Imaginative rendering of an old theme

Rating: Null/10 (7 July 2008)

First comment – while many hold the view that comedy is the most difficult form of acting, most would agree that it is even better to be a well-rounded actor than just a good comedian. Will Smith is heading in that direction, first with "I am legend" and now "Hancock".
(Additional spoiler warning)
By now, words should have been out that there is a big twist half-way through the movie. However, it doesn't take an Oscar-winning actor like Charlize Theron to project, from her first appearance, that she holds the key to the background of the protagonist Hancock, an anti-hero of a superman.
The movie is in two halves. The first shows how a superhero can still be disliked by people (even those he has just saved), and how through a chance encounter, a PR man (Jason Bateman) he saved vows to change his image to something he deserves, by first putting him in jail. While this is all-out comedy, there are already traces of pathos from a Will Smith that we have not seen before.
With the midway twist, Charlize Theron's role, hitherto as Bateman's lukewarm wife, comes into the forefront. Frequent movie goers will soon recognize a theme that is prominent in "Highlanders", and many others – the loneliness of immortality. There is also the sentiment of Superman's loneliness of alienation, without any true kinship in a strange land. What is even more tragic here is that while there are two of them, left after centuries, they must reject each other to survive. This becomes a tale of unfulfilled love and ultimate sacrifice to embrace loneliness.
Although it does not really break new grounds, "Hancock" is a bold, innovative movie. Will Smith has expanded his horizon. Charlize Theron's superb performance goes a long way in helpings to accomplish the difficult task of making the movie convincing. Jason Bateman provides excellent support.