Customer Reviews

Hancock (Rated)

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(39)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

If you like superhero films like the Fantastic Four, Spiderman, Daredevil, Ghost Rider, or any of the other Marvel ilk then don't buy Hancock.

This movie has a tremendous amount of humor-- how many other superheroes do you know of that gets sued and arrested for all the damage that gets caused by crime fighting? And Hancock does do a lot of damage; sometimes it seems, just for the hell of it.

But the biggest difference-- the one that a lot of people who are fond of mindless superhero origins-- is that Hancock's background is both unique and touching, so we not only have a superhero but also something of a tragic hero. In this movie, the hero doesn't get the girl, but in this case, that's a good thing. Hancock is the superhero, but his pal Ray is subtly heroic in his own way and that adds a bit of pathos not usually found in movies of this type, yet it all works out in the end.

This is a darn good movie, though badly underrated by people stuck in the Marvel mold who can't think outside the box. If you want a superhero movie that goes beyond the usual tripe, you really should see this one. Trust me, you'll love it. :-)

Ron

Hancock wasn't the superhero movie that changed the genre like the studio's claimed, but it was good, solid entertainment. The theatrical release of the movie was rated PG-13 in order to draw the largest crowd to the box office. What you are getting here is both the R version and the released PG-13 version. The only real difference is ten extra minutes of footage here and there and a good deal more foul language from the Hancock character. Now that we got the "Unrated" question out of the way lets get down to the movie.

Hancock is one of those antihero-turned-hero type movies where you see the title character be all antisocial and then eventually learns how to respect others and be respected. Will Smith is definitely a great actor for the role. He gives the character just enough smug attitude without hamming it up. Will had gone a long way from the cut up hero he was in movies like Independence Day and MIB. He also does a good job with the transition of the character going from jerk to hero with all the awkwardness that anybody deals with when trying to change their way of thinking.

The plot progression of Hancock going from zero to hero is impeccable (love the jail time Hancock has to go through). Jason Bateman as Hancock's new PR guy pulls it off with the finesse of being straight man to Smith's antics and the comic foil when Will is playing it straight. Good chemistry with the two. I was surprised at Charlize Theron's performance to the point I didn't really recognize her. I won't say she's Oscar winning material here, but she does play her character right.

Now the story chugs along great up until you get maybe 2/3rd's in when the plot twists come regarding Hancock's origins. Eventually it's ironed out and his whole origin makes some good story sense, but before getting there you have to deal with a big, spectacular and utterly useless fight scene that seems to just be put in to add more action and show off more special effects. When they do finally dispense with the nonsense of that scene things get back on track with what I consider a pretty satisfying conclusion.

The funny thing about this movie is at times you have to just suspend your disbelief farther than normal on a superhero movie in order to let this movie play out some of its jokes. In other words Hancock will do something outrageous and technically impossible just to get a laugh out of the audience. Just roll with it. It's not often and at least they are pretty funny if you let go of the laws of physics, biology and so forth.

The additional footage in this movie boils down to an opening scene with Hancock scaring some girl he tried picking up at a bar, the aforementioned cussing from Hancock (not way too gratuitous... at least not enough to detract from character) and a few little scenes that add some details here and there. No nudie scenes other than Will's butt shot that made the final cut or added violence. Nothing that would ban the movie from theaters at all.

The features on this special edition are... well... okay. Nothing to really write home about. You get over an hour's worth of content spread out over six mini-documentaries and one kinda big one, plus other blu-ray related features and a digital copy for portables. I noticed there are no commentaries on this special edition. That's kinda strange since I don't see why they couldn't just put a microphone in front of the director and some actors and other crew members to make one or two. This is supposed to be the full production version, after all. Here is a breakdown of the featurettes:

On Set Visual Diary - A picture-in-picture view of production you can see while watching the movie if your Blu-Ray player has the profile version 1.1 or better.

Superhumans: The Making of Hancock (approx 13 minutes) - Mainly interviews of the cast and crew, including details on the origin story and how it evolved.

