Movie Review: Hancock

Will Smith is the titular character in this alternative super hero movie. Believing he is the only one of his kind, Hancock drinks a lot and saves people occasionally, but usually makes more of a mess rescuing someone than if he had done nothing. Into the fray steps Jason Bateman as a well wishing PR man who decides to transform Hancock into a superhero that everyone can love.

I left the cinema after seeing this movie feeling very confused. I felt that I had seen three different movies squashed together and I couldn't pick which one I disliked the most. There is the super hero movie, where our hero must discover his power and role in life and defeat the bad guys. There is the comedy movie - and at times Hancock does comedy with fantastic flare - where there are lots of jokes about the man who can fly but is reluctant to use his powers to help people out and then there is the third movie. The drama which, to my mind, was about invulnerability of youth, the vulnerability of loving people and having family and friends and the inevitable loss of power with age. None of these three themes were bad in themselves, but they each struggled for dominance without any one winning out and were put together with such obvious editing and mediocre special effects that as an overall piece of cinema it fell down.

There are a lot of things to like in Hancock and Will Smith is always enjoyable to watch, but it is so confused and messy that it is an unrewarding watch. On a side note, for those who are fans of Arrested Development, I couldn't help from thinking 'Rita and Michael got married!' while watching the movie (Jason Bateman and Charlize Theron play a married couple in the film). 2 out of 5 stars.