MOVIE: Hancock

[scoobydiesel]

So i went to the preview screening or special? whatever they call it last night with some friends.

We all seemed to have liked it but after it was done an i was talking about it i had a hard time trying to think of anything that stood out or made this movie remember able to me.

I like the concept for the most part but getting into spoilers


SPOILERS: MEOW: SPOILERS:

The bad guy didnt seem so much as a real bad guy for him an her, an didnt seem to be around much.

Really easy to figure out she was like him an even they dated(the whole brother sister thing did toss me like wtf for a second)

The whole immortal thing was explained pretty fast to me like no real background to it even if they did the scare stories. agh i dunno...just complaining.

END SPOILERS

It felt very much like a first of many more to come but i dont really see Will Smith wanting to come back?

But i did like it, the After credits bit was funny(Yes stay for something after the movie ends)

What did everyone else think?

[stubadub]

I felt similarly. I liked it, but didn't love it. Not incredibly memorable.


SPOILERS***************8

I did like that there wasn't really a villain. I've seen several people that were hung up on the fact that the whole explanation for why he has his powers was so briefly stated, but I kinda thought that didn't matter. I wasn't that interested in his origin.

[gi_josh]

This movie was great, I loved it. I thought it was rad that they were as vague as they were about the origins.....I loved the "we've been called Gods, Angels, and now SuperHeroes"...that was all I needed.

Also, this movie was genuinely funny. REALLY funny. I loved the McDonalds joke.

[siraim]

I wanted... really wanted to love Hancock. The movie was great. The acting was really good. The story hooked me in. The movie was without question great.. with the exception of the camera work. I'm not normally one to pay attention to camera work and maybe it's the TRS boys rubbing off on me, but the superduper close ups... the erratic camera movements.. the circling camera of doom.

If the camera had been 4 feet further away from every single shot, I would have been happy. It would seem that they employed a steadi-cam operator (at least according to the credits) but it seemed they locked him in a closet during filming.

Otherwise.. LOVED the movie.

[tsmith15]

I went but it was sold out. I'll try to go tomorrow or Friday.

[scoobydiesel]

This movie was great, I loved it. I thought it was rad that they were as vague as they were about the origins.....I loved the "we've been called Gods, Angels, and now SuperHeroes"...that was all I needed.

Also, this movie was genuinely funny. REALLY funny. I loved the McDonalds joke.

Yeah i also really loved that line about being called superheroes in todays world.

And the McDonalds joke Killed me...friggin great. i forgot all about that...I dunno im having a hard time remembering the movie i dont know why, like i want to see it again cause its odd im forgetting it so easily when i know i enjoyed it over all.

[njshadow]

I'm not really a movie goer but I REALLY wanna see this one. Heck, just seein' the clip of those guys breakin' Will Smith's glasses and then seeing them thrown on top of the giant pin. CLASSIC. :D

(He he, I guess I could include the whale throw as well) :D

[7h0m45]

i caught the Tuesday night showing as well i thought it was pretty good.

the McDonalds line and "cause I'm drunk bitch" was great.

[niksko]

Just got back from it. REALLY REALLY liked it.

*SPOILERS*

I think it's a good story, and I didn't mind that we didn't find out about much of their background. Wasn't necessary in my opinion. Really funny at times, but not so funny that it threw off the mood. Loved the characters, although the closest we got to villains were slightly lacking. Also, was it just me or were the goons in the jail really stupid. Everyone knows that Hancock is a super, most of them were put in there by him, so when someone with amazing strength threatens to shove your head up someones ass, you just get out of his way. No questions.

Also I found myself feeling genuinely sorry for him, which is something I don't often feel in a movie. He finally finds someone like him, he finally belongs and can associate, and then he has to leave. Great writing.

Few minor gripes. As I said before, the villains were a bit crap. Although the guy who got his hand sliced off redeemed himself a bit at the end in the hospital for me, although I feel he should have been portrayed as being slightly intellectual from the beginning, rather than just showing us that side of him toward the end. Also, the shaky cam stuff in the opening scene REALLY bugged me, as did the shot where the camera orbited him about 5 times. Too many revolutions! Especially when nothing changes when the camera swings around again.

