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HANCOCK : Movie Spree (5)!

Posted by Ching Ya | Posted in Movie Spree | Posted on 05-11-2008

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HANCOCK
(IMDB Rating: 6.7/10 out of 59,572 votes)
A famous pick for the Movie Spree this week. What makes Hancock interesting? Will Smith, and Oscar Winner, the gorgeous Charlize Theron. What’s not to like?

When somebody told me this movie is solely about a Superhero, I have been avoiding its trailer or reviews. Why? Stories like Spiderman, Dark knight, My Super Ex-Girlfriend etc, are Hollywood flicks that do not require logical explanations. It doesn’t bother us, even the absurdity carried to its ultimate, for we do yearn for supernatural stories from time to time. The actions are everything! Since I’m going to watch it anyway, regardless good or bad, I rather skip the trailer and come face to face with the real deal.

I was puzzled earlier why Charlize is taking Mary’s role, as she is such a great actress, not that Will is not, but we all know Will. He is in Men In Black, Enemy of the States, Bad Boys, The Legend, Pursuit of Happiness… he’s the man that could go from action, comedy to drama. I never expect to see Charlize in an action comedy, definitely not as a Superwoman. Yet again, if Halle Berry could be a Catwoman, I guess as a Oscar Winner, she could pull that off as well. Luckily there’s an emotional scene at the hospital, and the facial expression of Charlize, works well enough to prove she’s one of the great actresses today. Whether you like it or not, this movie had been on the top of the box office. To me, overall I will give it a 6.5/10. Actually I prefer the front part of the story more, the rest, is getting weirder and weirder to me. The villain is not powerful, just happens to be someone who’s holding the Kryptonite for a very very short while.

Wanna check out the trailer anyway? Here goes…

~Check out the Trailer ~

Hancock (Will Smith) is an ‘unlikely’ super hero, who performs numerous acts of crime-fighting & lives-saving in L.A. But why is he ‘unlikely’? People hate him! He is hot tempered, always keeps to the bottle and a loner. When he’s on a mission, he takes no heed of the law, and destroys anything that comes in his way: skyscrapers, highways, signboards, automobiles, ANYTHING! So what if the damages cost millions of dollars? He just doesn’t care! I can see now you’re nodding in agreement, yes, he’s a nuisance, with a lousy attitude.

“Wake Up, Hancock! You..xxxxx… “

So like any other days, Hancock is drunk, lying on the bench at the sidewalk. A kid wakes him up, since the TV is broadcasting the live car-pursuit of 3 gangsters by the police. After being swore by the kid (wow, kids nowadays.. ) for not taking any ‘necessary’ actions, he decides to go anyway. He FLIES and ducks all the incoming obstacles: birds, a Boieng.. but nooooo, not the Signboard! It falls and smashes the petrol cars on the highway, well, ugly scene.


He lands on the bad guys’ car, teaches them a big lesson for shooting at his wine bottle. So, after crushes into some skyscrapers, the car ends up like this:

Massive damages! The police are angry, so is the public. But Hancock couldn’t care less!

For PR, Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman), nothing is more important than ‘changing the world for a better place’! After Ray’s clients rejected his proposal to give away free medications to the needy, he heads home, feeling a little depressed. He rings home when his car trapped in a jam, right on the railway track. Suddenly, a train is coming straight at him. Ray panicks, because he is unable to move his vehicle, or get out of it!

Introducing the ‘All Heart’ symbol..

‘And then a Hero comes along..’ Hancock comes for his rescue, by flipping the car over, before the train hits the ‘man of iron’. The impact is so great until it damages the entire train. The people are furious at Hancock’s ignorance to public safety. Here goes the finger pointing.. swearing..

Hancock crushes into the train…


Poor Ray..

Fine, keep going..

Well, all except for Ray, who is grateful enough to be alive! He decides to help Hancock improve his self-image. He takes him home for dinner, introduces him to his wife, Mary (Charlize Theron) who seems surprised seeing Hancock. Just like any other people, she grumbles at his ‘heroic act’ that leads into more troubles. But Ray’s son, Aaron adores Hancock. For the first time, Hancock feels appreciated. After giving it a considerable thought, Hancock agrees to Ray’s suggestion.

“C’mon, ask me to stay for dinner…, c’mon”

So when the DA is trying to put Hancock in jail, Ray sees an opportunity: to let the public misses him during his absence, while the crime rate increases. Otherwise, he could just fly out of jail anytime after 2 weeks! Seems fair enough, Hancock does it accordingly. During his incarceration, Ray teaches him to be polite and learn to appreciate the policemen with the word ‘Good Job’, and even gets him a uniform! One heck of a PR!

“You got a problem? Oh.. I get it, I put most of you in here.. ”


“Repeat after me, guuudd.. jooo…ooob.. ggoodde, jjooobbe..good job.. ”

Hancock stays in jail for 2 weeks, almost running out of patience before the chief of police finally calls him personally, requesting for his aid in a serious bank robbery. So our ‘turned-over-a-new-leaf’ Hancock, in a tight uniform, comes to the crime scene, and ‘Good-Job’ing the policemen on the spot, repeatedly, before he saves the hostages, and dissolves a bombing threat by Kenneth (the villain), that causes Kenneth his left hand. Ouch..

