Hancock

It's the latest vehicle for Will Smith, it's a drama/comedy, it's a superhero movie that in many other movies would have ended half-way, it's an entertaining watch, it's... Hancock!

It has often been said that superhero fiction is the hardest to sell, although this is written fiction, not viewed fiction. Certainly Marvel are making their mint, but with using known characters. For Hancock, this is an entirely new superhero set-up, not based on any graphic novels or comics or books or TV series or... anything! Way-hey! An actual original superhero concept... what a scoop!

(Well, not that entirely original. He has flight and superstrength and invulnerability... fairly standard powers to be honest, but, hey, it's not Marvel or DC or anything, so that's good.)

The main point is, of course, that Hancock isn't liked. (I'm presuming you've seen trailers, so nothing is revealed here.) And the movie becomes about rehabilitating Hancock's image... only, there is more than just that, but that I won't discuss. The other aspect is something different (although still a steal from other sources), and it's nice to see something else being brought into play in this movie. Certainly made me wonder where the movie was going, and that was something good.

Will Smith is great in the main role (and Hancock didn't spout on about using e-meters to clean himself up), but I didn't recognise Charlize Theron until I saw the credits (and stay for those). Jason Bateman plays a good good guy, and there are moments where it could have gone terribly maudlin, but they stay away from that line.

Definitely a movie to check out, and one that doesn't entirely fall into the usual superhero cliches of the moment.

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