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July 3, 2008
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Dork vs. Dork: Hancock Has The Fresh Prince burned me with bad movies before? Sure, I paid full price for Wild, Wild West and rented I, Robot. But let’s be fair: Will Smith has made a number of quite entertaining movies. Men In Black was a hoot, and Smith has shown his acting chops in Ali and The Pursuit of Happyness. Despite his infrequent missteps there is little evidence that Smith can’t carry an entire film on his own, as we saw with last year’s I Am Legend. Plus, these Fourth of July popcorn-Smith vehicles have always been about the alien-punching whizz-bangery and on that note they have paid in full. I’d venture that Hancock will stand at the top of the Will Smith canon. With a strong supporting cast in Bateman and Theron you’ve got a layer of personality on which to pile the high-flying super-heroics. Plus, who wouldn’t want to see the antics of a drunk Superman? That’s comedy awesome sauce, buddy. Peter Berg takes a lot of hits for his iffy acting work but as a director he has a solid catalog. The Rundown was an endearing bit of Walken-alia with The Rock, Friday Night Lights was great and The Kingdom, although flawed, is an exceptionally interesting political actioner. Haters poo-poo Hancock ’cause they’re unduely miffed at his Omega Man adaptation or that he butchered Asmiov but get over it. Hancock looks to provide a steady drumbeat in a summer of super-superhero flicks. — Glenn Given Dan Responds Why have we allowed Will Smith to co-opt the Fourth of July? This should be a time of celebration, not a time of Wild Wild West and Independence Day. It should not even be a time of Men in Black. Smith has done no less than taint this holiday with a seemingly unending line of shallow, ill-conceived Hollywood “blockbusters” that leave you with a stomach ache for weeks after leaving the theaters. I can’t even think about fireworks anymore without feeling the reflexive pain of Bad Boys II. (Fine, that came out a week after the Fourth of July, but still.) And then there’s the the movie itself. Even if you can forget the fact that the director Peter Berg acted in Corky Romano, Hancock may well signal the end of days of superhero movies. Why? Because Smith and crew just don’t get it. In an interview about the anti-social, down-on-his-luck superhero, Smith went on and on about how Superman and Batman were our grandparents heroes, in other words Hancock is now, man, real relevant to the kids of today. Well, Mr. Smith, I’m sorry you feel that way, but let’s talk again on July 18. That’s the day The Dark Knight hits the theaters, and we’ll see just how important you really are. — Dan Szczesny Glenn Responds
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06/12/2006 The Incredible Hulk
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