So I just finished watching Hancock. I’m going to start with this, I love this movie. It is absolutely brilliant and definitely breaks the norm with superhero movies, though I guess in the movies they are portrayed more as gods. None the less, this movie is a must watch and this post is my very late review. And yes, there will be some spoilers, but it’s been four years.
Now I know what most of you are thinking, this movie came out a while ago, about four years now. But it’s always great to go back and watch a movie I’ve enjoyed before and haven’t seen in a long time. A lot of other people, however, disagree with my suggestion that this movie was awesome. There have been a lot of complaints about the script, here’s a few I’ve seen online:
1) People wanted super villains.
2) People want a little more history behind Hancock.
3) People didn’t like the twist ending in some crazy love story.
I get that everyone has their opinions but here’s the thing, this movie wasn’t just any other superhero movie. In fact, I like to believe that the fact Hancock having powers could be irrelevant to the main theme. Take away the powers and you still have a movie about a misunderstood man who learns and grows into something new and better. That in itself is an amazing story. With that being said, super villains in this film would have been even more so irrelevant and most definitely unnecessary. Just because comic books have to balance good and evil with super heroes and super villains, this movie doesn’t have to follow suit and have some arch nemesis. This movie isn’t about the hero defeating evil but rather about the hero learning to be better than who he has been.
The movie for the most part shows the hero, Hancock (Will Smith), as a complete jerk to anyone and everyone. He occasionally fights crime and saves lives, but he also causes millions of dollars in damages. From that point on, the audience begins to see Hancock change into a more respectable person. Eventually we learn he and Mary (Charlize Theron) are the same race of super gods and we get a semi-explanation of why he is super powerful and unable to age. I feel that is enough. Again, this movie isn’t about the conventional hero, so we aren’t going to get some conventional origin story. I would also love to hear more about this race of gods that died out but in the end, it wouldn’t change much about the movie. Sure there are questions that rise, but this is all fiction and there really aren’t definite rules to this art of story making. I get that a lot of people dislike when movies just through characters in without a detailed history lesson, but it’s just a movie. Enjoy it for what it is, a venue of entertainment.
I understand that love plots within movies can turn cheesy in a split second and ruin the movie as a whole. In Hancock, I don’t see much of a love story but rather a very intriguing explanation to important events in the movie. I really like the creativity in allowing love to be the weakness to the hero. And I don’t mean in Superman loves Lois Lane but that becomes a threat if villains hold her hostage. Instead, the Hancock literally becomes weak when he is with his love, he becomes mortal. And clearly Hancock and Mary have a lack of chemistry throughout the movie, so it only makes sense he leaves completely so he can allow her to live happily with her husband while he fights crime in a different city. Anyways, I don’t understand why people thought there was an issue with there being a love story. There wasn’t much focus on the fact except to allow it to explain things.
Overall, I would rate this movie an 8/10. I know this is a petty thing, but I felt some of the cinematography wasn’t up to par and the bad guys breaking out was really rushed, but this movie was awesome. I’m sure most of you have seen this movie already, so I urge you guys to revisit it and enjoy this ”superhero” flick while we all wait for The Amazing Spider-Man to come out. For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, do it. You don’t even have to be into superhero films, this movie is more than action and crime fighting, it’s a movie about someone who becomes more than the pathetic person they have been.