*END SPOILERS*

All in all, I really liked this movie. I have a feeling this one will be well received by the TRS boys, but I guess we'll see on next Wednesday (comes out then here in Aus, Tuesday for you in the US)

-Nik

[scoobydiesel]

i totally forgot, i loved that *spoiler?* he crashed into the bird when flying at one point *spoiler?*

im starting to remember stuff lol.

[shadowprism]

I thought the first 30 minutes were great and funny but after the poor attempt to explain the origins of hancock and the pathetic love triangle that ensued it, left me so frustrated that i didn't care about anything that happened from that point on.

If your gonna use deep metaphors to explain a cosmic relationship like "we are drawn to each other" and "we were constructed (i really hated that word they used) in pairs" and leave it at that with no explanation than you haven't really explained anything. The first part of the movie was a great comings of a superhero and then after the trailer scene between will smith and charlize theron your left with a moping woe is me romeo who thinks he is invincible. I was shocked how quickly the movie unraveled. Bottom line you cant use 3 or 4 lines to describe the origins of the characters.

One last thing i was reading up on the production of the movie and read that they were some serious reshoots to get the movie down to a "pg-13 movie"... did anyone else notice that they removed the "b*tch" from the ludarcris song titled "move b*tch get out the way". So my only explanation for why this happened. is because they kept getting slapped with an "R" rating the studio decided to cut anything that could be considered questionable in any sort of way (morally, religious, culturally, ethnically) to appease the MPAA so they can have their July 4th box office bonanza. And that makes me more depressed because I felt this could have been great.

[damnedeyez]

One last thing i was reading up on the production of the movie and read that they were some serious reshoots to get the movie down to a "pg-13 movie"... did anyone else notice that they removed the "b*tch" from the ludarcris song titled "move b*tch get out the way". So my only explanation for why this happened. is because they kept getting slapped with an "R" rating the studio decided to cut anything that could be considered questionable in any sort of way (morally, religious, culturally, ethnically) to appease the MPAA so they can have their July 4th box office bonanza. And that makes me more depressed because I felt this could have been great.

Sounds like I'll be waiting to rent some sort of director's cut then. I like the premise, but later trailers made it look less interesting...so this'll be a wait for rental.

[timmacyjr]

i agree with shadowprism, on everything he said.

the first 30 mins were good.
but everything about the story was vague.

[tsmith15]

I liked it more than I thought I would.

I thought it had a lot of potential but ultimately had a very bad screenplay, just like Transformers. I liked the acting and I liked the humor.

*SPOILERS BELOW*

I liked the darkness and the personal sacrifice. I liked how there wasn't a super-villain and I liked how Hancock was very much a human at times, not a step above everyone else. I liked that the movie didn't have more of an origin story besides some brief verbal explanation. I didn't like the pacing, and it was also too short. It didn't flow well either. I also felt that due to its length it was missing some key scenes; not to mention the fact that from we moment we find out about Charlize to the end of the movie is about 25 minutes when that whole dynamic brought out a lot in Hancock's character. I think we could have benefitted from the conversation between the police chief and Hancock to show the chief conceeding and how Hancock reacts to being needed and I think a conversation between Aaron and Hancock where Aaron says he wants to be just like Hancock and morality could be thrown in there. Lastly, it was super obvious, the deal with Charlize from the moment she looked at Hancock; at least to me.

*SPOILERS FINISHED*

[darthender]

I was surprised this movie had alot more stuff in it then I though.

SPOILERS

So when I saw the first trailer. I figured, okay, its a movie about a lazy, drunk Superman. Sounds hilarious.

Then when I started seeing commercials, I got the idea that halfway through the movie, he starts feeling bad about being such a crappy hero, goes to jail, and then comes out and acts like a real hero.

Then I actually watch the movie, and come to find out, all that stuff only makes up the first half of the movie.

END SPOILERS


Anyway, I really liked it. But why the hell don't I remember a McDonalds joke?

