by Darren Humphries

Created on: July 10, 2008

John Hancock is LA's resident superhero, though the residents rather wish that he weren't. When Hancock sorts out a bank heist he ends up costing the city more in repairing the damages than if he had just let the bad guys go. when saving a driver trapped on the traing tracks, he doesn't just lift the car out of the way, he smashes up the entire train. The public hate him and he's not too fond of them either.

Hancock wants to be a new kind of superhero movie and it needs to be to stand out from the crowd in a summer that is jammed full of superhero movies (Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Wanted, The Dark Knight). Unfortunately, there is very little in Hancock that is brand new. The drunk superhero thing, for example, was done way back in 1983 in the little remembered The Return of Captain Invincible. Superheroes being sued for the damage they cause came up more recently in The Incredibles in 2004.

Originality aside, however, Hancock has a lot going for it. For a start there's the cast. The main man is played by none other than king of the summer blockbuster Will Smith, a man who has charisma to burn and who can ensure that no matter how bad his character acts we're all rooting for him really. The character also has a lot to root for. Despite being a drunk, he's only that way because he's misunderstood. He's lonely because he's the only one of his kind and because he has no idea about his past. How can we not love a man like that?

Then there's Jason Bateman as Ray Embrey, the PR man who wants to rework Hancock's public image and make him more loved. A more likeable character you're going to be hard pushed to find. He is something of a loser, but that's only because he's a good man through and through and good men rarely finish first.

The only vaguely dislikeable character is Mary, Ray's wife and a woman who takes an instantaneous dislike to Hancock for reasons that become clear later on.

So Hancock has likeable characters to root for, but what it is missing is a villain. All superheroes are measured by their villains and Hancock doesn't really have one beyond his own inner demons. That doesn't stop there being big action set pieces to get excited about. The opening sequence of a foiled getaway is both exciting and funny, whilst the foiled bank robbery is exciting and clever. The big central superpower face off, however, is there simply to have a bit central superpower face off and proves to be a turn off as a result.

On the whole, Hancock is neither as clever nor as original as it would like to think that it is, but it does have a big heart, some great gags and is the best superhero movie of the year so far.

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