What A Superego

Hancock suffers from strange execution, weak plot

To See Or Not To See
By Michael the K

Preferring to view and review films on DVD, rather than see them in the theater (where they don’t look or sound as good as my home theater), I was asked by the publisher to review one of the new superhero movies. After looking over the selections, I notice major actors, probably starved for good scripts, have now moved over to the superhero genre, a more popular and profitable market. Reviewing the list, Ironman with Robert Downey Jr., The Hulk with Edward Norton and Hancock with Will Smith, I thought to myself, what’s next, Barbara Streisand in Barbarella?

I decided on Hancock (PG-13), as the premiere was the next day at Eureka’s Broadway Theater, the best place in the area to see films, as several of their cinemas have THX film (see review of the Broadway). So off I went to another rare music experience.

To understand this adventure in moviegoing, I’ll spell out what I see at the showing. First of all, it was filled with teens and college students who all had their cell phones in operation and were calling and texting others. Another operation that cell phones accomplish these days. The glow from the phones lit the theater in a blueish light that was distracting from the dimly lit environment. One girl in front of me carried out the operation right in front of me in the middle of the film.

After about ten minutes, the screen lit up, and we were again forced to watch several made-for-theater advertisements, one of which was for a cell phone service. How appropriate for this evening! I heard several comments about how distasteful it was having to watch commercials at the movies. Finally, they are waking up to the intrusion made when the whole idea of attending movies is to escape from reality. Trailers commenced, and finally Hancock filled the screen. Again, I noticed the graininess of the print and the push color the film stock added to the skin tones. DVDs certainly look so much better, I thought.

Hancock is the story (if I may call it that) of a superhero who has a lapsed memory of his past, carries out enforcement of the law in street clothes, lives the life of a street person, and creates great monetary damage to surrounding structures in his quest to capture and deter criminals. To his dismay, the public is constantly criticizing his m.o. in his deeds. Hancock, played by Will Smith, who also produced the film, carries out his deeds in an alcoholic stupor, and is a good candidate for anger management class. We’ve seen this in the Hulk over the years, haven’t we?

Jason Bateman (Juno, Arrested Development) is an advertising agent who was struggling to entice big businesses in his campaign to give out free products. He has a brainstorm to involve Hancock in his endeavor after Hancock rescues him from being crushed by an incoming freight train. The rescue, of course, was botched, causing much damage, and the public’s negative outcry was too much for Hancock’s ego. He then winds up in jail as the public revolts against him, and Bateman soon convinces him to change his ways and don a more suitable attire to carry out his feats. Charlize Theron (Monster) plays Bateman’s wife, who seems to have a thing for Hancock. We later find out that they are both superbeings who were married in another time.

I don’t want to give away the plot, as there wasn’t much of it in this strange execution. The build-up finally does have some interesting revelations, but this playing out of the story seems juvenile, and would be more believable if teenagers had written it. Also, forty minutes into the film, there were sound problems. The Dolby Digital sound track cracked and probably defaulted to Pro Logic tracks. Being a lower-level process, the next ten minutes went by at whisper level, making it difficult to stay engrossed in the action.

I sat faithfully to the end of the credits, and left the theater longing for the delights of my home set-up. On the way out, I glanced at the concession stand’s pricing, and was shocked at what they charge. Large popcorn, $5.50 and large drink, $3.85? No wonder a family thinks twice before dropping fifty bucks on a movie they usually don’t enjoy. It looks like in this gas crunch economy that even the escape to films is threatened. I notice the The Movies at the Bayshore Mall has a new $3 matinee rate. Could this be a consequence of declining attendance? Unless Hollywood wakes up and gives us back the experience we once had of attending a screening, theater-going could become a thing of the past.

Grade: C-

Michael the K, in addition to his position as Video Editor, is a long-time music producer and filmmaker living in Eureka. He can be reached at 667-3302, or at video ~~AT~~ humboldtsentinel.com. More of his writing can be reviewed at eurekatribune.com.