Identity Crisis...
Last 2005, fresh prince Will Smith starred in what would have been called “The Last First Kiss” (or was it “The First Last Kiss”?)… either way, the title sucked.
So I think I remember reading somewhere that Mr. Smith “cool-ified” the movie’s title by naming it after the title character’s nickname. Resulting in the much cooler-sounding “Hitch,” and the even cooler $368 million in worldwide box office receipts.
This year, Mr. Smith would have starred in a movie called “Tonight, He Comes,” a title that vaguely sounds like an epic gay porno movie… again, thankfully, the gods of rewriting swooped down and saved Mr. Smith’s resume from having another potentially sucky title. “Tonight, He Comes” eventually ended up being called the less cringe-worthy “Hancock.” (which, come to think of it, also sounds like a gay porno movie… ah well…)
And yes, it has also grossed over $100 million and counting…
Now, about da movie…
My first bump of awareness in connection to “Hancock” was half a year ago on a blurb on one of those superhero geek sites I sometimes stumble into. I found my way to a YouTube trailer, and was absolutely hooked.
See, the trailer was damn funny, featuring very likely scenarios if ever there was an alcoholic superhero running around town. Reactions to Smith’s Hancock’s existence were well-written, and sounded like real people. And the occasional nod to William Katt’s crash-test dummy of a superhero in his 80’s TV serial is appreciated by a fan like me. I was expecting to see the movie and come out with my growing gut filled with gas from all the belly laughs. Oh, and I eventually found out that the picture-perfect Miss Charlize Theron was on board, too. Never mind Jason Bateman… not against him, but not a screaming fan… but Charlize… man… that’s a woman…
Last 2005, fresh prince Will Smith starred in what would have been called “The Last First Kiss” (or was it “The First Last Kiss”?)… either way, the title sucked.So I think I remember reading somewhere that Mr. Smith “cool-ified” the movie’s title by naming it after the title character’s nickname. Resulting in the much cooler-sounding “Hitch,” and the even cooler $368 million in worldwide box office receipts.
This year, Mr. Smith would have starred in a movie called “Tonight, He Comes,” a title that vaguely sounds like an epic gay porno movie… again, thankfully, the gods of rewriting swooped down and saved Mr. Smith’s resume from having another potentially sucky title. “Tonight, He Comes” eventually ended up being called the less cringe-worthy “Hancock.” (which, come to think of it, also sounds like a gay porno movie… ah well…)
And yes, it has also grossed over $100 million and counting…
Now, about da movie…
My first bump of awareness in connection to “Hancock” was half a year ago on a blurb on one of those superhero geek sites I sometimes stumble into. I found my way to a YouTube trailer, and was absolutely hooked.
See, the trailer was damn funny, featuring very likely scenarios if ever there was an alcoholic superhero running around town. Reactions to Smith’s Hancock’s existence were well-written, and sounded like real people. And the occasional nod to William Katt’s crash-test dummy of a superhero in his 80’s TV serial is appreciated by a fan like me. I was expecting to see the movie and come out with my growing gut filled with gas from all the belly laughs. Oh, and I eventually found out that the picture-perfect Miss Charlize Theron was on board, too. Never mind Jason Bateman… not against him, but not a screaming fan… but Charlize… man… that’s a woman…
Anyways… while I didn’t come out of the movie having laughed my ass off, I honestly didn’t feel like the wifey and I wasted our time… so it wasn’t totally a comedy, it was sometimes overtly dramatic, hardly romantic, far from being labeled “action-packed,” and too lame to be a sci-fi fantasy. So what was it, and what made it a decent hour and a half?
Simple. It was a Will Smith movie.
Somehow, while I didn’t really buy into Will Smith looking and acting like a bum… (I whispered to the wifey that I think they should’ve given Jamie Foxx a shot at this role)… But Will Smith manages to make almost anything look cool. Even Bagger Vance…
SPOILER ALERT…
The first half was pure fun. Pretty much everything on the YouTube trailer… it was a cool concept… bum of a superhero, drunk and accident-prone, lost, immortal, bored, been there, done that… and lonely.
Now the second half has been a lot of flack from all the reviews. But it isn’t necessarily bad, it just seemed like something from a totally different movie. It’s like between the first half and the second, the movie went through puberty… ah, waitaminit… it DID. Some bloke named Vincent Ngo threw that script titled “Tonight, He Comes” at Hollywood last 1996… been twelve years, and five directors later…
The second half, where Charlize Theron starts acting like a horny ex-wife who suddenly sees her probably equally horny (and very lonely) ex-husband present and totally available, is sometimes cheesy almost to the point of me wanting to go out and buy more popcorn… even though I still had some popcorn…
And yes, in the second half, Charlize Theron is revealed to be a horny ex-wife who suddenly finds her equally horny and very amnesiac ex-husband being friendly with her current hubby. And she tries to drive him out, because being near him will cause them to lose their powers and grow old and stuff… geez…
And then there’s the feeble attempt at producing some villains to go up against Mr. Hancock… pathetic characters, to say the least…
The ending was half-baked. But Will Smith is plain watchable, Jason Bateman (of Arrested Development fame) seemed to be trying too hard but not to the point of being annoying, and Charlize Theron remains a sight for sore eyes… so what the heck…
All things considered, I think Hancock had a solid enough premise to have been a very solid TV series. Slightly bumbling, easy-to-annoy, smart-ass superhero who doesn’t care much what the public thinks, but is really a good guy at heart… lots of stories there…
Judging from the box office reports, they might find “Hancock” worth doing a sequel for. Let’s hope they do it better than this.
Simple. It was a Will Smith movie.
Somehow, while I didn’t really buy into Will Smith looking and acting like a bum… (I whispered to the wifey that I think they should’ve given Jamie Foxx a shot at this role)… But Will Smith manages to make almost anything look cool. Even Bagger Vance…
SPOILER ALERT…
The first half was pure fun. Pretty much everything on the YouTube trailer… it was a cool concept… bum of a superhero, drunk and accident-prone, lost, immortal, bored, been there, done that… and lonely.Now the second half has been a lot of flack from all the reviews. But it isn’t necessarily bad, it just seemed like something from a totally different movie. It’s like between the first half and the second, the movie went through puberty… ah, waitaminit… it DID. Some bloke named Vincent Ngo threw that script titled “Tonight, He Comes” at Hollywood last 1996… been twelve years, and five directors later…
The second half, where Charlize Theron starts acting like a horny ex-wife who suddenly sees her probably equally horny (and very lonely) ex-husband present and totally available, is sometimes cheesy almost to the point of me wanting to go out and buy more popcorn… even though I still had some popcorn…
And yes, in the second half, Charlize Theron is revealed to be a horny ex-wife who suddenly finds her equally horny and very amnesiac ex-husband being friendly with her current hubby. And she tries to drive him out, because being near him will cause them to lose their powers and grow old and stuff… geez…
And then there’s the feeble attempt at producing some villains to go up against Mr. Hancock… pathetic characters, to say the least…
The ending was half-baked. But Will Smith is plain watchable, Jason Bateman (of Arrested Development fame) seemed to be trying too hard but not to the point of being annoying, and Charlize Theron remains a sight for sore eyes… so what the heck…
All things considered, I think Hancock had a solid enough premise to have been a very solid TV series. Slightly bumbling, easy-to-annoy, smart-ass superhero who doesn’t care much what the public thinks, but is really a good guy at heart… lots of stories there…Judging from the box office reports, they might find “Hancock” worth doing a sequel for. Let’s hope they do it better than this.
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