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

Directed by: Peter Berg

Sony Pictures

The Official Site of Hancock

Discuss Hancock on the boards!

When I first heard about the release date of the new movie Hancock, I literally gasped. It wasn’t just the fact that it was being built up as one of the summer’s biggest blockbusters or that its awesome cast and “superhero from a real world perspective� approach spoke to the geekiest side of me - It was because of a very specific star and very specific weekend the film was being released. July 4th weekend. Big Willy Weekend.

Some of you may be too young to remember the informal holiday that is Big Willy Weekend, a glorious time in the late 90’s when Will Smith starred in back-to-back mega hits (Independence Day and Men In Black) over the July 4th holiday. It didn’t matter that he coined the phrase himself or that he pushed his luck by trying to add the inferior Wild Wild West to the list the following year, Big Willy Weekend was something worth getting excited about.

After Wild Wild West the weekend was retired until 2002 when Men In Black 2 made Wild Wild West actually look good, but it’s probably for the best BWW went away for a few years. It gave Smith a chance to really spread his wings in movies like Ali and The Pursuit of Happyness and it let other movies take over America’s birthday. The fireworks looked a little less impressive last year following an afternoon of transforming cars. Still, there I was at work, checking my bookmarks in between e-mails, and I read the news that Smith was reclaiming the weekend with Hancock. That gasp I mentioned above really did happen, along with a quick call to my wife who, “didn’t care� and asked, “not to be bothered at work with crap that won’t even happen 6 months from now.�

I was still pretty excited, perhaps less than I’m implying, but I’d just seen I Am Legend and was eager to see how Smith would follow up this perfect blend of action and character. Hancock isn’t at the same level of achievement as Legend, it’s certainly got a little bit more of the Big Willy stank on it, but it’s a fitting film to bring back a holiday that I’ve sorely missed.

Now, to the untrained eye I’ve gone on for half the review avoiding the actual movie and focusing on a holiday as genuinely relevant as Groundhog’s Day. (The only good thing that day ever gave us was the movie. And an early summer I suppose…) The truth is though, I’ve just been stalling because there’s not too much about Hancock that I can tell you, all because of a big twist that I’ll dance around in a second.

You already know the basics of the story: Smith plays a bum with supernatural powers and a piss poor attitude. He either doesn’t want to be a hero or is just really bad at it. The movie takes a turn when Hancock crosses paths with Jason Bateman’s character, a PR rep set on releasing his potential and turning him into the great super hero he could be. The back-and-forth between these two in the first third of the film is pure crackling buddy comedy goodness at its best. Bateman’s dry humor and passion for saving the world play the perfect opposite to the extreme highs and lows of Smith’s unbalanced super sad sack. All with the backdrop of a character that can fling a whale 400 yards and take a full clip from an uzi to the face and just be upset about his ruined glasses.

Hancock’s past is a mystery. The last thing he remembers is waking up in a hospital 80 years ago with a fractured skull (This isn’t the twist). A little mystery can do wonders for a one-dimensional character but learning that he hasn’t aged a day since waking up 80 years ago explains a lot.

It’s the Superman complex, something a lot of Superman’s writer’s will tackle from time to time but never focus on to the extent that Hancock does. Basically Hancock is a God among men and because of that he is essentially alone. 80 years of being alone can take its toll on the best of us. It’s no wonder he’s a little crabby.

This alone is a great premise for a movie that gets even better with the introduction of a new element that I can’t really talk about. It’s a surprise not on the same scale of Bruce Willis being a ghost or Soylent Green being people but important and entertaining enough that you’d do yourself right to just avoid spoilers. All I can say about it is that, as good as it is, there’s not nearly enough of it. They give us a measly taste of what these characters and this adventure could be.

As well as the film works as a stand-alone origin of a superhero, I wanted more. They only scratch the surface of something that could be as interesting as the concept of a drunken superhero. – a gimmick so good that it got you in there in the first place. Unless of course you’re as big a sucker for Big Willy Weekend as I am.

The door is certainly left open for a sequel and judging by the buzz in the crowd that was leaving the theater, there’s definitely a market for it. I’m just not so sure it would work. I’m not so sure it’s necessary. Hancock is a self-contained story. A new look at something we've gotten familiar with. It doesn't need a sequel. I left the theater entertained and thirsty for more. That’s the first rule of show business after breaking legs and not saying, “MacBeth� out loud. It’s the perfect way to end it. It’s the Big Willy way to end it.

