Starring Will Smith, Jason Bateman. Written by Vincent Ngo, Vince Gilligan. Directed by Peter Berg. (PG) 93 min. Opened July 2.
Pitched as this summer’s antidote to superhero-flick fatigue, Hancock arrives toting plenty of special powers: a darkly funny script that was long one of Hollywood’s most hotly tipped screenplays, a solid lead performance by Will Smith, appealing supporting turns by Jason Bateman and Charlize Theron, and some unorthodox tactics by director Peter Berg. So why does it crash to Earth with such a thud? Because Hancock is a high-concept pitch with no movie attached.
It’s hard to fault the first half, rife as it is with scenes of Smith threatening children and old drunk ladies with bodily harm. The star is convincingly whiskey-soaked as Hancock, an unpopular superhero with a penchant for destruction and general surliness. Known in the biz as “the Bono of PR,” Ray (Bateman) convinces Hancock to help him rehabilitate his image, but Ray’s wife Mary (Theron) is wary about associating with someone who likes to stuff bad guys’ heads up other bad guys’ asses.
Enjoyably risqué — albeit in a PG kinda way — the early scenes are big fun but that spark of life is smothered as the movie becomes stymied in the details of Hancock’s needlessly convoluted history and a succession of un-stunning action sequences marred by iffy CGI. Even at 93 minutes, it feels so long that viewers may need to make like the man on screen and take the edge off with whatever’s in the nearest brown paper bag.