Not quite dead.
Jun. 30th, 2008 10:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chibi_trillianI went to an advance screening of Hancock tonight, despite being sick as a dog.
Non-spoilery comments: If you are looking for a movie that shatters superheroic tropes, this is not that movie. If you are looking for a pretty decent superhero movie, this is a pretty decent superhero movie. On the Superhero Movie Scale wherein 1 is Bloodrayne and 10 is Iron Man, Hancock rates at about a 6.5.
This movie gently mocks superheroic tropes while still adhering to them in the end. Amnesia? Check. Property damage? Check. Funny outfits? Check. Secret weakness? Check. Faith saves the day? Check. There's not a whole lot of new ground broken in this movie, which wouldn't have been that bad if they hadn't been trying so hard to pitch it as a new spin on superhero movies.
Actually, the random PR guy (Ray) is the real hero in this movie, not Hancock. He is one guy with no powers trying his damnedest to save the world by telling people, over and over, that it's a wonderful idea if they place kindness over profit. He's so freaking earnest. Christ on a cracker, in about half of his scenes with Hancock, I was waiting for him to shout "Believe in me who believes in you!" and give him a manly bear hug. Also, he's got some mean aim with a fireman's axe. He is also notable for having a small child whom I actually found appealing and adorable instead of obnoxious. It's probably the freckles and the plastic dinosaurs.
The ending of the movie, though mildly sappy, was still unexpected enough to make me go "Awwwwww."
There were some loose ends and niblets of unexplained weirdness that bugged me: weather powers--where'd that come from? Excessive heat when the two superheroic characters interact? WTF? Also, what's with the eagles and all the stuff he draws on his cell wall? I was totally waiting for him to be a blessed scion of the Great Thunderbird or some such--after that, the explanation of his powers was kind of a let-down. D:
Non-spoilery comments: If you are looking for a movie that shatters superheroic tropes, this is not that movie. If you are looking for a pretty decent superhero movie, this is a pretty decent superhero movie. On the Superhero Movie Scale wherein 1 is Bloodrayne and 10 is Iron Man, Hancock rates at about a 6.5.
This movie gently mocks superheroic tropes while still adhering to them in the end. Amnesia? Check. Property damage? Check. Funny outfits? Check. Secret weakness? Check. Faith saves the day? Check. There's not a whole lot of new ground broken in this movie, which wouldn't have been that bad if they hadn't been trying so hard to pitch it as a new spin on superhero movies.
Actually, the random PR guy (Ray) is the real hero in this movie, not Hancock. He is one guy with no powers trying his damnedest to save the world by telling people, over and over, that it's a wonderful idea if they place kindness over profit. He's so freaking earnest. Christ on a cracker, in about half of his scenes with Hancock, I was waiting for him to shout "Believe in me who believes in you!" and give him a manly bear hug. Also, he's got some mean aim with a fireman's axe. He is also notable for having a small child whom I actually found appealing and adorable instead of obnoxious. It's probably the freckles and the plastic dinosaurs.
The ending of the movie, though mildly sappy, was still unexpected enough to make me go "Awwwwww."
There were some loose ends and niblets of unexplained weirdness that bugged me: weather powers--where'd that come from? Excessive heat when the two superheroic characters interact? WTF? Also, what's with the eagles and all the stuff he draws on his cell wall? I was totally waiting for him to be a blessed scion of the Great Thunderbird or some such--after that, the explanation of his powers was kind of a let-down. D:
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Date: 2008-07-01 09:41 pm (UTC)