The Confused Tone Makes For An Uneven Film

Rating: 6/10 (10 March 2014)

When I heard this movie was getting produced I jumped to the conclusion this was a bio-pic on the British comedian Tony Hancock " Will Smith is Hancock " Hmmm . There might have been a serious fly in that ointment but rest assured if Smith pulled it off then we'd have the greatest acting performance in the history of cinema . As it turned out this wasn't in fact what HANCOCK was about and concerned itself with a burned out super-hero . One wonders if studios should put a bit more thinking in to film titles ? After all can anyone remember that sci-fi epic called JOHN CARTER ? Not really a title you equate with sci-fi
As it turns out I thought HANCOCK might be the sort of super-hero to appeal to someone like me and that is someone who doesn't the avalanche of films featuring Marvel comic book characters and the like . A burned out hero with super powers and a drink problem finds himself unable to care about the world about him . Not a premise you see every day and one that is original . It also deserves some credit for a lack of post-modernism and any temptation to include references to the likes of Bruce Wayne , Peter Parker and Clark Kent has been curtailed . If you're going in to this film thinking it's an extension or at least inspired by the comic book blockbusters that were coming out at the same time then that's what you're going to get . After seeing the movie I'm not entirely sure what I got
There's a very strange and often uneven tone to the movie . Peter Berg has a bizarre directorial technique where the camera zooms in and out of the action in a hap hazard way . Some scenes are played totally straight and serious and then there's a big set piece done in a manner done in a manners that apes the films it's giving the impression it's not trying to be . It also seems to contain a bit too many ideas for its own good which has led to a lot of comments here that HANCOCK is a bit of a mess . I don't totally disagree with this view but as someone who feels the need to once again state that there's far too many movies about super-heroes I did enjoy this movie to a limited extent though I find it very difficult to explain why