One of the strangest superhero movies that I have ever seen

Rating: 8/10 (29 January 2012)

This, I must admit, is one of the strangest superhero movies that I have ever seen. Basically the protagonist of the movie (and I consider him more of an anti-hero) suffers from a major depressive disorder, which is very unusual for a superhero. However, this is explained in the movie in the sense that he is so unlike everybody else that he feels completely alone. It is a condition that he simply does not care. He will go and assist the law enforcement agenices to catch bad guys, but, unlike other superhero movies, his trail of destruction impresses nobody. However, because he is a superhero, no prison and hold him, and the police are unlikely to be able to actually arrest him.
Things change when he saves the life of a public relations expert, who decides that he will attempt to reinvigorate his image, and he begins by suggesting that he should willingly go to gaol, and his plan is that with Hancock in gaol, then the criminals will have free reign, and the city will then realise that they actually need a superhero to keep the peace. This works, however, this is only half of the movie because the twist that comes in the middle pretty much takes the movie in a completely different direction.
It turns out that the wife of the PR specialist also has super powers, but not only that, she is also Hancock's partner. However, the catch is that when they partner up, they become mortal and end up living like normal people. This has been going on for a long time (though Hancock suffers from amnesia and thus has not idea as to his origins). It comes out that Hancock is a superhero in every sense of the word. He begins the film as an anti-hero, and finishes the film as a true hero. We learn that the reason that they did not end up partnering up and living normal lives is because Hancock desired to use his powers to actually help people.
This is truly the most unusual superhero movie that I have ever seen. In most superhero movies the villains are super villains (though Stryker in the X-men is not necessarily a super villain, but he does have a retinue of henchmen that do have superpowers). All of the antagonists in this film are normal people. It is only Hancock and his partner that have super powers, however his partner has settled down in the normal suburban life.
Many have suggested that the twist in the middle of the film is completely unexpected, and it is if it is the first time you see it. However the more you watch it, the more you begin to notice the subtle hints that the partner actually knows Hancock, even though Hancock does not mention it, and the movie is actually moving to that point where Hancock actually discovers her powers (when she literally kicks him out of his house). So yes, it actually does make a lot of sense. Oh, and this is probably one of the funniest superhero movies that I have seen.