Bloody drawn out wars aside, I saw Hancock last night and I must say it was not all that bad. Granted, it did not win any awards or is my favorite movie, but if accomplished a few things. The setting gives you this guy, who for whatever reason is gifted with super human powers. Of course there is a twist.
The movie starts out with a car chase with all the specials sides included. Car full of immigrants or something, cops chasing said car through heavy traffic areas, news media covering every second of the chase. This is all happening, but our supposed hero is nowhere to be found.
Enter Hancock sleeping on a bench in supreme bum status, with his face ill shaven and a bottle of empty liquor lying near him. All he needed was a newspaper blanket to complete the picture. A little kid wakes him up and encourages him to help the cops and subdue the bad guys. Hancock barely moves a muscle to the child's pleas. The frustrated kid walks away while throwing Hancock a nasty comment in retreat. The hero of the story takes his time to wake up from his drunken daze and with bottle in hand (he never seems to be without his booze) he takes off from his bench into the air in an impressive display of speed and the ability to fly. This of course causes massive damage to the ground and surrounding buildings. His damage output in the aftermath becomes the heroes twist. He doesn't seem to care.
Hancock finds the criminals and tries to talk them into surrendering, but to his dismay the things open fire on him and break his bottle which irritates him extremely. he then picks the car up and starts causing even more mayhem and destruction, scaring the inhabitants of the car and pretty much everyone else around close to the scene. The chase ends with Hancock tossing the car up on a steeple, impaling the vehicle and leaving the men helpless and probably impossible for police to subdue by normal means.
Instead of being praised. Hancock is berated by the media and accused of causing more hurt then help. This hero, is not loved at all. Fast forward, you find out that Hancock suffers from amnesia. He has no idea who he is, what he is, or how he got his powers. His first memories are that of him waking up in the hospital in Miami. The nurse asked him for his John Hancock and he thought that was his name upon leaving the hospital. So this person with amazing powers is scorned by the public and has no family, no loved ones, nothing. He spurns social contact and does not care how the media perceives him.
You feel bad for him. he goes about life the wrong way, but in the end he only tries to help. Granted he does not always help in the fashion that is cost effective or smart, but he does save lives constantly. He saves a man life and the man helps him clean up his act and with a vow to change Hancock goes to prison as an act of repentance for all the billions he has cost in repairs. He of course could escape at any time he chooses, but the man begs him to stay in prison because the world needs a hero like him and sooner or later they will pardon him because the crime rate would skyrocket with him behind bars.
The plan goes according to plan and Hancock goes from enemy of the world to beloved hero in an instant. People aren't terrified of him and now greet him with applause instead of rude banter. For a man who had no place in this world, you can truly see that being wanted really hits close to this guy.
The movie then gives you a twist. there is another person who shares Hancock's abilities. Though this person wants to be left alone, all Hancock wants is the truth about himself and what or who he is. The movie does a decent job of portraying Hancock as a true outsider to society and all the humans around him. At first he just does not know how to mesh well with people often yelling at kids and older women who are staring, but at the end of the movie he accepts his part in this made up world as its protector.
It was an enjoyable enough film. I like Will Smith as an actor, and I think he did the loner surrounded by people who need, but can't stand him pretty well. Again, not the greatest movie ever written, but it kept me awake.
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