CINEMA: Hancock

In recent years the superhero has undergone getting something of a makeover. These days he’s more likely to be a troubled character with a past that has scarred his thinking and his ability to connect with mere mortals than an upright, squeaky clean chap.

Hancock (Will Smith) is different again for he’s a superhero with an attitude problem brought on by what he perceives as mankind’s lack of appreciation for his daring deeds. You’re more likely to see Hancock blind drunk and unwashed than all done up in his superhero suit, slick and sober. But salvation lies in the hands of a PR guru, Ray (Jason Bateman) saved by Hancock from certain death. Ray’s a decent guy and decides to pay Hancock back by giving him a highly visual makeover, sending him to prison for his misdeeds in the belief that while he’s behind bars crime rates will rocket and soon the public will be begging for Hancock to come back and get the bad guys. However, Ray’s wife Mary (Charlize Theron) doesn’t seem all that keen on Hancock returning because she’s got a secret she doesn’t want anyone – most of all Ray – ever to find out.

This is the superhero genre played as comedy and director Peter Berg goes for the broadest laughs rather than for finesse or subtlety. Most of the time he manages to pull it off, especially when a boozed up Hancock is trying to nab the bad guys and drunkenly destroying half the city in the process. Brit actor Eddie Marsan turns up as the con who is out to get Hancock and gives a great performance, but Theron is underused and her ‘secret’ is pretty much broadcast from the first scene in which she meets Hancock, while Smith basically just reprises his Bad Boys persona – but in a beanie hat.     

Dee Pilgrim