Film

Hancock (2008)

Director: Peter Berg

Synopsis

A dyspeptic, grudging superhero (Will Smith) gets a chance to rehabilitate his public profile.

Movie review

From Time Out Chicago

Can someone explain how this high-concept dud nabbed a coveted Fourth of July release? It seems to have gone straight from pitch to screen: An alcoholic superhero with an attitude problem (Smith, oddly sedate) gets an image makeover from a publicist (Bateman) he saves from a train accident. The hero learns to compliment cops on the “good job” they’ve done and works harder to avoid damaging property while taunting bad guys. Hancock may aspire to say something about a culture so cynical and lawsuit-obsessed that it’s lost the capacity to appreciate a Good Samaritan. But given that the movie itself is a cynical, slapdash moneymaking machine—yes, that’s Akiva Goldsman, screenwriter of Batman & Robin and producer of this film, glimpsed in the boardroom scene—it mainly succeeds in trashing the ideal of summer-movie entertainment.

Problems begin in the opening sequence, which shows Hancock drunkenly flying against what appears to be a rear-projected backdrop of downtown L.A. (One might think that director Berg, who blew up the Middle East last year in The Kingdom, could at least stage competent action.) The Pygmalion antics can’t take this sucker to feature length, so Hancock makes a half-hearted attempt to establish a backstory. The window for a sequel is open, if someone wants it, but considering that Hancock barely has 90 minutes of ideas right now, it’s likely this is one superhero the world will have to do without.