Hancock....

In Hancock, Will Smith plays an alcoholic superhero in Los Angeles who has become so reckless that the citizens are almost as sick of him as they are of the criminals he fights. But after Hancock saves the life of a struggling PR man (Jason Bateman), the PR man vows to remake Hancock’s image.


Hancock gets a lot of laughs out of the premise of a slumming superhero and the attempts to transform him into a polite, politically correct public servant. Smith and Bateman are both good in the lead roles, as is Charlize Theron as Bateman’s wife.

The film (which runs just over 90 minutes) is a little rushed in its final third when it starts explaining Hancock’s origins and the film’s villain (Eddie Marsan) is not as intimidating as a good villain should be. In fact, there were times when I thought I could throw the villain through a wall, and I only weigh 145 lbs. That being said, Hancock is fast-paced and funny. It’s silly entertainment, the kind of film many people think of when they think of a good “summer movie.” The parts may be greater than the sum, but the parts are still good enough to make this a decent entertainment.