Hancock Can’t Seem to Get the Story Straight

Will Smith’s character Hancock has been hyped as “not your average superhero”, unfortunately the movie named after the main character is also not your average Will Smith movie. In fact, it is an exceptionally below average Will Smith movie that has a weaker storyline than a 30 minute episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Much like a lovable drunk buddy, Hancock delivers the expected summer blockbuster laughs and special effects one expects from the king of July Fourth weekend movies. Following a formulaic plot of a flawed but promising character, Hancock finds a mentor who molds him into a true superhero with a fitting climax where he saves the girl and the day. The problem is that all this happens in the space of the first thirty minutes of the film.

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The rest of the movie plays out much like what happens when that lovable drunk buddy you let sleep on the couch in reality turns out to be just another alcoholic bum. The humorous story he told you at the bar about being temporarily down and out has now changed, in fact his story continues to change as if he is altering his recollection to fit the current situation. In the end the web of lies becomes so complex that he leaves before you can throw him out (after stealing your booze) because he can’t keep his story straight.

While Will Smith and Jason Bateman who plays his PR mentor work have a good chemistry that make the first half of this movie work, the introduction of Charlize Theron and Eddie Marsan as pivotal characters in the remainder of an entirely different story breaks the continuity of the film. That’s the problem with Hancock; the last 50 minutes of this film are mixture of undeveloped storylines and could-have-been characters. Be sure to stay for the last scene that comes right after the closing credits, it is probably the funniest scene of the movie that takes its cue from the first thirty minutes making one wonder why the makers of this film ever switched gears.

Will Smith still has a lot of clout in my book though, this film may be a dog, but it is a rare stumble by the man in black and I still expect to see good things form him in the future.

Check out MPJ's review over at A Room of Mama's Own, looks like the recovery nerds are in agreement on this one.