Hancock

Hancock:

Welcome to Big Willy Weekend. That phrase pains me and I really have no reason why, but yup. Will Smith is THE movie of July 4th for the 100th time in the last 102 years and provides the usual maximum entertainment. Peter Berg directs this "realistic" take on a superhero living in modern day LA. Some of his other directing feats include The Rundown with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and The Kingdom. He obviously has a strong grasp on big action and awesome stunts. So on to the movie itself.

Will Smith, Charlize Theron, and my favorite Jason Bateman provided very respectful performances including some drama and a healthy dollop of comedy. The story line is nothing new, although it does have a few interesting turns and features that provide for some interesting scenes and back stories. What is new though is that the story wasn't horrible and made you want to actually unmake a movie because of what it has done to you and anyone who has seen it, My Super Ex-Girlfriend. That was what can only be referred to has a pile of shit. No other reference. Smith is a drunken Superhero that has long ago lost his direction in life and any feeling of responsibility to society. After a decent stint in a jail, obviously a message as opposed to an actual lock up, with the help of Jason Bateman's public relations character, he re-introduces himself to the world as a responsible, helpful, sober superhero. There are some plot twists I'll just let you discover for yourself, but from there we get some cool action, and an unique approach to helping society.

Problems, oh a number of problems. There are 1.5 bad guys. The 0.5 is for a particular character going through a number of changes of heart, the other 1 is a guy you see for a total screen time of 6 minutes, probably a quarter page of dialogue, and a need for some professional prosthetics. While the story is cool, those 8 minutes could have been reassigned to more detail in the story, a possible flashback in some form, and it would have saved us the pain of watching a regular human take completely random advantage of unique and unpredictable situations. While possibly more realistic, its less believable when someone gets that many fortunate events. There could have been a little bit more equal oppurtunity' action, you'll understand post viewing, and I'm not a big fan of the shaky cam action made so popular by the Bourne movies. I'm not one that gets fully sucked into action movies. I love up close in the action shots, but if there is so much violent vibration that I can't even focus on the screen, I fall out of the scene, and when you notice thats happened its a good couple minutes till you get back into the movie. O ya, and I'm pretty sure that a candy bar wouldn't do that much damage at really any speed... not enough mass. After seeing Wanted, what can I do, I've got to have something thats based in real physics!

Well, its a GIANT movie, on par with Independence Day and Bad Boys and Men in Black. Its probably more interesting story line wise, and the action is obviously more epic... he is a superhero, so as most of you have already done, go see this one. Before I forget, a BIG BIG BIG tisk tisk for Regal Theaters. My screening of the Incredible Hulk was out of focus for a few minutes at the start, and Hancock was out of focus just enough to be noticeable the whole time. Took a lot away from some of the wide shots when you aren't actually sure anymore what the focal point of the shot is.