Will Smith Hits Again
Hancock is a Signature Role

In the real world, even people with super powers would still have human failings. In the 2006 comedy My Super Ex-Girlfriend, the ideas of jealousy and bad relationships were played out in a superhero universe. Director Peter Berg gives the hero in Hancock similar human failings, as a loner, a drunk and a bully. What Berg also gives us is a world where one ordinary man can make a difference, even without super powers.

Will Smith plays an unpolished superhero who does more harm than good in Hancock. (Sony, 2008)

Directed by: Peter Berg
Written by: Vincent Ngo and Vince Gilligan
Starring: Will Smith, Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman, Jae Head and Eddie Marsan

Rated

(for some intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, and language )
Running time: 92 min.

FilmGuru's Rating : 9 out of 10.

In Hancock, Will Smith plays an invulnerable hero who is a friendless, flying disaster. His uncaring attitude results in more collateral damage than the city of Los Angeles can afford. Citizens see him as a menace, more than a savior. Hancock is alone, the only hero in a world of mortals. There are no super villains, no super threats, nothing to equal him.

After saving the life of Ray Embry (Jason Bateman), Hancock gets some unwanted help rebuilding his public image. Ray is a down-on-his-luck public relations pitch man who needs a home run. His effort to bring charity to the corporate world has failed to launch, and he sees Hancock as his pet project.

Ray convinces Hancock to turn himself in to the police, go to jail and undergo anger management classes. It's all Ray's attempt to prove to the city that they need Hancock. He even designs a spiffy new outfit for the hero to wear when the inevitable call comes from the mayor.

After a predictable first half, the film takes an unexpected twist that reveals something about Hancock's past and his destiny. The turn is so dramatic it alters the entire mythology of the film. In short, the assumptions made during the first part of the film are blown out of the water by the second half.

This change in tone and direction makes the film great instead of merely good. What could have been yet-another superhero film hoping to cache in on the popular arts culture becomes something more. The story creates a world that is unique, separate from our own but also a part of it.

Smith does an amazing job with the role. Despite being foul-mouthed, ill-tempered and downright mean, Hancock is still a sympathetic character. We see his slow transformation, and we are rooting for him to become the hero we know he can be.

Here is an example of why Smith's movies are so popular. It has less to do with the actor than the roles he takes. In what could have been a two-dimensional superhero character, Smith takes on a role that is much more than it first appears. He is not humorous take on the genre, Hancock is a rich examination of myth, power and our obsession with archetypes.

Bateman, on the other hand, is something of a comic relief. Together with his family, wife Mary (Charlize Theron) and son Aaron (Jae Head), he becomes a touchstone for Hancock. He puts a face on humanity, giving Hancock a chance to reconnect with the people. Aaron becomes Hancock's biggest supporter, but his mom is careful to shield her son from the dark hero's undesirable influence.

The gritty, real world comic book story reminds me of director M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable. In many ways, these are similar films. They both deal with our world, where superheroes are found in comic books not on street corners. As with Unbreakable, I was left feeling this was something special. For a comic book fan, it was an excellent and welcome surprise.

Will Smith Hits Again Hancock is a Signature Role

Will Smith Hits Again
Hancock is a Signature Role