Hancock
Written by Vincent Ngo and Vince Gilligan
Directed by Peter Berg
Starring Will Smith, Charlize Theron, and Jason Bateman
92 minutes
Short, non-spoilerish review: Will Smith plays Hancock as a super guy with attitude (and, perhaps, a drinking problem). It’s a fun movie that holds your attention, makes you laugh, and still presents (and solves) a few mysteries along the way. I really liked this movie.
Warning: this review contains some spoilers. If you’d rather not know the story, bookmark this page, and then read it after seeing the movie.
Who could tell Superman “no” if he really wanted to do something? Well, just about anybody. Superman could do anything, but he chose to fight for “truth, justice, and the American way.” He was the ultimate: the fastest, strongest, best at most everything, but he let himself take orders from just about anyone.
Hancock would laugh at that attitude, if he cared enough to even pay attention.
This is not your parents superhero movie. In fact, though he’s called a superhero, Hancock (Will Smith) is more a standard guy with super abilities. The movie opens with him asleep at a bus stop, nudged by a kid to wake up and save the day (a cops-and-robbers Los Angeles freeway car chase is showing on the television). From the first moment (indeed, from the commercials), it’s clear that Hancock has been drinking, and when even a little kid calls the guy “asshole,” you know he’s no Superman (especially since there’s no fancy tights or cape anywhere in sight. Hancock is a “come as I am” kind of guy).
Hancock rubs the sleep (and perhaps part of the hangover) out of his eyes, and leaps into the sky, not smoothly and cleanly as Superman would, but leaving a bit of rubble as he tears up the street to gain altitude. He zips to the scene of the chase, crashes through a sign over the highway (incidentally trashing it and a few of the unlucky police cars cruising beneath), and makes his way to the crooks’ SUV, where he opens the top like a sardine can and plops himself into the back seat to talk them out of the chase. They, of course, are more than a little put off by Hancock’s antics, and draw their guns to shoot at him. The bullets have absolutely no effect, except to break his sunglasses, which upsets him more than a little. Hancock stops the truck by slamming his feet through the floor (think Fred Flintstone), lifts it to dizzying heights with the bad guys still inside, drops it, throws it, and finally ditches it on the antenna atop the iconic Capitol Records Building. The reporter voice-over, reporting the events, grumbles that once again, Hancock has saved the day, but at a cost of about $9 million. What an asshole. (Echoes, good echoes, of The Incredibles‘s take on superheroes interacting with a real society.)
Cut to the perenially put-upon, but always up-beat and good-natured pr man Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman). He’s trying to save the world with a marketing campaign, but can’t make any headway when he gets to the part about participating companies actually giving away some of their products. On his way home, he’s trapped in traffic and doesn’t realize he’s on the train tracks… until the train is barreling down on him. Suddenly, Hancock arrives, lifts Ray’s car and tosses it out of the way (the car lands upside down on others in the jam). The train smashes into Hancock, and stops, with massive damage to the engine. And then, a nice shot, as all the cars behind it slowly derail and pile up. “You asshole,” says one of the motorists. “Hey,” says Hancock, “I saved his life.” “Yeah, but why didn’t you just fly straight up.” And we realize, yeah, that would have been just as simply for Hancock, a lot less messy for everyone else, and we start to get just how out of touch with the world this super-hero really is.
Ray knows a project when he sees it, and manages to convince Hancock that what he needs is good pr. Well, first he convinces Hancock to stay for dinner. Son Aaron (Jae Head) takes to him immediately, but wife Mary (Charlize Theron) has a real problem with this messy, drunken man sitting down to dinner. We’re not sure what it is, but there’s some recognition there (at least on her part).
Ray seems to have no luck convincing Hancock of his abilities, but eventually he comes around. And part of what he has to do to get it is to start paying attention… including to the 50 or so outstanding arrest warrants for destruction of property. In an incredibly awkward speech, Hancock apologizes for his past mistakes, and turns himself in to start serving time in prison. Four and a half to eight years (“I thought you said weeks,” growls Hancock. “Don’t worry,” Ray says. “When the crime rate spikes, they’ll let you out.”). Not unlike Faith’s jail time in Angel, we quickly realize the only way to hold a superbeing in prison is through that being’s acquiesence.
Hancock stays, the crime rate rises, and eventually, the chief of police does call him. And again, Ray steps in with image consulting. “Here, try this outfit. Trust me, it’ll help.” It’s tight black leather, it’s not a leotard, and it might work on a younger, hipper superhero. On Hancock, it seems put on, but put it on he does. “Interact with the public,” Ray advises. “Say something like good job.” Hancock’s attempts to interact with the police are comical in their awkwardness.
Hancock saves the situation, begins to learn a bit more about being a person, and starts to open up to Ray and Mary. He’s a superhero with no origin story. Well, nothing he can remember. He woke up in a hospital 80 years ago not knowing a thing about himself, except that he healed in nothing flat, and can do these incredible things, and he doesn’t age.
It isn’t until he makes a move on Mary—and she throws him through the wall—that he realizes he isn’t unique as he thought. But she won’t talk. We realize she knows more about Hancock than anyone, including Hancock himself. And later there’s a nice scene where Hancock tries to test her abilities while she tries to make dinner (and Ray, blissfully distracted on the telephone, notices nothing). Eventually, her secret comes out, and he learns why he feels a connection to her. And then he learns why he doesn’t remember anything beyond 80 years ago.
I fretted a bit that the movie would end on a really down note, as Mary warmed to Hancock and his past was revealed. I was pleasantly surprised that the filmmakers knew it could be avoided, and did so properly, within the confines of the film (no deus ex machina here).
I walked in having thought “this could be great” from the first commercials I saw, but then started to fear it wasn’t as good as a 30-second spot made it out to be. My fears were allayed: I truly enjoy the movie. This is a superhero origin story that is a fully fleshed out story, rather than merely a set-up for future episodes. Actually, I can’t imagine liking a sequel as much as I liked this one, simply because a Hancock who knows who he is and where he came from can’t possibly be as appealing as the drunk asshole Will Smith obviously enjoyed playing in this movie. That other Hancock will truly be a superhero, but he won’t be a super movie.
Oh, and Ray’s attempt to save the world? Well, you just knew the reformed, happier superhero would find a way to help.
Recommended.
And do your neighbors a favor: don’t jump out of your seat the instant the first closing credit hits the screen. They’ve buried some of the movie in the credits. Sit and watch; after all, you paid for it.