By Hancock grossed $62.6 million from Friday through Sunday, making it the fourth best opening weekend of 2008.
It is now Will Smith’s second-best debut, next to “I Am Legend,” and is the best premiere for both his co-star Charlize Theron and director Peter Berg (“Friday Night Lights”/ “The Kingdom”).
After all of this, one would assume to see one of the best films this year. But we all know the old saying about people who assume things. The premise of the movie is inviting. The idea of a sloppy, destructive, bad mannered, ill tempered and cold-hearted drunken hero makes any superhero fan excited.
Hancock has all the typical superpowers: flying, catching criminals, lifting cars, repelling point blank bullets, and of course stopping trains with his body. There is nothing overly special about him, except his lack of respect for others. Yet, we get the impression that Hancock didn’t receive the hero handbook that explained, “With great power comes great responsibility,” because he often finds himself causing more grief than he’s worth.
The citizens of Los Angeles soon find that Hancock isn’t worth the trouble. Before Hancock gets into his new, tightfitting superhero gear, he goes through an extreme hero makeover by giving up drinking, cussing, breaking things, and everything else we liked about him. And what better way to get rid of these bad habits than sticking him in jail with all the criminals he caught.
Ray Embry (Jason Bateman), a PR Executive, is the man behind the mask, who helps Hancock clean up his image and get the respect he deserves. Ray’s wife, Mary (Theron), isn’t so sure taking Hancock in is a good idea. The audience soon realizes that she has more tricks up her sleeve, and the movie we have been watching for the past 30 minutes or so starts to take a turn for what some would say the worst, while others would say is a great movie twist.
Smith has never been much of the romantic type, so trying to pull some semi-heat off with Theron comes up short. Except for “Hitch,” most of Smith’s movies involve him trying to save the world by himself. From “Men in Black” to “I, Robot” to “I Am Legend,”
Smith has captured audiences over and over again with his slick attitude, clever behavior and sweet smile. Smith always knows what he wants and how to get it. Yet, in this movie he seems to be walking around blind and the audience follows in his footsteps.
It’s hard to swallow Smith pulling off this rough around the edges hero: a lonely character who is vulnerable and at times weak; one who doesn’t know his place in the world and wishes for a different life.
Unlike Edward Norton in “The Incredible Hulk” and Christian Bale in “Batman Begins,” who welcome their dark side, Smith just doesn’t really know how to be an real believable jerk. I don’t feel anything towards this lost hero. I just feel lost. We spend most of the movie trying to feel for this character, trying to find something to connect to, and when the movie finally gives us something, it comes out all scattered and misdirected.
I don’t know if it was the way Vincent Ngo and Vince Gilligan wrote it, the way Berg directed it, or maybe the combination of the two, but this movie completely strays from its breathtaking trailers.
Maybe it’s the fact that there is no villain that I find myself unsatisfied. If you lack a good villain, then you lack a good hero. Seriously, where would Superman be without Lex Luthor? Or Spiderman without Venom? Wolverine without Weapon X? And Batman without the Joker? It really doesn’t matter what rating I give. Telling you it was rated a 5.3 out of 10 at rottentomatoes.com and a 6.9 out of 10 on IMDB won’t change your mind.
The truth is, those who are fans of Smith know that no matter what movie he is in, you are going to watch it. Because, despite everything, Smith is gold at the box offices. So, go to the movie and marvel at the fact that you just paid money to see Smith endorse another pair of Ray Bans. Or for once, wait for this Smith film to go to DVD, but we both know which you will choose.
There is no reason for the cat-people to be up in arms about relocating their special interest animals off-campus to locations offering more safety for both cats and people. This is an issue about health and safety, not animal rights. Populations of feral and abandoned cats on state property provide sources of disease, physical attacks upon humans, and an obvious vector for attracting more dangerous predators, such as coyotes. The presence of the unregulated cats and special interest groups feeding them, also begs the question of liability for the university for even tacit approval of conduct by a special interest group on public property. Thank you CSULB administrators for ensuring our students and faculty will have a safer, more healthy environment for learning, which, after all, is the reason the university is there in the first place.