Drunken superhero Hancock (Will Smith) saves the life of a PR specialist Ray (Jason Bateman), who tries to help Hancock remake his image.  But things get complicated when Hancock is drawn to Ray’s wife Mary (Charlize Theron).

CRITIQUE

For its first hour, Hancock is one of the most entertaining movies of the year, a funny, well-made tale about a troubled man with super powers who rescues people while drunkenly doing a lot of property damage in the process.  He’s a unique character, Will Smith makes him inherently likable, and director Peter Berg does a solid job mixing special effects with comedy and a very human story of redemption.

Unfortunately, once Hancock does redeem himself, the script has written itself into a corner: where to take the story from there?  And the decision here (which I won’t spoil by revealing), though it has its interesting aspects, just feels underdeveloped, and just doesn’t work very well.  Tonally, the last third of this film feels like a very different movie; it’s no longer entertaining, no longer a fun comedy, while the logic feels iffy and contrived.  And the bad guys are simply rather lame.

Still, there’s a lot in Hancock to like.  Smith gives a very solid performance, mixing vulnerability with some good comic timing.  The special effects add to the story, while this spin on a superhero tale helps breathe some new life into a genre also recently enervated by The Dark Knight and Iron Man.  There are a lot of laughs here, and though the script has a tendency to get a bit scatological at times, for two-thirds of the movie it works very well.  Though this is billed as an unrated cut, it’s unclear how much here is new, though an early (largely offscreen) sex scene might be where the additions are.

Unfortunately, what most people are going to be left remembering is the final third, which also just feels very rushed; we barely have time to wrap our minds around the ideas that have been put into play before there is the (somewhat lame) final battle and the movie is over.  By the end, this is somewhat frustrating; it just feels like a wasted opportunity, which puts a real taint on the stuff that does work.  Still, there’s a lot to like here, flaws and all, and it is worth checking out.

THE VIDEO

Hancock is presented in 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen.  The picture quality is generally very good, while the special effects are often very impressive even on the small screen.

THE AUDIO

Hancock is presented in English 5.1, French 5.1 and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround.  Dialogue, music and sound effects come through clear.  There are English, Spanish and French subtitles.

THE EXTRAS

Superhuman: The Making of Hancock is a fairly-standard 12-minute featurette, featuring interviews with the cast and crew, that oddly gives away a lot of the late plot points.

Seeing the Future is an interesting 16-minute sequence about the use of “pre-visualization” (rough computer animated sequences) before shooting, to figure out what to shoot, with examples from specific scenes.

Building a Better Hero is an 8-minute piece focusing on visual effects supervisor John Dykstra and the visual effects in the film.

Bumps and Bruises is a solid 10-minute piece focused on the stunt work for the film; the actors did a lot of their own stunts.

Mere Mortal is a 4-minute behind-the-scenes piece focusing on footage of often-offbeat director Berg.

FINAL THOUGHT

One of the more interesting and fun movies of the year, even if it doesn’t always work.