Hancock

Will Smith is a superhero for the tabloid/TMZ-era in the heavily flawed but enjoyable superhero film, Hancock. It's truly amazing how year after year, movie after movie, people keep lining up to see his movies. He's the biggest box-office star of our time, and this is one of his biggest risks so far as an actor. He is playing an alcoholic bum, who just so happens to have superpowers.

Hancock has nothing going for him. He's homeless. He's an alcoholic. He has no family. Oh, and he's a superhero universally loathed by the public for his "heroics" that wreak havoc on the city of Los Angeles. So one day when he saves a public relations agent named Ray, Ray as a thank you offers to aid Hancock's image so he can, in terms, become a true superhero.

The film reportedly cost $150 million, and at the running time of 90 minutes, that means it costs $1.5 million per minute, or $25,000 per second. That's a big chunk of change, but at the very least it shows on screen, VERY easily. Will Smith as expected is the best part of the movie, and the action sequences are awesome, even though there really aren't that many.

But it's also so muddled and contrived, with the lamest twists at times. I didn't really buy the end, nor, well, anything in the last 20 minutes. But on the other hand, the first 45 minutes are some of the most inventive, funniest stuff put onto a movie screen this year. Charlize Theron doesn't add much as Ray's wife, and Jason Bateman continues his streak of good performances with this.

Hancock is good but it only achieves as much as you expect: Entertain you, make you laugh, and also confuse and frustrate you to no end. The problem is the first 45 minutes is a parody of the genre, but the last 45 minutes becomes the very thing it mocks. Forgettable, but enjoyable entertainment. C+