Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Review: Hancock


The foundation for this midsummer yarn is simple. Hancock is a man with super powers, including flight, strength, invulnerability, and speed. He's also a bum who drinks often, and though he saves people, he his hated by the general public for being reckless and destructive in the process. In return, he's a bitter man who continues to escalate this collateral damage he creates.
A PR rep whose life he saves takes him on as a challenge, to make a real hero out of Hancock. So Hancock goes to prison and is taken back out, as the LAPD needs his help.

Up to this point in the film, I was with it and loving it. Past this, there are quite a few twists in a rapidly accelerating plot, that for spoiler purposes I will avoid discussing.

From a film creation point of view, it's remarkable they were able to take such an invulnerable character and credibly make him both human and vulnerable. That they were even able to add in a threat to his life that didn't involve Kryptonite is even better.

For what this is, a popcorn movie that's going to kill the box office, it excels. Witty, sharp, action packed and with a plot from the pages of the comic books, Hancock is a good movie.
Good for 12 year old? No, and it's not oriented that way. Simply put, this is chock full of language, but not much else is objectionable. So 15+ crowd is the target.

I liked it, I was entertained and I feel like i got my monies worth.
Will I buy the DVD? Not likely.

7 comments:

Solameanie said...

I am going to have to get you hooked on film noir from the 1930s-40s. Once you see a Humphrey Bogart-type gangster walking into the black and white shadows and fog with his paramour, you will never be the same.

Good starter -- see if you can find a copy of "White Heat" with James Cagney. Wow. What a film, and what an ending. Explosive, to say the least.

(big grin)

FAICA Soldier said...

Sola, Robert will never watch or enjoy those films. This is a fact that brings me great sadness. I do love (and own) White Heat and many others. It is refreshing to hear you chime in on occasion with a nice Noir classic!

RobertDWood said...

Hey, ya know... I'm a product of my generation, one who appreciates the sound and fury and tension of modern popcorn movies.

Now, I think you throw someone like Darth Vader or Hans Grueber as a villan against any of the bad guys in recent films, and the new ones faint in sheer terror.

FAICA Soldier said...

...Hehe...you are referring to Star Wars and Die Hard like they are not recent films.

RobertDWood said...

They weren't made in my lifetime buddy. :D

FAICA Soldier said...

But you compared them to films from the 30s and 40s like the 1987 and 1936 are practically the same.

Solameanie said...

I don't know about that, faica. "White Heat" is an older, black & white film, but Cagney's performance of that insane gangster and the fireball ending at the refinery are astounding.

I have a 21 year old friend (actually, more like a son) who comes over now and then and I've gotten him interested in these old films. He thought Ingrid Bergman was stunning, and really enjoys the noirs. The more plot twists and surprise endings, the better. He gets a chuckle out of the dialogue, too. A few examples:

"Keep up your chin, dearie. Both of them."

"My old aunt Jennifer ate an entire pound box of candy every week of her life. She lived to be 102 and when she'd been dead three days, she looked better than you do now."

"A kamikaze with hair on her head."

"The water tasted good so she jumped down the well."