Product Description

Academy Award® nominee Will Smith (Best Actor, The Pursuit of Happyness, 2006) stars in this action-packed comedy as Hancock, a sarcastic, hard-living and misunderstood superhero who has fallen out of favor with the public. When Hancock grudgingly agrees to an extreme makeover from idealistic publicist Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman, Juno), his life and reputation rise from the ashes and all seems right again--until he meets a woman (2003 Academy Award® winner Charlize Theron, Best Actress, Monster) with similar powers to his and the key to his secret past.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1213 in DVD
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 2008-11-25
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 92 minutes

Amazon.com
Hancock turns the standard superhero movie inside-out: The title character (Will Smith) can fly, has superstrength, and is invulnerable, but he's also a sloppy, alcoholic jerk who causes millions of dollars in property damage whenever he bothers to fight crime. When he saves the life of a public-relations agent named Ray (Jason Bateman, Arrested Development), Ray decides to improve Hancock's image--starting by having Hancock surrender himself to the authorities and go to prison for his lawless behavior. The idea is that once he's in prison, the crime rate will go up, and people will start to realize Hancock might be of value after all. This is only the first act of Hancock--from there, the movie takes several clever turns that shouldn't be revealed. Hancock isn't a great movie (among other things, director Peter Berg overuses close-ups with a hand-held camera to a degree that may cause motion sickness), but it is an extremely entertaining one. The script, which holds together far better than most superhero movies, has a propulsive plot, good dialogue, some compassion for its characters, and even an actual idea or two. The spectacular action at least gestures towards obeying the laws of physics, which actually makes the special effects more vivid. The three leads (Smith, Bateman, and Charlize Theron as Ray's wife, Mary) deftly balance the movie's mixture of comedy, action, and drama. All in all, a smart subversive twist on a genre that all too often takes itself all too seriously. --Bret Fetzer

Stills from Hancock (click for larger image)

Customer Reviews

The Only One of its Kind
Hancock (Will Smith) is not your garden variety superhero. He's more like your garden variety bum. He spends most of his day sleeping on benches and drinking booze. When duty calls, he awakens from his drunken coma, bottle in hand to stop the wrong-doers. If there's a lesson to be learned here, it's not to fight crime drunk because it costs millions in property damage and public outrage. Luckily for Hancock, somebody wants to help the poor guy. Cue Ray (Jason Batemen) a publicist who vows to change the superhero's image in exchange for Hancock's saving his life.

The first half of "Hancock" is chock full of crude humor and the superhero doing his worst at being the best. It's thoroughly entertaining and will provide plenty of laughs. The second half of "Hancock" is about the superhero in the spotlight, but this time he is depicted as a "true" superhero and the public begins to recognize him as a positive figure. The second half is what makes or breaks the movie for viewers. Why? Because of the unexpected twist in the plot.

While I won't reveal the plot twist, I will say that it will leave people feeling divided. Some will probably think it is incredibly clever and others will believe it's sheer silliness. In my opinion, it's both clever and silly at the same time. Either way you look at it, "Hancock" is an original movie...the only one of its kind. The only superhero movie that does not have to be strict to a source, i.e. a comic book, to appease fans. It is also extremely entertaining. Everything from the CGI to the performances make this movie interesting and above all, unique. "Hancock" is definitely a movie worth watching.

Entertaining! Will Does His Thing!
Quick and easy: Will Smith does a great job. He has grown as an actor. This movie is entertaining. There is drama, action, romance, comedy, violence, and some unexpected language and situations that are not exactly little kid friendly. HANCOCK takes real life situations and shows the struggle and growth to overcome them. It's about taking responsibility, taking charge, and making a change when change is needed. I liked it, and because I am always looking for a positive message in a movie, this movie gave me what I wanted by using a serious situation in a dramatic yet amusing way. Others found quirky faults with this, but hey, it's a SUPERHERO MOVIE for goodness sake.

Hancock
Not your typical superhero, John Hancock, is a conundrum. He is wreckless, drinks incessantly, doesn't care about anyone else, and causes far more costly destruction than the bad guys. However, Hancock saves a man looking to change the world. To repay him he vows to help Hancock change his image. At first he is resistant to this well meaning man, but eventually he sees he can't continue down the self destructive road he is headed. He even agrees to go to prison to repay society for his crimes. At first no one misses him, but the rampant crime spree that erupts pushes the city over the edge and they finally call upon Hancock to save them. This time he does so with far less damage and earns their admiration. Now only one other thing with him to deal with, he isn't the only one with super powers. The other one is a match to him and although he can't remember more than eighty years ago, they can and they can tell him their past link. This was a nice change to typical hero movies as it shows a more human side with our frailties and dark sides. Excellent DVD quality with plenty of replayability. If you enjoyed this catch "Daredevil".

CA Luster