"Call Me Asshole One More Time..." Or A More Realistic View On Superheroics.

[Major Spoiler Alert!!!]  Andy, this means you!!!  Go see the movie before reading this!

How long has it been since a superhero movie has come out that isn't based on a comic?  Answer: Never!(to my knowledge of course)  Hancock offers us one of the most original superhero stories in movie-going existence, and it isn't based on any comic book.  That's right, some Hollywood Exec. actually brainstormed this idea himself/herself (don't wanna sound sexist).  And it really delivers up to the hype.  It's one Helluvah movie.

Hancock(Will Smith)  is an unkempt, disheveled, bum of a man who just happens to have super powers.  In a rather unorthodox way, he more or less beats the bad guys and saves the day, all the while causing unimaginable property damage en route.  He's not liked by many and most think he needs to serve time for the reckless destruction he's caused while participating in his version of "heroics."  In comes public-relations spokesperson Ray Embray(Jason Bateman) who, after Hancock saves his life, finds a certain promise in him.  Seeking to make the public yearn for the heavily taken for granted Hancock, Ray concocts a scheme to make the people of Los Angeles miss their local hero.  He offers Hancock a chance to serve the time the public thinks he deserves so that after a while, when crime steadily begins to grow, he will be truly needed and his "calling" will be successfully fullfilled.  Hancock agrees and the plan works as expected, Los Angeles really does need a hero of super proportions.  Hancock is called out of jail to assist in a robbery/hostage situation in progress.  All goes well and Hancock successfully saves the day the way a real superhero should.  Meanwhile, there's something strange going on with Ray's wife Mary(Charlize Theron).  At the first site of Hancock from the very beginning, there is some unseen connection between the two.  Mary tries to avoid Hancock as much as possible for some unknown reason.  It isn't until a dinner one night between the three of them(Hancock, Mary and Ray) that both the audience and Hancock realize what's really going on.  Through a confrontation between Hancock and Mary we discover Mary has superpowers also.  The rest of the film chronicles the events depicting Hancock's origins and the link between both Mary and Hancock.

Just a few things starting off with this movie.  It's fairly predictable.  You can foresee Hancock in prison and even the eternal(and I mean eternal) bond between Hancock and Mary.  That is until about half-way through the movie.  Then there are plot twists unforeseeable to any nerd or movie critic alike.  It takes a 180 degree turn from any original plot and flips all early perceptions upside down.  Then it proceeds to brutally murder the perceptions and bury them in the back yard (talk about personification!).  Hancock turns from just your average super powered freak to a race of immortal, god-like beings, who, when they get too close to there equivalent opposite (i.e. Hancock to Mary), they lose their power and turn back into a mortal (did I not mention the Spoiler Alert earlier?).  My only complaint is that they rely too heavily on this eventual connection between the two too early in the film.  Half the shots of the first half are Charlize Theron with a near terrified look on her face from seeing Hancock (Not too subtle there is it?).  Oh, and the shots.  Most of the camera angles in this movie are shaky, steady-cam extreme close-ups.  Not that I don't like seeing all the pimples on Will Smith's face, it adds a hint of realism to the glitz and glamor of stardom, but I don't think that was the intended idea for whoever shot this.  But this isn't too bad a complaint, you easily get over it to be able to enjoy the movie.  What I did find really interesting about this movie is the amount of realism portrayed in how people would react to some super-powered freak of nature tearing up their city in order to get those pesky bad guys in jail.  Who would pay for the property damage if such an event would happen?  How would the public react to watching their city get torn to pieces?  Most superhero movies don't tell the publics opinion of it all, but this movie does (I can't tell if that's a good or bad thing.)!  Of course Will Smith's acting is second to none and the special effects are there and believable, so there really is nothing more to say.  This is one stupendous movie and if you have not seen it and are still reading this post, go out and watch it now.  I kind of forgot my grading scale so I'll give this film an A-.  There could be some adjustments, but overall it's entertaining and enjoyable, which is what the movie-going experience should be, right?

Hancock:  A-