Hancock (Will Smith, Peter Berg)

[PapaZeb]

I felt like Joe until 40mins into the movie. Then I just wished I'd spent money to see Wanted instead.

[Evapilotone]

Trust me. You should be happy you saw Hancock instead of Wanted.

[Foxglove]

Superhero movies are only good until the writers think, "we are writing a super hero movie, we better put in some huge fights" and once they decide this, the film goes pear shaped. The only superhero film of recent years that had a goal and stuck to it was Batman Begins which was great because it never fell into this trap. An enjoyable superhero films manages to get to at least 2/3 of the way into the film before it becomes a huge effects superhero fighting mess. Hancock, at only 92 mins, only made it half way. The potential for greatness (superhero who is a bum and a no good drunk but who has all the powers you expect from a superhero) was there, but 40 odd mins in and it became another story and the mess of putting the 2 together made it very dull. Superhero needing to convince people he is good - we saw that in The Invincibles. Superhero coming to terms with his powers? Spiderman. Don't let the hype convince you this is anything but a rehash of other stories. Will Smith plays himself (against the odds he saves the world) and you have to wonder when he will just admit he wants to be president and stop making long "I want to lead you all" films.

[fallen_nemesis]

Originally Posted by Foxglove

Superhero movies are only good until the writers think, "we are writing a super hero movie, we better put in some huge fights" and once they decide this, the film goes pear shaped. The only superhero film of recent years that had a goal and stuck to it was Batman Begins which was great because it never fell into this trap. An enjoyable superhero films manages to get to at least 2/3 of the way into the film before it becomes a huge effects superhero fighting mess. Hancock, at only 92 mins, only made it half way. The potential for greatness (superhero who is a bum and a no good drunk but who has all the powers you expect from a superhero) was there, but 40 odd mins in and it became another story and the mess of putting the 2 together made it very dull. Superhero needing to convince people he is good - we saw that in The Invincibles. Superhero coming to terms with his powers? Spiderman. Don't let the hype convince you this is anything but a rehash of other stories. Will Smith plays himself (against the odds he saves the world) and you have to wonder when he will just admit he wants to be president and stop making long "I want to lead you all" films.

x men 2 had fight scenes, which i reckon it managed to pull off, I can think of a few others too. You don't really expect to go see a superhero film and there be no action.

Wanted in particular had the potential to be amazing if they'd kept the fraternity of supervillans and superheroes.

[Foxglove]

Originally Posted by fallen_nemesis

x men 2 had fight scenes, which i reckon it managed to pull off, I can think of a few others too. You don't really expect to go see a superhero film and there be no action.

Wanted in particular had the potential to be amazing if they'd kept the fraternity of supervillans and superheroes.

It is not having fight scenes. It is when superhero films decide they have to just show huge special effects masterpiece fight scenes at the expense of any story they were weaving that was interesting. Tell me The Hulk was not more interesting when Edward Norton was battling his demons rather than the actual Hulk scenes. The fight scenes are important but they should not be the only thing the film has to offer.

Don't get me started on Wanted.

Loom of Fate. Oh my god.

[fallen_nemesis]

i take it you've read the trade paperback or comics of wanted then ?

[MarkMono]

I enjoyed Wanted, but I can see how it would annoy fans of the series. Its not just that they make a different story, the film makes it into the opposite story.

[Charlie Parker]

The problem with superhero movie fights is that they're always rubbish CGI things. Jet Li flying around in Swordsman II is more exciting than Will Smith being dragged across a screen by a mouse.

[Posh]

Originally Posted by Foxglove

It is not having fight scenes. It is when superhero films decide they have to just show huge special effects masterpiece fight scenes at the expense of any story they were weaving that was interesting. Tell me The Hulk was not more interesting when Edward Norton was battling his demons rather than the actual Hulk scenes. The fight scenes are important but they should not be the only thing the film has to offer.

Nah. Everything that isn't Hulk smashing something in that film is fucking awful.

[Foxglove]

Originally Posted by Posh

Nah. Everything that isn't Hulk smashing something in that film is fucking awful.

I really didn't like Hulk at all, but the Hulk bashing/fighting bits just bored me. However, my recent choices of films is hardly good. I saw Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian today. It was 140 mins long and felt longer. However, I have hopes pinned on Kung Fu Panda for fun and The Mist for what I understand is a really really dark ending.

[Oskar]

Thought it was chuffing great...until the required Hollywood element kicks in.

Feckin LOVE LINE. Ugh. Cept it's not "love", it's the way they're "built"

Quite fancy the alcoholic Hancock though.

[Joe Spinebuster]

Originally Posted by PapaZeb

I felt like Joe until 40mins into the movie.

Must've been the greatest 40 minutes of yer life!

Originally Posted by Foxglove

Superhero movies are only good until the writers think, "we are writing a super hero movie, we better put in some huge fights" and once they decide this, the film goes pear shaped.

Strongly disagree.
In my opinion, Hancock's major flaw is that it does not pursue its "superhero" angle enough. There should have been MORE epic effects-laden battles in this movie... That would have been awesome. As it was, there were NONE of these "huge fights" that you speak of - some people got thrown into things pretty dramaticaly now and again, but no particularly memorable "battles" from where I sat.

The reason for there being no memorable fight scenes is that there wasn't a "supervillain", which was lame as shit. This movie was fine as it was, but it really should have played to the conventional comic book stereotypes a bit better to get its talons into my fanboi imagination. Had this movie had some kind of credible villainous type rumbling in the background, wreaking havoc and destroying the world while Hancock battled alcoholism and sorted his love life / mysterious past out, it could have then wrapped up with some kind of epic good vs evil showdown for good measure. That may sound tired as fuck, but basically if they had an actual proper supervillain in place of that generic bank robber guy and had a real decent ass whoopin' finalé with Hanock vs some kind of worthwhile villain, I'd have enjoyed this a lot more.

It was still alright, though. A sequel would likely suck mean cock - that horrible tight outfit with the Harry Hill collar he wears once he cleans up his act is genuinely gay as shit - but I'd watch a prequel or even a TV series set in the alcoholism years leading up to the time the movie is set in.

[Witch]

meh was allright

[Fiona_B]

i'm going to see it tomorrow apparently. kinda indifferent to it.

[doogie]

Yeah... best description is variable.... some of it was fairly good (at the time at least!) and some of it was either meh or mince.... the whole love story was pure baws though!