Hancock
Category: Movies & TV
Will Smith is one of my favorite actors. He has come from TV nerd (Fresh Prince of Bel Air) to heavyweight silver screen icon and yet, unlike so many actors who get to his status, he continually gives great performance after great performance. For example: who can remain unmoved by his performances in The Pursuit of Happyness and Seven Pounds, and how many of us were left with bated breath after his performance in I Am Legend? Heck, I even liked him in M.I.B, I Robot, and Independence Day.
I began watching Hancock believing it to be a high octane superhero flick. I expected my senses to be “rocked” with tons of explosions and non-stop action of the Die Hard kind. What I can confirm is that it is a superhero action flick… of sorts. Much like I Am Legend was less horror movie and more character study, Hancock too goes for a character study of sorts, and asks, “what would it really be like to be a superhero?”
There’s much to like in this movie. The acting is excellent, the action sequences are intense, and there are some good moral points made. However, the movie does contain some unnecessary crudity and bad language, including the Lord’s name being taken in vain, and there are some major plot holes in the story.
The movie opens with a high speed car chase involving some baddies , who are packing some serious firepower, and the police. Into the scene flies a drunk Hancock, who through a series of comic turns, catches the bad guys, but causes almost $10 million worth of damage in the process. To cut to the chase, the city of Los Angeles sues Hancock for all the damage he has done, which over time has amounted to tens of millions of $’s. He is incarcerated, that is until the chief of police calls for his help. To be honest, the story was quite simple, and although there was some decent plot developments, I couldn’t help but feel that they were trying too hard to pack too much into a movie that could have/should have been more of a special effects laden action extravaganza. Let’s be brutally honest, who cares about the personal lives of the superhero? All I want is some pure escapism for a couple of hours – if I wanted a movie that makes me think, I’ll watch something like the afore mentioned movie, The Pursuit of Happyness.
Hancock wasn’t a total loss, however. I did appreciate that the movie shows Hancock making a proactive decision to seek help and get straight, which was a big part of the story. The turnaround in his life was remarkable and did get me to thinking that it’s a shame more people don’t make that kind of transformation in their own lives, including many Christians. The effects were awesome and there are some great action sequences with some big explosions, and the actors did a great job with the material they had to work with. I just wanted less, and more, if you can understand that?
Bottom line: Will Smith gives another great performance, although nowhere near as good as his protrayal of Robert Neville in I Am Legend. However, I was disappointed with Hancock, much like I was disappointed with The Dark Knight, although for very different reasons. Maybe I just expected too much (darn those expectations). I had gone in thinking I was going to watch something with the action of Transformers with plenty of comedy and thrills thrown in for good measure – in short, a summer comedy/action blockbuster. However, Hancock was a somewhat lackluster and confusing movie, that takes itself too seriously in places and falls short of being the movie it could have been.
Not recommended for younger audiences for language and for suggestive and crude scenes.
Christian St John M.Div, BChM, ACS
April, 2009
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I think mentioning the lord’s name being taken in vein alienates a non Christian viewer; Christians I know tend to blaspheme just as much as my non Christian friends. What’s the difference? I don’t see any. Apart from them being able to be judgemental and back it up with biblical references which I find slightly annoying and patronising.
Everyone is a sinner, and I consider myself to be a pretty good person… I have a wonderful girlfriend and child, I have a good job and I’m very happy. What’s bad about that? Socially some Christians are living in the dark ages and to be called a sinner and pretty much branded as a follower of Satan is extreme, just because I’m not in wedlock with my partner. A legal agreement on server somewhere is all marriage is. I’m just as loving and committed to my partner as anyone, one day I will get married but for me it’s not essential, its about how I feel.
If Christians want to reach people maybe they should stop scaring them and start being more human, more socially aware, more humble. Choice isn’t about God or Satan it’s about human nature a chemical reaction in your brain.
Hey James, I don’t know what to make of your comment. Are you slamming me for saying that this movie contains language and content I don’t personally like? I appreciate your comment that Christian’s use bad language. This is very much true for some believers – I’ve even been known to drop a few “F” bombs now and then. But this is just a movie review. Nothing more, nothing less. There’s no nefarious plan or intention with my comment – I included this comment to inform my readers of content they might find offensive, that’s all.
As to the rest of your feedback, I also appreciate that people are people, and I believe, as do many Christian’s, that we are all sinners in need of God’s grace. I would never call someone who isn’t “saved” a satanist or even a sinner. God’s loves all people and if we look at Jesus’ example the only people he really had a problem with weren’t the “sinners,” but the religious elite, those who lorded it over the “lesser” people.
I get the feeling that you’re tired of all the hypocrisy and lies that come from so called believers. So am I. The point of this site is to try and keep it real while maintaining a relationship with Jesus. Someone once said it this way, “Feet on earth, head in heaven.”
I pray that you will see that HardcoreFaith.com is not about causing division or separation, it’s about the journey of faith that I find myself on, a journey I feel God wants me to share with anyone who will listen (or read).