Hancock (2008)

Genre: Action/Fantasy/Drama/Romance

Starring: Will Smith, Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman, Eddie Marson

Everyone has seen the invincible super hero who brings an end to evil and saves the world, but who is gonna tell you the other side of the story? John Hancock (Smith) is man with super-human strength, can fly, can easily regenerate and is an alcoholic. Unlike the conventional super heroes, Hancock is hated by the citizens of LA for the collateral destruction he causes while trying to nab the bad guys and everyone wishes he would just leave. John is not particularly fond of the public himself and openly hates them back. Ray Embrey (Bateman) is a PR consultant who is struggling to get a good pitch across to his clients when he suddenly finds himself in a life-threatening situation and is saved at the very last minute by Hancock. Although he does also derail an entire freight train, Ray wants to thank him for saving his life and realises that if he could, as a PR consultant, change the way people look at him, he would not only repay Hancock but also give a huge boost to his struggling career. This idea does not go down well with Ray's wife Mary (Theron) and takes a little bit more than just convincing John to listen to him. The movies attempt at projecting a different super hero than what one reads in comic books is achieved to a certain degree but is still not perfect. Lose ends and some unanswered questions continue but the movie might not have been made for awards and is more focused towards pure entertainment. It does deliver action-packed performances, destructive scenes and the typical Will Smith humour and if it this that you need then that is what you will get. Don't expect anything more.

Thumbs up: Entertaining, a non-conventional super hero

Thumbs down: Lose, loses traction after a while

Rating: 6.0/10