Sunday, August 03, 2008

Black, drunk and super is no way to go through life, son: "Hancock"

I didn't mention this earlier, but "The Dark Knight" was the second superhero movie I saw that day. (Although Batman technically isn't a superhero because he doesn't have any superpowers. Nor was the Joker a supervillain. That's part of what makes that movie and its predecessor good vs. the guys who get exposed to radiation or come from another planet. But I digress.)

I started my movie-watching Monday -- took a comp day after working Saturday -- with "Hancock" shortly after noon. I admit to being more excited about this movie before the reviews came out, but I still was curious -- for the concept alone. The ever charming Will Smith is less than dashing here as an a$$hole who happens to have superpowers -- can fly, really strong, bullets bounce off him, etc., etc.

Rather than be a role model to people the world around, Hancock is a drunk who fights crime and saves lives only when he can drag his drunk a$$ off the ground (yet still tote a bottle with him). Heck, he doesn't even have a costume!

One day he pulls Jason Bateman out of the way of a moving train, and Bateman decides to return the favor by putting his PR skills to work on our (anti)hero. You see, Hancock, Jason says, people will like you if you make them miss you ... and clean up your act while waiting. Meanwhile, Bateman's wife (Charlize "I need to sit down" Theron) isn't so sure about all this. At least, that's what the many -- and I mean, many -- shots of her disapproving looks tell us.

It ruins nothing to reveal that Hancock does indeed shape up, and it really doesn't take long. Looking at my watch, I noticed we hadn't even used up an hour and was wondering what was left to say. Then comes a twist that turns the movie a little bit on its ear and opens a whole other can of worms. Oh, and Hancock isn't quite finished fighting crime yet, either.

To say more would reveal the twist, although I'll say this: While a few reviews referenced the twist, I think I would have seen it coming anyway. Peter Berg has never shown himself to be subtle as a director, and he doesn't let me down here. Also can't say I'm a fan of his camera work, since it seemed every other shot was one of those tight closeups on a person's face, meant to imply intimacy with thie person we're watching but really just getting too close for comfort. Hey, these are good-looking people! Let's see more of them! (But I'm sure his remake of "Dune" will rock. Yeah, really ... remake of "Dune." Oy.)

What else didn't I like? That's most of it. Undecided on the length, which at 90 minutes or so is short for this kid of thing. One reviewer said it was a rare case of him wanting a superhero movie to be longer because he wanted to know more. I'm not so sure. The way this was going, "Hancock" seemed plenty long enough. Only way I would have sat through more is if the story had been better. Maybe if they had thrown out the twist and stuck with the basic concept of an unlikable hero eventually finding religion, that would have been better. Maybe.

All in all, "Hancock" wasn't all bad. Far from it. The three leads are appealing, as usual, even if they could have used more to work with. There's some funny stuff. The special effects kind of sucked, but that's not what I came here for. It was more for Smith being a bad boy with badass powers.

Interestingly enough, Dave Chappelle was considered for the role before Smith signed on, IMDb says. Makes sense, since this seems tailor-made for a comedian with edge. Close your eyes and think back a couple of decades, and you'd see Eddie Murphy zooming around El Lay and swearing at kids. And now he's Norbit. The world can be cruel, kids.

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