What? so it’s a little tight…

You gotta be kidding me….??

Good job, yes, good job.. everyone, good job… good job… (while policemen are ducking from the flying bullets)

“You’re alright? Do I have the permission to touch your body..? Not in a sexual way of course.. not that you’re not attractive..but..” “Just get me out of here!!!

Kenneth with a bomb trigger…

Not any more..

So the crowd is happy! (Clapping)

The public loves the new Hancock and applauds him. To celebrate Hancock’s success, Ray takes him and Mary to a restaurant. They get into a conversation about where Hancock comes from. Apparently, Hancock is having amnesia, unable to remember anything from his past. At night, after he tugs Ray in (Ray is drunk), both him and Mary have this little ‘romantic moment’, I was like ‘WHAT??’ before Mary suddenly throws him out of the house (along with a refrigerator) with an incredible strength! Looks like Hancock is not the only one with super powers after all! For someone who has yet to see the trailer, I was surprised and puzzled at the same time. The story is a bit weird for me after this… but, carry on.

Hancock! Look at the camera! Say Cheese….

Oh well…

WHAT??????

Demanding for answers, Hancock asks Mary to explain, or else he will tell Ray about his new discovery.

Let’s try hitting ‘at’ her…

How about this??

They have a secret meeting at Hancock’s place. So apparently, their kinds are invincible and immortal as well. After that, they sort of get into a fight (after Hancock calls Mary crazy) and causing a massive damage to the city. At this point, I can’t help but wondering, why would Mary make such a big scene to everyone in the city, if she wants to hide her identity from Ray? It’s just doesn’t make sense to me.

Call me ‘CRAZY’… one more time???

You ask for it … !!

Well, just as we predicted, Ray who happens to be nearby, sees everything! Shocked and in disbelief, Ray heads home, followed by Mary and Hancock. Mary explains to the guys: both Hancock and her were a couple back in decades ago. Whether they like it or not, they have mutual physical attraction to each other, as they are destined and been made into a pair. But Mary assures Ray that fate does not decide everything, but people do. Hancock feels upset as Mary decides to leave him isolated without his consent.

Is it snowing..??

I don’t think so…

Later that night, he goes to a store, aiming for liquor. While the TV news is announcing ‘Prison Break’ of Kenneth (the bank robber), the shop keeper is held hostage by a robber. Hancock accidentally gets shot at, and bleeds! Quickly, he is admitted to hospital. The press are all over the place, reporting his critical conditions.

Relax ladies, it’s not Scofield..

A robbery, like no others.. only Hancock is not bullet-proof this time..

In the hospital, Mary clears everything up with Hancock in a gentler manner. It seems like they are still quite into each other, but Mary insists that they go on with each other’s life, or else Hancock will end up seriously injured, or even dying for saving her life. If both of them united, they will become vulnerable and aging like human does. Back in the old times, Hancock had been risking his own life to save Mary’s whenever they were attacked. The last time he did it caused him the amnesia. Mary says it is the best way for both of them to go on without hurting each other more, either physically or emotionally.

Meanwhile, Kenneth, who escaped from prison, plans to get back at Hancock for what he did to his hand. He and his men barge in the hospital with weapons, and shoots Mary. Hancock is losing his strength but tries to fight back as much as he can. Unfortunately he is so badly hurt, that gives Kenneth the chance to finish him off, well, nearly. At that critical moment, our kind hearted PR, Ray came in and gives Kenneth another big blow! Or, more accurate, cost him his right hand. Eeww…So, the PR saves the day! It’s the usual way of ending the big crisis. What about Mary? In order to save Mary’s life, Hancock uses his remaining strength to leave the hospital as fast as he could. So, he flies, and collapses, numerous times, before he is far enough from Mary so she could wake up again.

Mary is shot by Kenneth’s men

The guys confront each other…

Poor Hancock…

Our new hero !! See that axe behind him?? Kenneth is not going to love what happens next..

So, Hancock and Mary are not going to be together. Yet anyway, both of them are alive and well. Hancock has the destiny of making a world a better place, exactly what Ray is hoping for. So, one month later, Hancock is still fighting crimes while Mary, Ray and Aaron remain as a happy family. What can be more perfect than that?

‘All Heart’ symbol, to Ray from Hancock.. Now that’s what I call Publicity!!

So, there you go, basically the whole Hancock story. Hope you enjoy this week’s Movie Spree!

Copyright © 2008 by Wong Ching Ya, All Rights Reserved, “Movie Spree (6) !”.

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Comments (3)

Rose DesRochers said on 08-11-2008

Good detailed review. The movie doesn’t appeal to me though I do like Will Smith.

Reply
Ching Ya said on 09-11-2008

Thanks for the comment, Rose. Yeah, this movie was merely for fun and laughter. Not much dephs in it. At least it reminds us to change ourselves first, before wishing to change the world for a better place. =)

Reply
glen said on 09-11-2009

I agree with Rose, the movie didn’t greatly appeal to me either, but you have to hand it to the lead actor Will Smith. He does well as a anti-hero, and kept the movie from being too ridiculous. In my opinion, the movie does exactly what it sets out to do, be entertaining, light-hearted, and larger-than life.

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