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Hancock

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I thought this was going to be a good one. We saw it yesterday, and I was unimpressed. I hear they're going to make a franchise out of it, and all I can say is, I hope the sequel is better than the original.

It started off entertaining enough, but then it just kinda went all over the place, for me anyway. Jason Bateman's character, a PR guy, trying to get corporations to give stuff away for free was annoying. (Fortunately, none of them were buying into it.) Perhaps this movie was just the set up for better things to come?? I'm not sure, but definitely not worth seeing in the theater, maybe worth a rental. If you can catch it for free on HBO, even better.

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I hope the sequel is better than the original.

I concur. I was somewhat disappointed with it as well. It's not that it was bad, it just wasn't good.

It has a different twist to it toward the end, but it isn't really that interesting of a twist.

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I enjoyed it, but I think I mostly enjoyed it because of the comedy aspects in the first 2/3 of the film. It didn't seem to have a theme of any kind.

That bothered me as well. The change from comedy to lovey-dovey romantic drama. Not what I was expecting(and hoping for) based on the previews. I feel a little misled. Save the 10 bucks.

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That bothered me as well. The change from comedy to lovey-dovey romantic drama.

Yeah, that's it! I described it as being "all over the place" but this is a better description. :confused: I also agree with RB and Jenni. Funny parts were funny and it's not awful, just not good.

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This movie is a journey of self-discovery as means of redemption. Despite the fact that Hancock is a superhero, this movie is actually about Hancock's internal psychological conflict. Hancock has amnesia and doesn't know who he is. But rather than starting a new life he drifts purposelessly, cranky, often drunk, as if he were in perpetual mourning. This is when the movie is like a comedy. Although Hancock never gets his memory back he does learn his identity. By the end of the movie he is a changed man and not funny, but the male lead in an epic impossible romance, which is a kind of tragedy. The entire movie switches genres as the main character changes, which is novel filmmaking but contradicts any notion of thematic unity.

It is always tricky to film an internal conflict so there is usually a parallel external conflict which is easily filmable and controls the pace of the plot. Hancock lacks any plausible external conflict so the action lacks any tension. Even at the end of the movie where Hancock nearly gets killed, I was just waiting and waiting for Hancock to finally understand that the way to beat Kryptonite is to stay away from it. The paradoxical nature of his particular Kryptonite is not adequately explained, and so feels arbitrary and gimmicky.

"Doesn't add up" and "all over the place" are fair descriptions of this movie.

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I would say "all over the place" is fair as well. It definitely had a "gimmicky" feel. However, I'm surprised nobody has talked about how the story resembles Think Twice, where one has to make a choice between risking death for the hope of an infinitely greater life. Also, the first half of Hancock I found thoroughly entertaining just as an action/comedy. All together, I found it a very worth-while film.

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