Trailer Tuesday: Hancock

-


I’ve always thought that if superheroes were real, that they’d be like Ozymandias in Watchmen or Greg Kinnear’s Captain Amazing in Mystery Men – cashing in on their name, launching a line of action figures, and running around with logos (from their various corporate sponsors) slapped all over their costume.

Will Smith’s new action-comedy-drama Hancock has a different take on the issue.

There are heroes, there are superheroes, and then there’s Hancock (Will Smith). With great power comes great responsibility - everyone knows that - everyone, that is, but Hancock. Edgy, conflicted, sarcastic, and misunderstood, Hancock’s well-intentioned heroics might get the job done and save countless lives, but always seem to leave jaw-dropping damage in their wake. The public has finally had enough - as grateful as they are to have their local hero, the good citizens of Los Angeles are wondering what they ever did to deserve this guy.

Hancock isn’t the kind of man who cares what other people think - until the day that he saves the life of PR executive Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman), and the sardonic superhero begins to realize that he may have a vulnerable side after all. Facing that will be Hancock’s greatest challenge yet, and a task that may prove impossible as Ray’s wife, Mary (Charlize Theron), insists that he’s a lost cause.


The offbeat concept certainly has potential. I’m particularly keen to see Will Smith playing a down and out “hero” for a change instead of his usual hip, upbeat, wisecracking self. However, given some of the test screening reviews that have already popped up online, Hancock could be very hit-and-miss. Some people have thoroughly enjoyed it as quirky popcorn entertainment. Others have hated it as strange and depressing, with a very weak storyline. So go figure? We may just have to make up our own minds with this one. Let’s just hope it’s not another My Super Ex-girlfriend…

Hancock opens on 2 July in the States. It's currently set for a 4 July release in South Africa.

Comments

Unknown said…
Please don't let it be another My Super Ex-Girlfriend. I've read some of the terrible test screening reviews and I'm hoping that they are there because this is one of those quirky films that's really good but doesn't please the masses (most of the comments I read were from supposed suits).

I loved Mystery Men but most people I know throw things at me when I disclose that information.
6:31 PM
Pfangirl said…
Yeah, Rob, I'm much the same in terms of my hopes for this one.

I certainly enjoyed Mystery Men as well, although it certainly was a very flawed movie. Very cool concept and characters though.
8:18 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is the rebooted Lara Croft gay? Evidence for and against...

-
Image
As some of you know, I’ve been fangirling hard over the new Tomb Raider , the first entry in the video game series since 2008, and ostensibly a reboot for the entire franchise . Taking the form of an origin story, Tomb Raider 2013 depicts the events that transformed a beautiful, if bookish, archaeology graduate into a pistol-packing adventurer with a devil-may-care attitude. We meet Lara Croft as a pretty, fairly ordinary 21 year old, brooding over her work notes, listening to her mp3 player and very much confined to the shadow of her male mentors. By the end of the game, however, she’s taken charge – she’s had to! – and, battered, bruised and bloody, she’s both a survivor and hero, right down to rescuing the princess and carrying her away in her arms. Yeah, this is probably the best point to mention that there will be some Tomb Raider 2013 spoilers in this post, so read ahead with caution. Anyway, I loved the game. Technically it’s near faultless, it looks beautiful, the ov...
Read more

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Queer Icon (Part 4)

-
Image
Part 4: The mystery of Lara Croft’s sexuality “Now what’s a man gotta do to get that kind of attention from ya?” – Larson Conway (Tomb Raider, 1996) Despite being an icon for many queer pop culture consumers, Lara Croft’s own sexual orientation remains ambiguous. Outside of the Top Cow comics and live-action films – where Lara is blatantly heterosexual, with a fondness for slightly scruffy bad boys (who keep betraying and hurting her) – the character comes across as primarily asexual. Kurtis Trent is the only male figure who even comes close to being a love interest in the game series. Lara's apparent sexual disinterest is despite the adventurer appearing very sexually attractive herself; a figure of desire with bee-stung lips, voluptuous breasts, toned stomach and impossibly long, athlete’s legs. Yet Lara is never dominated by sexual yearnings or romantic affections. She is very much in control of herself at all times. It’s worth noting, however, that over time th...
Read more

Ladies I Love: Part 2 - Rhona Mitra

-
Image
Following on from the first post in this series , you may realise that I have a very definite type. Anyway, today we profile model-turned-actress Rhona Mitra . This 36 year old Briton is of English, Irish and Indian descent. You'll have seen her pop up on the big and small screen multiple over the past decade and a half, although Mitra's claim to fame is that she was the second ever model (some say first if you rule out "unofficial"  Nathalie Cook ) to play iconic video game character Lara Croft . From 1997-1998, Mitra could be found in PR material, as well as at trade shows, events and conventions as a flesh-and-blood embodiment of Tomb Raider 's kick-ass archeologist lead. There have been many official Lara Croft models over the years , but as far as I'm concerned Mitra remains the best. In my mind, of all of them, she most closely resembles the video game character in terms of facial features. Plus she comes from money and had a rebellious boarding...
Read more