A floundering action comedy with an interesting premise that self-destructs in its second half.
Comment
07/02/08
Hancock (2008)
40
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:210
Fresh:84
Rotten:126
Average Rating:5.4/10
Consensus: Though it begins with promise, Hancock suffers from a flimsy narrative and poor execution.
Theatrical Release:02-07-2008
Synopsis: 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,... [More]
Starring: Will Smith, Jason Bateman, Charlize Theron, Eddie Marsan
Director: Peter Berg
Reviews for Hancock
101 - 120 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
As delivered by director Peter Berg, Hancock is never as serious or funny or poignant as it could be. And despite clocking in at a reasonable running time, it has a big sag in the middle that nothing could have fixed.
07/02/08
Audience members willing to hop aboard this emotional roller coaster ride will respond to the resultant pathos far better than viewers wondering why the laughs suddenly went MIA.
07/02/08
Will Smith and a great cast are not enough to keep this from becoming a soaring disappointment in this summer's superhero movie sweepstakes.
07/02/08
A few more films like these, and this will be remembered as the beginning of the end of his blockbuster career.
07/02/08
"Hancock" is not a bad movie, just an underachieving one. It lacks a "wow" factor. It is bland and routine and flies off in too many directions.
07/02/08
Hancock is an irreverent hero for our times--perhaps reflecting our own national zeitgeist, with America's previously untainted superpower image suddenly a matter of debate rather than fact.
07/02/08
... where [director Peter] Berg makes it work is by refusing to sacrifice the integrity of his characters for an easy ending.
07/02/08
Hancock is still a lot of fun. Will Smith remains one of the most likable of movie stars, and he's a virtuoso of underplayed sarcasm.
07/02/08
Has action, heart, but superhero is an alcoholic.
07/02/08
There's no crime in keeping the audience smiling and laughing guys but it should be a crime in ruining what could have been one of Smith's best projects to date.
07/02/08
The tragedy of "Hancock" is that Will Smith is so damn good in it.
07/02/08
John Hancock is a black superhero desired and derided by crowds who are informed by spectacles, stereotypes, and fear.
07/02/08
[...]it's always nice to see someone revisit Christopher Reeves' drunken Man of Steel act from Superman III.
07/02/08
If Hancock didn't try so hard to be "edgy" and "different" it could have been a winner. Instead with the only villain in the movie being a Whiskey bottle it barely registers as a blip on the radar.
07/02/08
Hancock is a mess that isn't even fun to enjoy for its little pleasures.
07/02/08
as daring and audacious as its eponymous hero, venturing into realms of mythos and sentiment with equal dexterity and erudition
07/01/08
Hancock is either a brilliant disaster or an often uneven masterwork.
07/01/08
Only half a good movie -- the whole of it becomes confusing, disappointing, and non-sensical.
07/01/08
Even Smith needs good material, and it's fitfully supplied here.
07/01/08
Latest News for Hancock
September 11, 2009:
Will Smith and Charlize Theron on Board for Hancock Sequel 
We've already heard that a "Hancock" sequel is in development; now Peter Berg tells MTV that "everybody's going to come back." More...
August 28, 2009:
Weekly Ketchup: Hancock Sequel Script Started, Bioshock Scaled Back
We are firmly in the dog days of Summer, as Hollywood sneaks a couple of end of the menu horror movies into theaters, and movie news this week came to a near standstill. There... More...
August 25, 2009:
Columbia Hires Hancock Sequel Scribes
Looks like Peter Berg's recent comments about a "Hancock" sequel weren't just idle speculation: Columbia has hired scribes Adam Fierro and Glen Mazzara to write the script for a... More...
August 19, 2009:
Peter Berg Talks Hancock Sequel
There aren't any definite plans yet, but if a "Hancock" sequel ever comes to pass, Peter Berg has a few ideas about where the story might lead. More...
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