I have to admit to watching the trailers for Hancock when it was released at the cinema and slavering with anticipation. A drunk incompetent super-hero just sounded like a fantastic comedy concept and as a fan of Will Smith back in his Fresh Prince days, I know that he can do a good turn at comedy. I was therefore thrilled, having missed it at the cinema, to get the opportunity to review the Blu Ray and we find two films rolled into one.
First the plot, Hancock (Will Smith) is a man with super powers. He can fly, has super strength and is bullet-proof, but he has no memory as to how he got these powers. He’s also drunk most of the time. It seems that, when he can be bothered, he will try and help out the human race, but in his own, often insensitive, way. After trying to help out during a police chase, Hancock does indeed catch the bad guys, but he also does millions of dollars worth of damage in the process. Public opinion starts to go against Hancock, they don’t see the crime he stops, they just see the mayhem he causes in the process.
Enter Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman), a PR specialist trying to make a difference in the world. On the way back from a disastrous meeting he gets stranded on some rail tracks with a huge freight train bearing down on him. At the last minute Hancock rescues Ray and rather abruptly stops the train, causing a huge pile-up of freight cars. Instead of applauding Hancock’s life saving, the crowd turn on him for the damage he’s caused. Ray, as a PR person, sees an opportunity in Hancock. He can help him be a better, and much more loved, person and for him to make a difference in the world. As Ray invites Hancock into his life he starts to mellow, Ray’s son is a big fan of Hancock’s and there’s a strange, possibly sexual, tension between Hancock and Ray’s wife, Mary (Charlize Theron).
The first half of the film, in which we’re introduced to Ray, Hancock and his drunken exploits pretty much live up to the comedy that I was expecting. At some point in a movie with a super-hero, you have to introduce a threat. The second half of the film sees the introduction of this threat and Hancock dealing with it. The film makers could have gone with the same tone for the second half and played it for laughs, or, as in this case, they could have taken it down a more serious path, turning the film into a comedy-drama. Through his journey Hancock starts to learn about his origins and his weakness becomes apparent. Can Hancock be a better, more sober, super-hero?
If you go into this film expecting and out and out comedy then you’re going to be disappointed. In the first half there are some very funny moments and I’m not sure whether I would’ve preferred they kept this tone, or taken it darker, which they have. The main threat to Hancock wasn’t introduced and explained very well and didn’t really seem that significant. In the end through, due to Hancock’s weakness, they do prove dangerous, but that was more through luck on their part than anything they did to make Hancock weak.
The director, Peter Berg, injects pace into the film which sits well with the more serious second half. Smith is excellent, both as the drunk bum of a super-hero and as the reformed, but slightly uneasy at dealing with people, Hancock that Ray turns him into. Charlize Theron is also very good in this and the tension between her character and Hancock is palpable from their first meeting. Jason Bateman’s star continues to rise once more and he puts in a good turn as the do-gooding Ray.
The Blu Ray from Sony is another very good 2.35:1 1080p AVC MPEG-4 transfer. The image is nice and sharp with excellent detail, in some early close-ups of Hancock’s unshaven face you can pretty much see every pore in his face. This isn’t reference quality, but it’s definitely in the very good picture quality camp. On the sound front we’re Sony have given us a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English track that really shines during the action scenes. The early freeway chase stood out in particular, the surround effect was superb and the depth of sound really recreated that cinema experience.
In terms of extras we have a picture in picture behind the scenes affair instead of a commentary and while it is interesting, it would have been nice to have the commentary on top of it. Several other featurettes have the usual interviews with cast and crew and go through the process of bringing the film to realization. There’s an interesting feature on the stuntwork of Hancock and how much Smith managed to do himself. Other short features go through location and set building and Hancock’s costume design. This is a BD-live disc, but the BD-live functions weren’t working at the time of review. Interestingly when you boot the disc up you’re asked to choose between two versions of the film, theatrical and unrated. There’s an extra sequence in the unrated that sees Hancock take a female fan back to his trailer for some action (which was quite funny) and other than that the only other real difference is the language (more swearing in the unrated).
I found this a well put together and entertaining film. It could’ve possibly done with a few more laughs at the front end before turning serious, but you can’t have everything. The cast were excellent and the pace picks up nicely for the more drama-oriented action in the second half. Overall not what I was expecting, but well worth a watch.