It's July 4th again, and when there's fireworks, there's Will Smith

Rating: 8/10 (4 July 2008)

I went into this film expecting an overly family-friendly superhero story with some slight twists and witty lines from Jason Bateman (of Arrested Development fame...or anti-fame), but I was pleasantly surprised to find a considerably rougher-around-the-edges kind of movie. Smith does an excellent job as the drunken, down-and-out, and absolutely alone superhero who always acts to help, but ends up simply hurting. Jason Bateman plays his standard, business-man type character and does it well as he always has (I fear for his type-casted future though...). The film was explosive, sad, gritty, and sometimes even quite epic while always maintaining an atmosphere of hope and light-heartedness, more akin to a strictly PG type of movie. From the moment the film started to when the credits started to roll, than stopped briefly for a final scene, before continuing again, I enjoyed myself. Will it win any Oscars? Surely not, The Dark Night is already being handed all of those. Is it my favorite movie? No, definitely not.
Was it a good movie? Absolutely.
Hancock is everything that you want in a summer blockbuster. Plain and Simple.