Seeing the Future (approx. 15 minutes) - Pre-visualization sequences for some key scenes.

Building a Better Hero (approx. 15 minutes) - A special effects featurette.

Bumps and Bruises (approx 10 minutes) - Another special effects featurette focussed on some key scenes.

Mere Mortals (approx 3 minutes) - A snipped on director Peter Berg. Supposed to be funny.

Home Life (Approx 11 minutes) - Behind the scenes look at the house sets.

Suiting Up (approx 8 minutes) - Costumes featurette.

BDLive - For BR players with 2.0 profile or better. Connects you to a special Sony website for trailers and possibly additional content later on.

D-Box equipped - For those people with those crazy chairs that move around with the movie.

All of the featurettes save for the picture-in-picture stuff is all 1080p. It's getting old seeing these studios make several little making of documentaries when they can just put together a single big documentary covering all of the details. I guess they prefer many little ones because it looks better on the back of the packaging when it shows a lot of features. Be forewarned that those features are pretty short.

Being a Blu-Ray release you can expect full 1080p resolution. From what I have heard the high def really stands out in the scenes that have a slower pace while the crazy action scenes (like that useless one I mentioned before) don't really benefit from the treatment. Audio is Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless and I hear that while it's not going to top the best reference movies out there it's still an amazing experience.

Hancock is definitely a worthwhile superhero movie that takes a different slant on the genre, but doesn't turn it on its ear. Any superhero fan should be able to have a lot of love for this movie. Action fans will get a kick out of it too as well as comedy and sci-fi fans. As long as you can suspend your disbelief a little more than normal for the sake of humor and can forgive an awkward scene or two Hancock is the movie for you. This BR edition? Well it has the most features on any at this time. They may pull a double dip in a year or two and add some extras. Then again BDLive may future-proof that purchase for you.

I don't know what others expect of this movie but I thought it was good! Will Smith rarely disappoints and 'Hancock' is certainly no exception. Is it because there is a great story but it's not necessarily a non-stop action flick? This movie delivers on so many fun levels and I think it is really balanced well. It's not perfect but perfection is quite rare. Regardless, this movie is fun entertainment.

Director Peter Berg, who last brought us The Kingdom, dip into with plenty of technology to bring us a man who can fly, possess incredible strength and being invulnerable to bullets. What I'd enjoyed about his take on this superhero movie, is that he didn't find a need to explain everything in verbatim, i.e. what are the powers he possess, where did he come from, and so on. sure they are addressed, but there's no need for putting it in your face, which I suspect lesser directors would have filmed flashbacks, origin subplots, enemies who are megalomaniacs who want to conquer the universe, and so on. They can be mentioned in passing, or a glance, or to let it work it out in your imagination, which of course is a powerful tool. And keeping it simple helped too, as I was really thrilled at how effective, and deceptively simple, its crescendo was developed, that it's tough to fight back tears as it goes for the juggernaut to reach out for your emotions.

Will Smith and Charlize Theron being their full spectrum of experience to the screen and definitely do not leave this film lacking in emotion. Hancock contains an even mix of comedy, romance, and action and fully delivers as an unorthodox action superhero film. The one annoyance to the film is Jason Bateman's similar acting style in Hancock to his character in Arrested Development. Though his acting is fitting for his role in Hancock, it is also very stereotypical for Bateman and comes of a bit irritating when the movie includes stills of Bateman's facial expressions that are identical to his expressions in Arrested Development.

Hancock is fun, anti-cliché movie with some crude elements to make people like me smile every now and then. Don't judge it as a masterpiece, because it never tried to be one in the first place.

In many ways, this ecological horror epic is one of the single nastiest and downright terrifying pieces of popular entertainment I've seen in ages. In others, it is an unfocused jumble that's too on the nose featuring stilted dialogue bordering on the Lucas-ian that's often times unintentionally hilarious. Overall, it leaves a decidedly sour taste in your mouth when all is said and done, yet the pieces that work do so with such amazing brilliance that much of the bitterness only lasts about the time it takes to get inside your car.