[7h0m45]

But why the hell don't I remember a McDonalds joke?

it was after he hit the train and everyone was mad and a guy said he was going to sue him and he said " you should sue McDonald's, because they fucked you up"

[rokov]

I loved it. Great story, good performances and none of Will Smith's usual clichés. After I Am Legend and this one, I think he might actually be starting to act.

I wasn't bothered at all by the lack of a real villain. In fact, I think that adding one would have only detracted from the real story. Their origin was handled perfectly. I was satisfied with the explanation, but still left with room to speculate and the proximity twist (as I'll call it) was brilliant. My only complaint is that she never told him his real name, but hopefully that will be in the sequel.

I know I'm asking to get flamed for saying this, but I thought that it was just as good, if not better than Ironman.

[primateomega]

I thought Hancock was actually a lot better than I expected it was going to be. I'm not saying it was perfect, but I did really enjoy it.

**SPOILER SECTION**
I didn't have a problem with the vagueness of his (their) origin story. Most comics are pretty vague until they actually get their own origin mini-series. I also didn't mind that she never tells Hancock his real name. Think about it for a second: they're immortal. Their real names are probably utterly archaic if even pronounceable by modern standards. I liked how the movie captured that kind of comicesque "destined to live alone" motif with Hancock's weakness too.

But here's my beef with the movie:

The film editing at the end (in the hospital) was atrocious. I understand the patented Moment Of Weakness camera effect, but this was just pure shit. That didn't emulate eyes readjusting, that emulated a camera doing an interpretive dance of a seizure while on crystal meth.

Also, the movie kinda writes itself into a corner by explaining that Will and Charlize are the only two left of their kind.

...well fuck. There goes the idea for a sequel.

I'm not actually pissed about (possibly) not having sequels, but it just made the movie feel like I've missed out on the whole series until now- as if it's the last movie in a trilogy.

But despite feeling injustice as Charlize's character getting to enjoy the family life while Hancock saves the world, I liked the twist of a villainless movie. Especially considering I had seen extended trailers that made the movie plot seem like Hancock would finally find another like him and end up fighting him/her as if they were a villain.
**/SPOILER SECTION**

Despite the flaws, it was still a highly enjoyable movie and I would recommend it to most any comic nerd.

[rokov]

Also, the movie kinda writes itself into a corner by explaining that Will and Charlize are the only two left of their kind.

...well fuck. There goes the idea for a sequel.



Just because she said that they were the only two left doesn't necessarily mean that it's true.

[primateomega]

As I continued though, it's not the lack of sequel opportunity that irked me as much as it made the movie feel like the end of a series that I missed the rest of.

[puddlefish]

I know this was never what the movie was supposed to be, but I would have much prefered to lose the second half plot line althogether, and just have it about a lonely, hurt guy with superpowers trying to become something he doesn't feel he can be.

I found most of the humour very slapstick and COMPLETELY unrealistic (even in a comic booky way), which made it very much at odds with the more dramatic emotional monents.

Also, a lot of the CG was pretty bad and the fight in the middle was both badly executed and out of character for Theron's character.

[bobwise]

Spoilers Within.

I agree with Alex' assessment. The first half of this movie was My Super Ex-Girlfriend. If they wanted this story to stand out, they needed to go edgier and not back out of the R-rating. More violence, even more drunkenness, more time in jail, etc.

I actually found the second half of the movie much more intriguing than the first half. I was glad that they explained a little of Hancock's past, and I thought the premise was fascinating, but the delivery felt more like it was the cinematic conclusion to an epic 3-novel trilogy. There is a MASSIVE story that is barely hinted at in this film, and it didn't seem that the powers that be had any desire to flesh it out.

[siraim]

Tread lightly.. Spoilers follow:

Spoilers Within.

I actually found the second half of the movie much more intriguing than the first half. I was glad that they explained a little of Hancock's past, and I thought the premise was fascinating, but the delivery felt more like it was the cinematic conclusion to an epic 3-novel trilogy. There is a MASSIVE story that is barely hinted at in this film, and it didn't seem that the powers that be had any desire to flesh it out.

