Movie Review: Hancock
Michael Smith - Tulsa World
Jul 02, 2008
Hancock-- **
"Hancock" is not a comic-book movie, and its protagonist is not a superhero. Hancock is an anti-hero.
He has superpowers, but he is not superhuman, at least emotionally. Hancock is very human, indeed.
Think of the Oscar-winning "Unforgiven," a revisionist Western in which the audience ultimately urges on a rather despicable killer of women and children to prevail, in good part because of the writing and in equal part because of Clint Eastwood.
For lack of a better term, "Hancock" is a revisionist superhero movie. There is no hero riding in on a white horse to clash in an epic battle with a bad guy in a black hat. The closest thing to a villain in this film would be the character's inner turmoil.
"Hancock" is an original, and that makes it in no way a safe or predictable motion picture choice for its leading man.
The on-screen result is that Will Smith has never been better at showing a complex range of emotions, at confirming his star status and at sending up his own Hollywood image, all at the same time. "Hancock" is a blast.
Smith could be the one actor whose mere presence can make us drop our notions of what a supposed hero is engineered to be and realize that our world has
enough social issues and dangerous people to defeat as it is. Supervillains need not apply.
John Hancock -- that's the moniker adopted by this amnesiac who woke up one day not knowing who he was or how he developed super-strength and the ability to fly -- is special, and not always in a good way.
With great power comes great responsibility, we've been led to believe, but Hancock isn't buying it. A foul-mouthed drunk (parents: the colorful language makes Smith something other than your average lovable Fresh Prince), he shuns publicity and only saves people when pushed to do so.
This cranky coot is not your friendly neighborhood boy scout. He's not exactly homeless, but he lives like a hobo, as he is truly alone.
A major theme to the film concerns how we all realize our place in this world, and director Peter Berg (who found the right emotions for his last two films, "Friday Night Lights" and "The Kingdom") cunningly weaves big, aesthetic ideas into an action-packed, fast-paced flick.
When Hancock does act, as in a rousing freeway gun battle to start the movie, he does so with such reckless abandon that he causes more damage to the city than your average F3 tornado. City officials are not pleased, and neither are taxpayers. Thanks for nothing, Hancock.
Enter Jason Bateman as Ray, a public relations man with an urge to make corporate giants more charitable rather than more money, which means he's not very popular at the office.
When Hancock saves him from a dramatic train collision, Ray sees a bit of PR synergy: Maybe he can help improve Hancock's public image, and maybe Hancock is the type of unique force that can help Ray save the world. Not in the superhero sense, but in the sense of people performing acts of kindness and charity.
The film's message is as simple as it is far-reaching: Large or small, rich or poor, strong or weak, we can all do our part to make this world a better place. We just have to be willing to open our eyes to the possibilities and believe, both in ourselves and in one another.
Different, and more
The Hancock-as-agent-of-change makeover comes after several mischievous events -- Hancock throwing a child into the atmosphere for calling the layabout an a-hole one too many times, teaching a convict a lesson by literally introducing the man's head to another prisoner's backside -- that will surprise some audience members.
Though perhaps not as much as a quirky romantic triangle that involves Hancock, Ray and his wife, Mary (Charlize Theron), in a plot development that again veers the film away from predictable genre conventions.
Bateman uses his deadpan comic skills to make Ray an oblivious true believer in mankind, while Theron is emotionally moving, both strong and vulnerable in moments when Berg, who proves to have a deft visual eye, showcases her and Smith in brightly lit, lingering close-ups.
Smith is worthy of award consideration for his take on this strange man. He makes Hancock a kind of Frankenstein's monster who's different from everyone else and doesn't like it, who shuns the idea of being a hero only to be torn down, who more than anything wishes he wasn't burdened with special powers and no knowledge of his identity.
You're probably expecting "Hancock" to be a certain kind of film, coming from Mr. Independence Day himself and with a name taken from a famed patriot. You're probably expecting it to be exciting, funny and full of fireworks.
Two Stars.
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