Will Smith

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 tagline for the potential blockbuster “Hancock” to be released next week is “with great power comes great responsibility”, it’s a standard line for superhero flicks. Something similar can be said for Will Smith, the actor who plays the alcoholic-bum superhero Hancock, maybe along the lines of “with great talent comes great anticipation.” Smith has a long line of movies including MIB, Independence Day, I, Robot and I am Legend that are favorites of mine and considering the unique character of this film, obviously I am anxious to see the film. So far though, the initial reviews are not very positive.

Alas, all good hype must come to an end. "Hancock," with which Sony is hoping to have a merry July 4, 2008, may not duplicate Smith’s previous successes. It is one of the worst family holiday weekend releases of recent memory — and jaw-droppingly so. And that’s hard to do, since it clocks in at a mere wisp of one hour and 20 minutes. ~ Roger Friedman

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