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Then he rescues a well-meaning PR executive
(Jason Bateman), who decides to return the favour by rescuing Hancock's
public image.
Stage One : front up for prison like the Los
Angeles DA wants him to, both to show that he is willing to play by
humanity's rules and to give the public at large a chance to realise
how much they will miss him.
In a surprising development in
today's movie climate, the trailers and advance press don't give away a
fairly major twist, so let's just say that the story takes a somewhat
more serious turn at around the halfway mark, and Charlize Theron's
slightly odd performance as the PR guy's wife eventually makes
sense.
The
basic concept and story structure is sound (who in the hell is not
going to laugh at a surly drunk super-hero?) but as things develop
the film loses focus thanks to a slightly unsteady hand from director
Peter Berg, who occasionally misjudges the material's shifting tone as
it moves from outright comedy to something a little more serious.
It
doesn't help that while it is a comedy at heart, the numerous (and
well executed) action scenes build up an expectation of an all action
punch on climax that (and this isn't really a spoiler) the film doesn't
quite deliver.
Fortunately the performances (especially Smith's) are
consistently good throughout, ensuring that this never is less than
enjoyable and at times very funny.
Hancock has it's flaws, but it's
definitely a more interesting take on superheroics than anything else
we have seen this year. DVD EXTRAS with Sean Lynch
This was a monster hit for Sony, coming off the back of the phenomenal success of I Am Legend. So it's of little surprise that there is a bit of effort that has gone into creating some quality extras.
The
two disc edition (which comes in a fairly cool slim lined "steel book"
casing) is full to the brim of featurettes which take a comprehensive
look at pretty much every aspect of the film. Fans of Will Smith will
love it (although, for mine, he treads a fine line between charming and
feel-good and downright patronising and fake).
There is already talk that there might be a sequel on the way... but does anyone really want that?
Conclusion:
Movie 75% Extras: 70%
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