quick review: HANCOCK
07/08/08 19:09
I'm
trying to reform. 9 days between my posts is pretty
good.
So over the weekend we took in Will Smith's annual (it seems) Fourth of July blockbuster: HANCOCK. I have to say I liked it, for a couple reasons. First, I love it when people mess with stereotypes, and Hancock is NOT a stereotypical superhero. He's rude, crude, drunk, with a possible cocaine habit, plus he's mean to children. Show me more! Bring on the anti-hero superheroes! Granted, there are several out there that are anti-hero superheroes--Ben Grimm (the Thing) comes to mind, as does The Punisher (though is he really a superhero?), and to some extent Batman and Wolverine fit that role, as does the Tick, but he's weird all around. But Hancock is WAAAAAY out on the anti- side of the anti-hero role. He's a "fuck you" superhero, and I don't recall too many of those. And don't we all feel like that sometimes? Want me to grade your paper? #)$(*#)($* you, student. I never say it, but I feel like it sometimes. Should I even admit that? : \
Second, I like that Hancock never lost his . . . disdain? . . . for his abilities. So what if he mashed up the pavement when he landed? Part of the job. So what if went and wrote on the moon? Part of the job. It took him forever to be able to say thanks when the good guys helped him? Part of being an anti-hero.
The plot falls apart and gets stupid at several points, so the movie itself isn't the best, but Hancock as a character is pretty great. I think his brilliance was helped along by the writer Vince Gilligan, who used to write for the the world's best sci-fi series THE X-FILES. That show was full, and I do mean full, of characters who turned things upside down. Good job, Vince Gilligan.
Next up: a review of DEBBIE HARRY SINGS IN FRENCH. Love and cross-dressers--good combo.
So over the weekend we took in Will Smith's annual (it seems) Fourth of July blockbuster: HANCOCK. I have to say I liked it, for a couple reasons. First, I love it when people mess with stereotypes, and Hancock is NOT a stereotypical superhero. He's rude, crude, drunk, with a possible cocaine habit, plus he's mean to children. Show me more! Bring on the anti-hero superheroes! Granted, there are several out there that are anti-hero superheroes--Ben Grimm (the Thing) comes to mind, as does The Punisher (though is he really a superhero?), and to some extent Batman and Wolverine fit that role, as does the Tick, but he's weird all around. But Hancock is WAAAAAY out on the anti- side of the anti-hero role. He's a "fuck you" superhero, and I don't recall too many of those. And don't we all feel like that sometimes? Want me to grade your paper? #)$(*#)($* you, student. I never say it, but I feel like it sometimes. Should I even admit that? : \
Second, I like that Hancock never lost his . . . disdain? . . . for his abilities. So what if he mashed up the pavement when he landed? Part of the job. So what if went and wrote on the moon? Part of the job. It took him forever to be able to say thanks when the good guys helped him? Part of being an anti-hero.
The plot falls apart and gets stupid at several points, so the movie itself isn't the best, but Hancock as a character is pretty great. I think his brilliance was helped along by the writer Vince Gilligan, who used to write for the the world's best sci-fi series THE X-FILES. That show was full, and I do mean full, of characters who turned things upside down. Good job, Vince Gilligan.
Next up: a review of DEBBIE HARRY SINGS IN FRENCH. Love and cross-dressers--good combo.