In the same way contemporary "graphic novels" are not the comic books of 1950, Hancock is not a superhero-movie like Chistopher Reeves' Superman of the 1970s & 80s.

Hancock is the graphic novel version of an immortal, physically invulnerable, superstrong, flying madman. His physical attributes outfit him for hero status, but his mental & emotional instability don't.

As a non-category movie, Hancock almost became a non-starter. If it weren't for Will Smith's univeral appeal -- it probably would have been. But as a movie-going public, we know that we will pretty much always be entertained by this guy. And it turns out to be true. In what is ultimately a tragic-hero role, we are entertained. We laugh at his super alcoholism. We laugh at his super social failings. We laugh at his super amnesia and his super bad judgement.

But we also recognize that he didn't put on the suit the way Clark Kent did -- for truth, justice, and the American Way. He wasn't looking for his 15 minutes of fame, or a place in the DC Hall of Fame. He was wallowing just like Joe-down-the-street wallows. That he happens to be able to fly is almost irrelevent except for its comic value.

While Superman and Batman are part of our collective All-American mythos, Hancock (with his all-too-American name) really isn't. Hancock is a representative of the more global "we're all cut from the same cloth" religion. Hancock is the flipside of Smith's role in Independence Day -- the American hero who saves the world. If you didn't read it at the time, you need to know that most of the world snorted a good laugh at our cinematic arrogance over that one. By the time Independence Day came out, our military supremacy, and America-saves-the-world cocky-ness were both wearing thin. The idea that only we, in the bowels of Area 51, could come up with a plan to rescue all those other poor, blundering slobs in Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, and South American was the biggest ego-folly of the century, and the biggest joke of that otherwise fireworks show movie.

Hancock is completely devoid of the cocky American attitude. The only sign of even pro-American heroism is in the REALLY heroic goodness of Jason Bateman's character who sets about to help Hancock out of the American gutter. What Hancock does have, finally, is humility and self sacrifice -- far better commodities to be pushing as super-heroic.

For those indulging in super-hero bashing -- you wern't watching the movie you paid to see. You were watching for the movie you expected to see. Which is sad, really. If you'd been paying attention, you'd have seen a graphic novel onscreen about what America needs to be to reclaim its super-hero status. But since that doesn't involve bellowing super-music, or CGI'd miracles, it might be too subtle for some.

Hancock was gripping, heartfelt, and totally unexpected. It has the perfect amount of action, comedy & suprises. Will Smith doesn't disappoint. I highly recommend seeing this movie.

Have seen Will Smith since his first commercials for "The Fresh Prince..." and was immediately struck by the talent. He has done a lot of great work, and, with all of the genre has had his bad ones. This movie, however, was such a simple minded, disconnected mess, that the only thing worth watching was the HD and if someone other then Mr. Smith had been the driver in the "plot" the whole thing would have been an inglorious spoof of really bad movies. Let's hope he'll do something soon that showcases the talent and not just his boxoffice draw.

This is a slightly confusing film because it doesn't seem to have a clear idea as to what it is or who it's aimed at. There's even a question mark in my mind as to why it needed to be made at all, because although it offers a slightly left-field take on superhero movies (Hancock is no Clark Kent - he's a miserable, foul-mouthed drunk) it seems to unintentionally be a spoof of all the superhero films ever made without actually offering any satire. The flying thing - well, that's Superman of course. Stopping a huge train reminded me of a similar stunt pulled off by the Fantastic Four's The Thing. There are references in the dialogue to Batcaves and Wolverine. Yet there's very little to laugh out loud at, just the occasional chuckle, and in any case if would flatter it to call it a comedy-something. Of course there's action, 90% of which comes courtesy of sometimes average CGI; even in high-definition it was a bit blurred because, I guess, the film-makers didn't invest the time and money needed to get the very best cutting edge high-tech people and equipment. That's a serious shortcoming in a film which obviously depends on special effects to make it special.

