR agent and after that, the movie takes off. Ray wants to repackage him as a better superhero and they develop a friendship of sorts as the movie goes along. Hancock's first act is rather brilliant, it plays almost like a David Chappelle skit with Hancock involved in all kinds of crazy shenanigans. Alas, the movie kind of falls apart under the weight of its own mythology in the second act. There are some interesting things at play with the mythology but the tones from the first two acts never feel organic, it almost felt like it was trying to be two different films. The first act felt like a satire on the superhero genre and the second act felt like a darker superhero film. Anyway I digress, the third act is rather underwhelming with a cookie cutter villain who has no presence whatsoever, it almost felt like they needed to throw in a villain just to wrap the film up . However, that's not to say that the film doesn't have any positives. Will Smith is great as Hancock, he gives the character gravitas underneath all his smugness. Hancock starts out as a rather unlikable character but as the story goes on they do a good job of humanizing him. Jason Bateman is great as Ray, and Charlize Theron is great as Ray's wife, Mary. To give anything else away would spoil the film. I guess this movie is worth a rental if you haven't seen it already. By the way, for you Breaking Bad fans out there, the script to Hancock was co-written by Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan. So I guess it's kind of cool to see his earlier work from back in the day. Hancock had its moments, but overall it's a mixed bag both as a comedy and a superhero film.