I couldn't agree more. I wanted to know about their past endeavors. I wanted to see them doing what they do best throughout history. I know it was just supposed to be light back story to inform the reason they were both getting weaker, but still. If I was given the choice to see a head actually shoved into a rectum or more of the backstory, I would have taken the backstory.

Furthermore.. to echo a comment from earlier in the movie that bugs me to this day, are the criminals in this fictional LA mentally incapable of basic survival instincts? Hancock is a super-hero outside the prison. He's a super-hero inside the prison. WTF were the convicts doing threatening him? The only possibly escalation of penalties for him would be solitary confinement, which would get him away from these morons. Why, oh why, would they pick a fight with him? Dumb..dumb..dumb.

[krypt]

I really liked it. I went in with pretty high expectations but I really enjoyed it. If there's one thing I really didn't like it was the music. It was sometimes, not always, used in the right times and the orchestral stuff had a very annoying quality about it. Maybe that's just me. PS: completely agree with siraim and bobwise

[gabe_utsecks]

I liked the first part, and a few scattered bits of the second part. I basically agree with everything Jeff said, except the thing about Will Smith being miscast. I think he pulled it off, for the most part. I personally never thought "wow, this guy is an asshole," because it's Will Smith and that would be virtually impossible, but I could easily imagine how the people in the film could hate him.


Peter Berg pissed me off sometimes and drew me out of the experience. But in typical Peter Berg fashion, there were some truly brilliant shots.

The music by John Powell was disctractingly bad most of the time, but on a couple of occasions was good. Much like Peter Berg's visual style, I think it drew too much attention to itself.

[iggystar]

I totally agree with Jeff on this one.

The comedy aspect was similar to My Super Ex-Girlfriend, but the stories really weren't all that alike. The angle of the superhero, completely unliked by his entire community, then getting a PR guy to fix his image was quite original and not explored in any other movie that I can think of.

If the story had kept with that premise, showing how Hancock redeemed himself along with giving him a worthy adversary, the movie would have been fantastic. It's always so ironic that in almost all superhero tales, there's a segment where the hero is misunderstood and the general populace is either wary, suspicious or consider them vigilantes. Now we have a savior that is really unlikeable...now what? I believe if given enough time, we would have truly disliked Wil Smith as Hancock. I think he could have pulled it off. Do we really need another superhero origin story, especially one overly dramatic and muddled in some convoluted mythos? I don't think so.

What a disappointment.

[mlucus]

I liked this movie. There were a few times while I watching it that I would think "oh, this is about to get corny and ruin the whole movie". But I was wrong every time! I didn't mind how vauge the movie was at times. If the time had been taken to explain everything and really develop the "villains", I think it would have gotten really long and drawn out.

[iccanui]

**spoilers**

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hey stop reading .....





Ok, well i saw this today and i have to say that i liked it right up to the middle. The super hero aspect of it was great, i was expecting it to be a superhero movie, so when it changed to the drama part, i felt like the movie stalled, then rushed a wrap up at the end. The villain was pretty weak too. But thats ok, over all it was a good movie and more to the point it felt like it would make a great springboard movie. Like now we know handcock and now we can follow his life as a super hero and there is existing relationships and so on. Honestly if you think about it, it has the potential to be a new superhero that we all are in common knowledge of like batman and superman and stuff. Not saying its on that same level, but with will smith invovled and that men in black kind of writing, i can see this going some place and having hancock 2 being even better then this movie.

so thats me. im exicted to see if they make a sequel.

[iccanui]

As I continued though, it's not the lack of sequel opportunity that irked me as much as it made the movie feel like the end of a series that I missed the rest of.

interesting, cause i had the exact opposite feeling. I felt like this was the beginning. A quick intro to a new character and world that can have at least 2 more movies in my view that can be made to fill in about who she is and he is and then there are villains. I see a lot of potential from a mediocre launch.

[iccanui]

Just because she said that they were the only two left doesn't necessarily mean that it's true.

Highlander anyone ?

[joedubbs]

I just hope they don't make a sequel.

[marcelluswallace]

Hancock was pretty much FAIL. Interesting premise, but overall it was a turd.