The talky stuff between the action will send most 15-year-olds to sleep, partly because half way through, the film takes a left turn and tries to offer some explanations as to what's behind Hancock's superpowers and spends too much time on it to be of value. This should have been all action and little else, the serious stuff nullified it however.

So it's kind of a spoof that isn't a spoof, an action blockbuster with some low-rent effects and some twists and turns that it didn't really need to make. I think the best target-market for this kind of film would be those who enjoyed Spider-Man, already in its third production with a fourth due in 2011; I rather doubt that there will be a Hancock 2. If there is, I will definitely give it a miss.

As for the Blu-Ray side of things, I didn't think that this was a film that noticably benefited from such added clarity and enhanced audio effcts, indeed on occasions I wondered if I was watching a normal SD version. Charlize Theron did look lovely though.

I think the rating of 15 should be respected, not just for the violence but more so for the coarse language. There are much worse out there, but this was a strange mixture of a story that should have appealed to kids of 10 or thereabouts (the age of a key supporting character) but I personally don't think it's suitable.

On my disc there were a total of four runs of the whole film - the theatrical version, an unrated version, and then the same choice with an in-picture running commentary of how various scenes were prepared for and filmed etc. The trailers for other films were all manually selected from a menu, a welcome change from having them force-fed before the main presentation. There were some downloads too, which possibly vary from time to time. I chose a download of a recent (May 2009) film called Obsessed but it was nothing that interesting.

Will Smith seems to be trying hard to take on as many varied roles as he can and I suppose he should be commended for having the adaptability to front films such as Ali, Seven Pounds , The Pursuit of Happyness and I, Robot (to name just four of his twenty cinematic releases to date). Hancock won't be his greatest legacy though, even if he did pocket $80 million for it. He is, after all, the highest paid actor in Hollywood. he's much better suited to Bad Boys 2 for this kind of thing - an action blockbuster that does what it says on the tin.

Awesome movie, great take on what it could be like to be a superhero, great effects, blu-ray of course helps. will smith is great. plot twists great also.

John Hancock (Will Smith) is a former superhero with superhuman powers has became a drunken and unlikable slob to the public. He has been causing accidents and damages that the public demands that he gets help right away, he gets help from publicist Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman) and his lovely wife (Charlize Theron) whom happens to be a secret superheroine with powers similar to Hancock's as our hero gets into rehab. But when he gets back on his feet, he is prepared to fight crime and save everyone's lives.

Interesting and funny superhero comedy fantasy from director Peter Berg is one of the most original and interesting superhero movies in a long time. Sure some parts are slow and there's some holes in the plot, but this is a solid movie with good performances especially the lovely Charlize Theron as the superheroine that becomes Hancock's friend, there is some nice visual effects and action sequences. It's sort of a tribute to Richard Donner's Superman movies but only with a comical modern twist, recommended.

This Blu-Ray has awesome picture and sound with the unrated version with scenes that were not seen in the original theatrical cut. There's some cool featurettes, digital copy of the film and of course a Blu-ray exclusive that is a on-set viusal diary bonus view picture-in-picture track.

Also recommended: "Superman 1 & 2", "Superman Returns", "Spider-Man Trilogy", "BlankMan", "The Incredibles", "Batman Begins", "The Dark Knight", "X-Men Trilogy", "Akira", "Ghostbusters 1 & 2", "Sin City", "Bad Santa", "Heavy Metal", "Daredevil", "The Fifth Element", "Batman (1989)", "Batman Returns", "The Incredible Hulk (2008)", "Hulk", "Ghost Rider", "Iron Man", "Batman (1966)".

This movie is odd..!!!

It starts out with a bang, making you feel engaged in it. Then about halfway through it, it changes direction drastically - I won't reveal how - but unfortunately it's not for the better. The second half left me bored and somewhat frustrated with the storyline.. almost like they changed the creative staff out midway through the shooting of it.

It definitely lives up to my BluRay demands on a technical level, only sad thing is, the story is so messed up...!