Ludicrous spin on the super hero mythology is saved by winning performances by Smith, Bateman, Theron, and some hilarious LOL moments!

Rating: 7/10 (3 April 2013)

This film tries to put a new spin on the super hero, creating an anti-super hero, very well played by Will Smith, and his journey to redemption thanks to a down on his luck salesmen, a terrifically sympathetic Jason Bateman. While the concept is clever, even with suspension of disbelief there are still an awful lot of plot holes.
However, what saves the film are great performances, and a tongue firmly enough in cheek to make a subtle nod to the audience that the film's knows and embraces its own ludicrousness. It then has the balls not to care because the cast are clearly having a lot of fun and as the story moves along there are some very amusing set pieces and some huge laugh out loud moments, the best being Hancock's first run in with some prisoners when he voluntarily surrenders himself to the authorities for his own past misdeeds. Theron is also good value as Bateman's wife, and reason's for the character's guarded personality will reveal themselves as the story progresses, though this plot development ends up being a huge contrivance to help sustain the film's concept as at about the halfway point it begins to run out of steam. In fact the films story then veers off at a tangent and becomes a very different film as the climax is surprisingly grounded and intimate, and at this point the films suddenly, and somewhat out of the blue hits you with a face-full of pathos. Weirdly enough this actually seems to work dramatically and pulls you along to the end of the film, which then signs off with a few more very funny set pieces.
Technical credits are first rate, with some impressive and very funny visual effects, provided by a team of companies led by veteran outfit Sony Pictures Imageworks and veteran Oscar winning Supervisor John Dykstra. Editing and music work well for the film and Peter Berg's direction is self-assured and confident enough to allow the film to zip past fast enough for you to almost overlook the plot contrivances and holes. However, the film's original theatrical cut is the much better version, and the directors extended version is notably inferior, particularly early on when scenes are either unnecessary, overtly gross and evenly shockingly disturbing and I am sure would have meant an R rating for the film had it been released. Had this been the original version of the film, it would have made it much more difficult for the audience to empathise with the lead character as some parts of the story in this cut of the film actually turn you off the character in a very big way.
In summary then, a silly plot compensated for by a film that is genuinely exciting, funny and for the most part very entertaining.