July 5, 2008 -- Will Smith, who has made a tradition of big movies released on July 4 since “Independence Day,” stars in a new superhero movie this July 4 (released on July 2). This time, he is a flying, invulnerable, super-fast, super-strong man with a drinking problem, a bad attitude and a mysterious past.

The movie opens with Hancock passed out on a bus bench in a drunken stupor. A child wakes him up, points to a nearby TV which shows police involved in a running gun battle with heavily-armed thugs. Hancock asks the kid why he woke him up. The kids points to the TV and says, “Bad guys.” Hancock flies off and grabs the bad guys, causing millions of dollars in damage in the process. He has a problem controlling his actions when he is drunk or hung over. One day, Hancock saves the life of an idealistic publicity agent, Ray Embrey (played by Jason Bateman of “Juno”). Embrey offers to polish Hancock's image and Hancock agrees to follow Embrey's advice, but what he really seems to be interested in is Embrey's beautiful wife, Mary (Charlize Theron of “In the Valley of Elah”).

Hancock agrees to go to prison to atone for his past sins and tries to clean up his act. Hancock lets Embrey in on one of his secrets. Hancock has no memory of his past beyond a few years ago when he woke up in a Florida hospital with a severe head wound, which healed very quickly. Hancock will soon find out more about his strange past. The story never establishes any believability and it quickly becomes even more bizarre when we find out more about Hancock's past. The story makes “Superman” look like a documentary by comparison. The special effects and action scenes are good, but there is no real villain for Hancock to fight until near the end of the film. Instead, the film is more about Hancock's search for meaning and truth, and it isn't all that compelling a search.

This is probably the least of Will Smith's latest few movies since “Bad Boys II.” Smith is talented, charming and popular enough that this film will probably make money despite its structural weakness. He is as bankable as any star in Hollywood. It is however, a disappointing film. It is an interesting idea, but it falls a bit short of being a compelling story. The story isn't believable (you know you are in trouble when the story depends on amnesia to get off the ground) and the characters don't really come alive. It rates a C+. If it wasn't for Smith, however, this would be another flop like “My Super Ex-Girlfriend.”

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in video and/or DVD format, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2008 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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