Actually the Big Willy way to end it is to make a crappy sequel in three years that will have us begging for morphing robots to reclaim the weekend.

Rating: 7 out of 10 - I think Hancock works on more levels than it doesn’t. Part of me left a little frustrated that they wouldn’t commit to certain aspects of the character. They wouldn’t explain the past as specifically as I would of liked. Another part of me realizes that it’s not necessary for me to know the gritty details in order to enjoy this specific adventure. I don’t need to know whom Hancock really is to enjoy him flying through a billboard on his latest drunken chase.

It’s worth mentioning that Hancock was directed by Peter Berg who is on fire these days. With each film he does he’s changing themes, diversifying and raising his game. After last falls The Kingdom (Also with Bateman and Oscar winner Jamie Fox) and now Hancock, Berg is poising himself to be a real force in Hollywood. He’s even got a Dune remake lined up for 2010. That’s awesome!

I could go either way with this. It honestly depends on how much they reveal on the DVD. I want more so if they can promise more then chances are my curiosity will get the better of me I’ll be headed to Circuit City. Of course I could probably get those answers by reading the original screenplay, but who’s got that kind of time?

This comic is my homage to Big Willy Weekend. For the record, Irv and I are watching Kate and Leopold in panel 2… just because… and I actually don’t hate Wild Wild West as much as the rest of the world. I even own it because it’s one of those movies so universally hated that the price often drops so low it’s cheaper to buy it than rent it. I don’t love the movie but giant mechanical spiders aside, there’s some cool stuff going on. “Wicky wicky wild wild west!�

Disaster Movie - The teaser trailer for Disaster Movie ran before Hancock in our theater and the audience was freaking out. In a positive way... Well, most of them were anyway.

My wife Yeo wasn't. Sometimes I have doubts about the kind of movies she likes, I mean, she giggled straight through the trailer for Beverly Hills Chihuahua, but I couldn't have been happier when she turned to me after the Disaster Movie trailer and said, "What the hell is wrong with these people?"

I'm not sure if she was talking about the lapdog audience that was laughing at every random recognizable character, or the uncreative people that made the movie but I couldn't have loved her more at that moment.

Disaster Movie looks terrible but a lot of these modern spoof movies do, and while there are something like 7 done per year (This is number 3 for 2008 by my count) there is the occasional one that's not half bad. I was really impressed by the non-sucking qualities of Superhero Movie due out on DVD tomorrow. While they definitely played the game by including 30 too many pop culture references than were necessary, they also managed to assemble their own story, characters and (most importantly) jokes.

Disaster's teaser gives me little hope it will be one of the ones that works, and the synopses on the site is even more grim. Instead of telling us what the story is about they just list the movies and celebrities they're lampooning. These things are junked together so fast though that I'm guessing there probably isn't much of a story at all. We'll see.

Hey, I hope everyone had a great Big Willy Weekend, and that your summer is going well so far! I owe a couple of people shout outs for both participating in the “Missing Hat� game and for just shoving some of the JLCM characters into their work. First up is Dennis over at Maskerman who included my missing hat and my not-so-missing glasses into one of his recent strips. Thanks for playing the game Dennis and keep up the great work on the Maskerman!

Bob from Think Tank, who is normally a regular friendly face at Wizard World Chicago, sent me a link to one of his recent strips in which he recounts a real life conversation he had with Irv at last years show. I was there and it was totally as creepy as it sounds. Thanks for the shout out Bob, and make sure you get yourself to Wizard World next year!

Lastly, something non-hat and non-guest comic related, I’ve been quoted in this article about the future of movie theaters, as was Gordon from Multiplex. It raises an interesting question to a problem that’s steadily been getting worse and worse over the last few years. Home theater technology is catching up with the theatrical set-ups faster than you can say microwave popcorn. I for one think that nothing can replace the movie-going experience, but swing by and have your say in the matter.

Speaking of Gordon, don’t forget to stop by tonight at 10pm for the latest edition of The Triple Feature where Gordon, Tom and I will be talking in depth about Hancock as well as some spoiler talk about the amazing offerings from last week, Wanted and Wall-E.

Thanks so much fro reading, guys!