Hancock

Superhero fans will find it packs a decent punch.

reviewed by Mark Burns

A boozing uber-bruiser shambles up to his heroic calling in this fun spin on the superhero tale.

Hancock (Will Smith: I Am Legend) is an amoral do-gooder, a temperamental lush whose reckless heroics have the tendency to demolish Los Angeles’ cityscape. Consequently, Angelinos are spitting venom at their so-called protector. He seems doomed to remain the city’s lesser evil. That is, until Hancock’s path crosses with goody-two-shoes publicist Ray (Jason Bateman: Juno). Ever the optimist, Ray hatches a scheme to awaken the hero’s nobler spirit and polish his image. Hancock grudgingly plays along, discovering his forgotten past in the process of realizing his true potential.

This hero is unique amid this summer’s bumper crop of superhero cinema, his character and myth being the only fresh invention among them. A pluot amid the conventional fruits, you might say. It can be risky, nudging an unestablished, comedic superhero concept over the ledge. My Super Ex-Girlfriend fell flat, right beside The Mystery Men. But Hancock manages to fly pretty well.

Even the best superhero flicks tend to the formulaic, with smirking fanboy tributes, cheesy one-liners, clichéd characters and story hemmed by often-corny pulp lore. At its best, Hancock is refreshing for its independence. Screenwriter Vincent Ngo tinkers with a few what-ifs and emerges with a pretty original take on the genre.

Hints of other sources can be discovered: Hancock reminds a little of Superman after he was exposed to Richard Pryor’s kryptonite-lite; the context of disastrous civic consequence smacks of amusing reality check via The Incredibles; emerging lore is shaded with a darkening twist, dramatic smudging perhaps inspired by M. Night Shyamalan’s moody gem Unbreakable. Yet borrowing is light, never approaching the pratfall of rip-off.

Story is steady enough as Ray tries to shepherd the unloved hero unto adoration and higher purpose. Comedy, action and drama interplay nicely. But redemption comes suddenly, and complexities born of a fairly predictable plot twist don’t get sorted out cleanly. New and interesting dramatic angles are raised but not explored. The shift in tone is stark; the climax lacks for brighter counterpoints to float it out of the brutal. Still, the plot manages to hold center just enough to carry interest through to the end.

Director Peter Berg (The Kingdom) may let his attention wander from the story, but the action and special effects are first-rate. All the requisite feats of super-strength are present, tweaked with creative twists and comic touches.

Laughs succeed especially well in the first half. The interplay of cool heroics and their presumed real-world consequences provide sharp comedic tension between Hancock and the city of Los Angeles. His devil-may-care attitude and antipathy toward the very prattling public he serves makes for an amusing break from superhero tradition. A couple scenes lack snap and one running gag cramps up, but for the most part the humor is good fun.

Hancock isn’t spectacular, but it’s good, original fun. Superhero flick fans will find it packs a decent punch.

Good Action-Comedy • PG-13 • 92 min.

Horton Hears a Who! – Jonathan Parker

We learn a lesson and we feel an overwhelming sense of hope at the same time.

No one believes a humble and loveable elephant hears a tiny voice coming from a small speck on a flower in the enjoyable animated comedy Horton Hears a Who! This Dr. Seuss classic is spread thinly over 90 minutes but wins us over thanks to its warm heart and joyous climax.

Horton (voice of Jim Carrey) is a playful goof of an elephant who lives in a land with numerous creatures of all animal and Seussian sorts. Horton’s world perspective is thrown for a loop the day he hears and then starts talking to a voice coming from a little speck.

On the other end is the mayor of the happy-go-lucky land of Whoville (voice of Steve Carell). Horton realizes that he needs to get that land — the speck — to safety, while the mayor realizes he needs to warn his fellow citizens that they are in danger. No one believes Horton, and no one believes the mayor. Yet both know what they have to do.

There is always a danger in turning a Dr. Seuss story into a feature film. First, you are messing with a classic. Second, you are trying to stretch a very short poetic story into 90 minutes of entertainment. The latter is this film’s biggest shortfall. There is just not a lot going on here. As a result, simple plot lines are turned into 15-minute vignettes (though not songs, mercifully).

Carrey and Carell are asked to riff through much of their characters’ dialogue, and it grows quite strained quite quickly.

Frankly, the recent Hollywood practice of using bankable stars to insert their own personalities into the main cartoon characters doesn’t work all that well. More talented and interesting though less famous voices really do the job better (exhibit A: the Disney classics). In this film, the most interesting character is a buzzard with a deep Russian accent portrayed by TV supporting actor Will Arnett. The buzzard gets more laughs and has more personality than the big celebrity characters.

In the end, the Dr. Seuss-ness of the film carries the day. The animation is modern, but wonderfully stays true to the cartoonish Dr. Seuss look. More importantly, no one knows how to deliver a climactic scene quite like Dr. Seuss. We learn a lesson and we feel an overwhelming sense of hope at the same time. Who can ask for anything more?

Good animated comedy • G • 105 mins.