Lois and I saw Will Smith’s new blockbuster, Hancock, over the weekend.
As a 56-year-old junior higher, I’d recommend it. I love to see things crash, burn and explode. The effects are spectacular—and often very funny. (I love the beached whale scene!)
As a writer/editor, I can’t recommend it. The first half rushes through the selfish and self-destructive superhero maturing and turning into a well-mannered force for good. (There’s just not enough time and struggle for the change we see in Hancock.) In fact, I thought the movie was over when the crowd applauds the reformed hero.
The second half is totally unnecessary as the writer (or more likely a committee of writers) tries to explain Hancock’s past. It’s everything I hate about Star Wars I, II and III. (Why ruin the mystery of Darth Vader?!) And why add a new—and completely implausible—conflict to the Hancock film.
Finally, as a parent/grandparent, I can’t recommend it. To me, there is far too much profanity and sexual content for the PG-13 rating.
I’d develop the first half, delete the second half, and tone down the language and sexual content to make it more family-friendly.
So, one thumb up and two thumbs down.
P.S. This is the summer for superheros (Batman, Hellboy, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, etc.), so here’s my nominee for the supreme superhero.
2 Comments
July 12, 2008 at 5:06 am
Movie review of the year. I like yours better than all the others because you speak from the honest heart and gut, not hoity toity writer speak.
March 28, 2009 at 11:15 pm
I took my little brother Keyan (age 9) to see it, because he loved the previews we’d seen six months earlier. I don’t regret taking him, but I agree with every recommendation you make for improvement. The second half didn’t come close to making sense of the first half. It is like a writer who produces a great trilogy, then can’t resist adding a 4th and 5th book, which ruin everything. (Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy and Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea trilogy come to mind.)