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Sunday, July 06, 2008

Hancock

The Demon hated it, but I enjoyed the new Will Smith flick 'Hancock' last night.

The trailer had all the action, slap-stick, and comedy that I've come to expect from Hollywood's summer blockbuster movies, but it's not as simple as that. The trouble is that 'Hancock' doesn't really know what it's trying to be. It's not entirely an action film, it's not entirely a drama, and it's not entirely a comedy, it's a strange combination of all three. I have to admit that I'm still unsure whether that aspect of the movie really worked, but although it's unlikely to trouble anyone come the Oscars I enjoyed it nevertheless.

It's a good cast mix. I'll happily watch anything with uber babe Charlize Theron in it, and it's good to see more of Jason Bateman, but Will Smith just can't do any wrong as far as I'm concerned. He's great as the surly drunk super hero. In fact I can't really think of a movie in which Big Willie has disappointed. Sure, 'I, Robot' and 'Independence Day' were pretty ropey at best, and 'I Am Legend' was just rubbish, but it's never been Mr Smith's performance that let them down, just a lack of a decent adaptation of the original ideas. He's one of my favourite actors and I look forward to him getting some more parts that stretch his acting abilities as films like 'The Pursuit Of Happyness' and 'Ali' show that he's more than capable.

Overall I thought that the concept of a grumpy superhero that no one likes was original and well thought out, and it's refreshing to see a superhero movie that doesn't rely solely on the disease that is CGI to carry it, but I'd like to see the 30 minutes that were reputedly edited out of the second half of the film. They may tie up some of the loose ends that were left dangling, but no doubt the inevitable sequel will clear those up.

7.5/10

1 comment:

JW said...

Nice to hear you liked it, sir! Son and I found it thoroughly enjoyable and were disappointed by some of the negative reviews.

I think you're right: it doesn't really know what kind of film it is (it's certainly not just a comedy superhero flick) and that tends to confuse the reviewers!

I have to admit, though, I'm also hoping that missing 30 minutes appears on the DVD. Or maybe it's going to be left for the (yawn) sequel ...