I’m like a writing machine, probably due to me putting off editing my novel, I’LL DO IT EVENTUALLY! I just have been watching so many movies recently I want to try and get some reviews done for it. While writing the last one I was doing that while watching Notting Hill, now while I’m writing this I’m watching Burn After Reading.
Yesterday or well… two days ago (I wrote this yesterday) I was going to review Independence Day starring Will Smith as I thought it was relevant but I forgot and hell, screw Independence Day. Had I been in the British Empire back in the day you’d all still be sipping tea and eating crumpets you bastards. 
Anyway, I haven’t watched Independence Day recently but I did watch Hancock, I don’t care what anyone says, Will Smith is the man. I have loved everything he’s been in whether it was watching Fresh Prince as a kid or Men In Black, Bad Boys, Wild Wild West, Baggar Vance, etc etc. Looking back I’ve actually watched everything Will Smith has done. The dude is not up his own ass, he’s down to earth and a straight up gent which is very rare when you reach the success he has made for himself.
Story; Hancock is not your usual superhero, he’s no multi-millionaire that hides in a cave, or someone whose always against killing and needs to hide himself in a newspaper, he’s no kid that’s been bitten by spiders, he’s an asshole. He’s a homeless asshole that doesn’t remember who his real name is or where he’s originally from. He sleeps on the street, he drinks, he stops bad guys but only after destroying the entire city beforehand. When he saves a marketing executive from getting hit by a train (destroying the train in the process) as a thank you the marketing exec extends his hand of gratitude and offers to make him loved like he should be rather than hated.
He turns this down at first but he soon realizes this may be a good idea and meets the guys family, whose wife instantly takes a dislike to him for some reason. He agrees to go to prison to repent for his sins and waits until the crime rate is so high that he’s released, it turns out the marketing execs wife is also like Hancock and the two were in fact bound for each other, the only last two of their kind because when the two of them join together their powers fade and they become mortal which is what everyone else had done.
She left him 80 years ago to find a new life for herself and hiding her abilities, the two of them being so close together once again causes the main antagonist of the film to take advantage and try to kill Hancock once and for all, he needs to somehow survive and carry on living so he can become the superhero everyone wants him to be.
Character’s;
John Hancock (Will Smith) – Named John Hancock because he can’t remember his name after being beaten up 80 years previously, someone at the hospital asked him for his John Hancock (signature) and took on that name ever since. Smith plays the usual funny Smith in this film but also has that talent to turn serious when he needs to. I love the character Hancock as it gives a different take on what a superhero is, no one knows why he chooses to save the world, he’d much rather sit on his ass and get drunk. There’s been rumoured a sequel, which is no surprise considering how well this movie performed.
Mary Embrey (Charlize Theron) – Rawr. That’s all I can say when describing Charlize Theron, probably one of the most beautiful actress’ in Hollywood today, she’s getting on a bit now though but only seems to get prettier with each passing year. Definitely needs to be my future wife. I’ve seen quite a few of her less popular films and a lot of her popular films and I’ve loved her performance in every one of them. She wasn’t great in this film but still did a good job.
Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman) – Hard to believe Bateman’s been acting for 30 years already, ever since he was a kid. Most child actors usually amount to nothing but he’s done well for himself, you’d have seen him in shows such as Arrested Development and Sit Down Shut Up and films such as, Up In The Air, Smokin’ Aces, Paul, Couples Retreat, he has a likeable way about him and has the potential for even bigger things in the future. Definitely look forward for more things from this actor.
Supporting the main three actors is Eddie Marsan as “Red” the antagonist of the film, with a film like this they really needed a bigger actor to play the bad guy and the bad guy needed a bigger role. His part in the film just seemed rushed and while he did the best with what was given his name just doesn’t give you the feeling that he could kill Hancock. I mean sure he’s been in Sherlock Holmes 1 & 2 and Snow White and the Huntsmen, and his other credits are well known films but his performance is forgettable. After Swordfish and remembering how Travolta is as a bad guy, imagine if he was the main antagonist in this film. Also Johnny Galecki from Big Bang Theory also makes a cameo appearance at some point in the film, always a pleasure to see his geeky face.
Overall Rating; I liked this film a lot, I’ve seen it several times, the soundtrack to this film is also pretty awesome, composed by John Powell whose resumé is vast. Though the film lets it self down in points, it could have been a lot longer than it was, I’d have added another hour to this easily, just to go more into the back story of the two characters, expand on Eddie Marsan’s role and character and make him more credible and rememberable rather than just some common crook that never had a chance of winning. The first half is perfect, the second half is rushed and it’s a real shame. I really do hope they make a sequel though and hopefully redeem themselves for the mistakes they made in this film. Still saying that, it’s still definitely worth watching and it’s still a good film. It just could have been so much more. 7/10
