I don't know what to think of this.
On the one hand, I watched it by myself and thought it was a surprisingly unique take on superhero tropes, and that's kind of impressive in a pre-MCU era, but on the other, I talked about it with some friends who also watched it, and I couldn't really disagree with them dunking on it.
But let's start with the good. Firstly: Will Smith. Typically, you don't see an egotistical alcoholic and think he'd be good in that sort of role, but I have to admit he made it believable at the very least. He's certainly a little too one-note, but I do totally believe that he's completely alone, bored, and fed up with his life.
In fact, the acting in general is better than you'd think a film like this would deserve. And - sue me I guess, but I did like the story that was given to me. Looking back on it now, I can't deny it would have been more interesting if they had stuck to their guns in the second half instead of trying to awkwardly make it about Hancock's past coming back to haunt him, because it does kind of run out of places to go at around an hour in and falls back on cliches, but while watching it, for some reason that just didn't occur to me. I wouldn't call the second half bad though.
This is also an admittedly ugly film, for some reason it's shot like some kind of gritty action movie or war drama, and the effects are terrible, while there also aren't that many particularly memorable shots.
But there is some great dialogue, a few honestly amazing scenes, and above all else, I don't think anyone can deny that this film is...unique.
And even though it gets messy later on, I think a big reason I didn't notice while I was watching it is that it doesn't feel unsatisfying because of that. The sharp turn the narrative takes in its second half is more due to Hancock's character arc already being complete, rather than them just forgetting about it.
It still could have been way better had they just...not done that, but I maintain this is still interesting enough to warrant a watch, even more so today than in 2008, probably.
On the one hand, I watched it by myself and thought it was a surprisingly unique take on superhero tropes, and that's kind of impressive in a pre-MCU era, but on the other, I talked about it with some friends who also watched it, and I couldn't really disagree with them dunking on it.
But let's start with the good. Firstly: Will Smith. Typically, you don't see an egotistical alcoholic and think he'd be good in that sort of role, but I have to admit he made it believable at the very least. He's certainly a little too one-note, but I do totally believe that he's completely alone, bored, and fed up with his life.
In fact, the acting in general is better than you'd think a film like this would deserve. And - sue me I guess, but I did like the story that was given to me. Looking back on it now, I can't deny it would have been more interesting if they had stuck to their guns in the second half instead of trying to awkwardly make it about Hancock's past coming back to haunt him, because it does kind of run out of places to go at around an hour in and falls back on cliches, but while watching it, for some reason that just didn't occur to me. I wouldn't call the second half bad though.
This is also an admittedly ugly film, for some reason it's shot like some kind of gritty action movie or war drama, and the effects are terrible, while there also aren't that many particularly memorable shots.
But there is some great dialogue, a few honestly amazing scenes, and above all else, I don't think anyone can deny that this film is...unique.
And even though it gets messy later on, I think a big reason I didn't notice while I was watching it is that it doesn't feel unsatisfying because of that. The sharp turn the narrative takes in its second half is more due to Hancock's character arc already being complete, rather than them just forgetting about it.
It still could have been way better had they just...not done that, but I maintain this is still interesting enough to warrant a watch, even more so today than in 2008, probably.