Gets off to a good start, then gets tripped up

Rating: 6/10 (1 September 2008)

I think lots of folks have said the same thing: Hancock is two movies in one.
You got the first half. Enjoyable stuff. Will Smith does a good job keeping his acting subtle. He wasn't the best choice for the role as some people say--but he plays Hancock convincingly as a guy who just doesn't care and wants to be left alone. Jason Bateman's everyman character plays off of Hancock pretty well, especially considering he wasn't developed too far.
The script is pretty shaky though, especially when it comes to Charlize Theron's character. The repeated piercing stares from her at Hancock were so goofy and obvious, it killed the foreshadowing to the big twist. I know you have to add some kind of suspense, but make it a little subtle, man.
Good sell scenes like the little French kid getting tossed into space made the first half worth watching. This, combined with Will's charisma and Bateman's straight man status, gave us a decent superhero buddy flick.
Now, the second half of it was all over the place, and hard to swallow. The plot twist where we find out Hancock and Mary were...well, whatever they were supposed to be (the dialog never really went into detail beyond them being designated protectors of the earth) was really rushed, and the whole movie went down because of it.
Will had to drop his cool indifference and look to let himself fall into a hackneyed love story with no real build up. Bateman's character was made irrelevant. The villains were lame, also because of the lack of build to the climax. Worst of all, the concept of the rejected superhero was completely let go, which is a powerful irony when you think about it.
So...what we have here is a comedy popcorn flick that turned into a boring drama just as it was getting interesting.