Hancock Review

All I knew about Hancock before I watched it was that it stared Will Smith and that he was some kind of super hero. I know the movie received a lot of hype before it was released.

The film starts out with a high speed chase going on. Hancock is shown as a bum sleeping at a bus stop bench intoxicated. A little kid wakes him up and tells him that a crime is going on as if to say "ain't you going to do anything about it". Hancock zooms in the air and starts crashing into all kinds of things, even crashing into some birds while in the air.

For some reason I was thinking to myself that this is going to be a terrible movie.

He takes care of the villains but the film lets you know that the population isn't too crazy about Hancock. Even though he helps fight crime he is pretty messy about it and the public don't like it. Hancock also ignores all of the court subpoenas from the city of Los Angeles for all of the property damage that he has caused.

Later in the film Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman) becomes trapped on railroad tracks with an incoming freight train. Hancock saves Ray's life, but he causes the train to derail and nearly injures another driver. Hancock lets everyone know how stupid they are for blocking the intersection, but Hancock is also jeered by other drivers for causing more damage, but Ray steps in and thanks Hancock for saving his life.

At this point I started enjoying the movie. It seemed kind of funny to me how the super-hero of the movie would talk crap to the people.

Ray offers to improve Hancock's public image, and Hancock grudgingly accepts. The spokesperson convinces the alcoholic superhero to permit himself to be jailed for all of the outstanding subpoenas so they can show Los Angeles how much the city really needs Hancock. When the crime rate rises after Hancock's incarceration, the superhero is contacted by the Chief of Police. With a new costume from Ray, Hancock intervenes with a bank robbery, rescuing a cop and stopping the leader of the robbers, Red Parker. Hancock is applauded by the public and even tells the police "Good Work". Sometimes he seemed to be trying to hard and was over polite.

Ray later discovers that Ray's wife has superpowers like he does, though Ray nor anyone else knows about it. She tells Hancock that they have lived for 3,000 years with their powers, having been called Gods and Angels in their time. She explains that they are the last of their kind and that their kind are paired.

Hancock meets Ray and Mary back at their house. Mary explains that Hancock is technically her husband, explaining that they were built in twos, and that they are drawn to each other over time and great distances. Hancock is later shot twice in the torso when he intervenes in a liquor store robbery. After being hospitalized, Mary enters and explains that as the pair of immortals gets close, they begin to lose their powers. She also explains that Hancock was attacked in an alley 80 years prior, his skull was fractured, causing amnesia. Mary deserted him then in order for him to recover from his injuries. After her explanation, the hospital is raided by the bank robber Red Parker and two other criminals that Hancock had encountered during his incarceration. Mary is shot in the process. Hancock is able to stop two men but is further wounded by them. When Red attempts to finish Hancock off, Ray comes to the rescue and stops the bank robber with a fire axe. With Mary nearly dying, Hancock uses the last of his strength to flee from the hospital so that their parting would allow her to heal with her powers. He later winds up in New York City, working as a superhero.

Though many so called professionals movie reviewers gave mixed reviews, Hancock did not turn out to be the terrible movie I thought it was going to be. I really liked this movie and think Will Smith was the perfect guy to play the part of Hancock. Charlize Theron as Mary and Jason Bateman as Ray also filled their rolls to near perfection. I found the movie to be quite funny at times, even though it is not a comedy flick. I guess that will happen whenever Will Smith is in a movie. The super-hero effects were pretty good too. During the making of the film, to give a realistic appearance of superhero flight, Smith was often suspended by wires 60 feet above the ground and propelled at 40-50 miles per hour. I was fully entertained and I think it is a must see movie for everybody.

Rating: 8.0