After what feels like 9 months of waiting since I’d seen the first trailer, I finally got to see the new Will Smith movie, Hancock last night.
For unknown — yet appreciated reasons, the local Regal movie theater began showing it pretty much non-stop at 7pm last night. They also didn’t have it up on the marquee, nor were the showtimes listed anywhere in public view — I found out about it on Fandango — so that meant I had the pleasure of sitting through an opening night blockbuster with no more than 20 other people in a large theater..
Enough about that though, let’s get to the movie…
Without wanting to get into spoilers, what was billed as an “anti-hero superhero movie” got off the ground to a flying start. Lots of action, lots of laughing, lots of faux pas being committed on the part of our grouchy anti-hero. Destroying the streets and buildings of LA to stop criminals, then inserting one criminal’s head up another criminal’s rectal cavity is a great start and exactly where we thought everything was going from the trailers that we’d all seen for months. Lots and lots of fun for moviegoers.
All that being said, much like the well-publicized train derailment in the trailers (and not much afterwards in the movie), where Hancock lost me as a fanboy was about half-way in, when the “anti-superhero movie” turned into “the quest to fit in and be accepted movie” and later the “where is Hancock from?” movie which seemed to drag on forever.
The explanation of the latter being extraordinarily weak at best.
Jason Bateman was great. Will Smith as always was really, really great. Charlize Theron was even great in the movie, so it’s not the acting that rubbed me the wrong way. It was the heavy-handed attempt to be an emotional movie with a point.
I do honestly expect that later when the disappointment subsides, this might become one of those movies you really love, even if you’re not impressed when you initially see it in the theater. (The original Addam’s Family movie comes to mind) It just didn’t live up to the initial hype of a movie which kept you laughing from start to finish with a light-handed (if even tangible) sense of morality at the end. Instead, it could be considered one of those “character studies” that you see on the Lifetime network..
2 responses so far ↓
TV Slut // July 7, 2008 at 8:39 am |
I guess I was a little easier on this one than you. It’s one of those worth a second chance… but much later.
It was a bit campy and heavy-handed, but it definitely had it’s moments.
And I, too, loved Jason Bateman, Will Smith and Charlize Theron. I was actually surprised the acting was so good. With a cast like that, I was hoping the movie would be at least okay…. but I have to admit, it was better than I expected.
Now, the clock is ticking for “Dark Knight.” I hope that’s a good one.
Wayne // July 7, 2008 at 2:06 pm |
In retrospect, part of my problem was that I was expecting a full riot comedy (ala Greatest American Hero — God, now I feel old), not an introspective superhero movie.
When the “train” switched tracks mid-movie, I was completely lost. It’s one of those cases where either
- you go in expecting the best only to be sorely disappointed when you don’t get it
or (as is usually my case)
- you go see a movie expecting nothing, only to be pleasantly surprised by the “more than nothing” that you get.
This movie in my case was more of the former than the latter because of the 9 months of constant “this is an anti-superhero comedy” advertising.
It was only 1.5 hours before showtime — tickets in hand — that I ever saw any trailers suggesting that there was something deeper than the superficial comedy I had expected. You know the one, where Charlize goes “you’re becoming human”…
At that point, I should have broadened my expectations but just couldn’t get past the desire for a pure comedy.
It’ll show heavily in next week’s box office.
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