Let's face it: the summer movie season doesn't take many risks. Year after year, the same big-budget blockbusters show up in multiplexes with the same mega-watt stars. Two sequels, one television adaptation and one musical adaptation are due out this month alone. In "Hancock," however, we have a refreshingly original idea; and, although it features one of the biggest names in the movie business, Will Smith, it's still something of a gamble.
"Hancock" is the story of an unconventional superhero, a man who costs Los Angeles millions of dollars in collateral damage in order to apprehend a handful of bad guys. When we first meet Hancock (Smith), he's passed out drunk and needs to be alerted to a high-speed highway chase by a young boy. He saves the day, of course, but earns the contempt of the city once again. They're sick and tired of his drinking, his swearing and his basic contempt for personal and municipal property.
We also meet Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman), a public relations specialist struggling to impress upon executives the importance of charity and altruism. When man and superman encounter each other, Ray decides it would help both men's careers if he repairs Hancock's image.
"Hancock" is brief, only 92 minutes, but packs a load of material in that span. It's got plenty of action and special effects, but those are largely perfunctory. The real treat of "Hancock" are the interactions between Hancock and other people, including Ray, his wife Mary (Charlize Theron), villains and bystanders, most of whom jeer the superhero. The scenes in which Ray tries to make Hancock a softer and more affable superhero are especially funny.
"Hancock" was written by Vincent Ngo and Vince Gilligan, both of whom bring different resumes to the film. Ngo has a background in suspense and action, while Gilligan, who wrote for "The X-Files" and its spin-off "The Lone Gunman," has worked extensively with science fiction and the supernatural. The result is a script full of action and danger, but with a very intriguing mythology.
Stuck in a summer movie season so fascinated by famous superheroes like The Incredible Hulk and Batman, "Hancock" could easily model itself after an established franchise. Instead, the writers and director Peter Berg made Hancock an unorthodox hero in an unorthodox movie. It's one thing to revive a character who's been developed for years in a comic book; it's quite another to develop a new type of hero in a world with so many established archetypes.
*** out of ****
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