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SYNOPSIS:
Academy Award® nominee Will Smith (Best Actor, The Pursuit
of Happyness, 2006) stars in this action-packed comedy as
Hancock, a sarcastic, hard-living and misunderstood superhero
who has fallen out of favor with the public. When Hancock
grudgingly agrees to an extreme makeover from idealistic publicist
Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman, Juno), his life and reputation
rise from the ashes and all seems right again--until he meets
a woman (2003 Academy Award® winner Charlize Theron, Best
Actress, Monster) with similar powers to his and the key to
his secret past.
MOVIE
REVIEW
Whatever the fresh prince of Bel-Air touches nowadays,
it turns into gold. From "Bad Boys" to "Men
In Black" to serious drama such as "The Pursuit
of Happyness" and back to popcorn indulgences "I
Am Legend", Smith is on a winning track.
But
the man has never steps into the shoes of a comic book hero
before until now. Strictly speaking, "Hancock" is
not based on a Marvel or DC property so Smith is playing a
totally fresh character with extraordinary powers, the likes
of Superman without the detestable Kryptonite. He is "Hancock",
a Superhero with a drinking problem, foul-mouth, destroys
public properties, in short an asshole.
When
Hancock saved the life of a PR man named Ray (Jason Bateman),
he voluntarily suggests he be the one to salvage Hancock’s
image. He brought Hancock back to his home, introduce him
to his lovely wife Mary (Charlie Theron) and son and well,
I leave the second half to your viewing pleasure.
The
first half of the movie is rib-tickling and a shameless showcase
of what Sony Imageworks can accomplish. It’s a witty
satire on the Superhero genre. Will Smith once again prove
he can be an excellent leading man given his wide range of
expressions and charisma to carry a movie. Director Peter
Berg who directed the "The Kingdom" and "The
Rundown" shows audience a different side of a Superhero,
the serious consequences of being one in a real world.
But
unfortunately the script chicken out at the last minute and
make a 180 degrees u-turn into a tragic Greek love story before
ending with a huge bang in a hospital. "Hancock"
fulfills its mission as a summer blockbuster but as a thinking
man action hero movie (insert: The Dark Knight), Hancock still
has a long way to go.
Disc
One of the DVD contains both the theatrical and unrated version
of "Hancock". The former runs at 92 minutes while
the unrated clocks at 102 minutes - A mere 10 minutes difference.
One obvious add-on includes a scene of Hancock getting intimate
with a woman, additional dialogue pertaining to Charlie Theron’s
character and the final hospital sequence being longer. No
alternate ending or opening here and the unrated doesn’t
add much mileage to the original theatrical version.
If
you are going for "Hancock 2-Disc Unrated Special"
DVD, just go straight to the unrated version, you have nothing
to lose anyway.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
The commentary track is surprisingly missing here,
what we have are various short features including:
Superhumans: The Making of Hancock –
This 12 minutes featurette has the cast and crew including
Akiva Goldsman, Michael Mann, Will Smith and Charlize Theron
heaping praises and patting each other’s back.
Seeing
the Future - 7 sequences lasting a total of about
15 minutes are shown comparing the actual shooting with the
Pre-vis.
Building
A Better Hero – Touches on John Dykstra, the
industry veteran visual effects supervisor who created the
digital version of Hancock with the help of his crew.
Bumps
And Bruises – Not exactly Jackie Chan stuff
but Will Smith proves he can handle being rigged and pulled
by hydraulics in this 10 minutes stunt featurette.
Home
Life – Though it doesn’t look so, the
house where Jason Bateman’s character lives is built
on the Universal Backlot. This informative feature takes us
behind-the-scenes of furnishing the interior and exterior
of it.
Suiting
Up – This 8 minutes feature hosted by the costume
designer delves on the various costumes designed for the lead
characters in Hancock.
Mere
Mortals: Behind the scenes with "Dirty Pete"
– A short 3 minutes feature that showcases the hyperactive
Peter Berg behind the camera.
The
DVD is round up with trailers from Step Brothers,
Pineapple Express, The House Bunny, Lakeview Terrace and Nick
& Norah’s Infinite Playlist.
Disc
Two also contains a digital copy of the theatrical
version of the film meaning you can legally download it to
your PDA, iPhone or laptop and watch it on the go though I
still don’t see the benefits of squinting at the small
screen on the train or bus.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
My
fellow reviewer lament that Hancock is too noisy for comfort
during his stint for the theatrical review. But the Dolby
Digital 5.1 here is excellent and dynamic especially during
the action sequences be it the car crash in the beginning,
the bank robbery or the hospital attack. Peter Berg wanted
Hancock to look gritty, rough which explains the quality of
the visual differs from scene to scene. Not the perfect DVD
to showcase the visual clarity but nevertheless competent
enough to make you sit up for 102 minutes.
MOVIE RATING:
 
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Linus Tee
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