Hancock is a superhero whose ill-considered behavior regularly causes damage in the millions. He changes when the person he saves helps him improve his public image.Hancock is a superhero whose ill-considered behavior regularly causes damage in the millions. He changes when the person he saves helps him improve his public image.Hancock is a superhero whose ill-considered behavior regularly causes damage in the millions. He changes when the person he saves helps him improve his public image.
- Awards
- 4 wins & 14 nominations
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe original screenplay was much darker. Apart from being a low-life, Hancock was supposed to be sexually frustrated because he couldn't have sex with a woman without killing her. The MPAA actually cleared a scene involving Hancock's explosive orgasm, but it was removed from the final cut because a test audience didn't find it funny. The tone was lightened considerably for a summer release aimed at a wide audience, but the MPAA gave the film an R twice before language and violence cuts resulted in a PG-13.
- GoofsWhen the people are running away from the tornadoes, suddenly a strange character runs from the left to the right of the screen. The character is twice as tall as everyone else, and looks like a robot or an alien. It may be a street performer, on stilts and in costume.
- Quotes
John Hancock: All of you people, blocking the intersection, you're all idiots.
Rail Crossing Crowd #1: You're the one that threw the dude's car at her. And what's with the train?
Rail Crossing Crowd #2: Why didn't you just go straight up in the air with the car? You've obviously injured that poor woman.
Rail Crossing Crowd #3: She's right. She should sue you.
John Hancock: Okay. Well, you should sue McDonald's, 'cause they fucked you up.
- Crazy creditsA scene after the credits start to roll.
- Alternate versionsAn extended cut was released on DVD and Blu-Ray featuring several additional and modified scenes. The additional scenes include, but are not limited to: Hancock bringing a girl to his trailer to have sex, Mary Embrey driving to Hancock's trailer instead of flying there, and Hancock getting off a prison bus while chained to other prisoners whom he drags behind him.
- SoundtracksWhammer Jammer
Written by Stephen Bladd, J. Geils (as John Geils Jr.), Seth Justman, Daniel Klein, Magic Dick (as Richard Salwitz), and Peter Wolf
Performed by The J. Geils Band
Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp.
By arrangement with Warner Music Group Film & TV Licensing
Hancock is not the generic superhero film and is probably one of the more ingenious ideas to come across a producer's desk in quite some time. To me, what it seems like is that the writers of the film loved the idea, started off extremely strong, and then began to realize that how hard it is to sustain a simplistic idea over the course of a full length motion picture (and it is because of this that Hancock is relatively short). The writers' plan to solve this problem is to throw in a totally unnecessary and badly handled plot twist to keep the audience guessing. The lack of a central villain also hurts the movie a lot. The character that serves as Hancock's enemy in the finale isn't even well acted. The person is laughable.
This is an action movie, so it should come as no surprise to see well done and original action in the movie. However, I felt the effects could have used a few more weeks of polishing in the editing room. The camera is also quite crampy. I also have problems with the film's score, as it does not add an epic feeling to the film like it should have. I felt like something was missing in the climax of the film (which is not the end). The action scenes, while entertaining and original, were not long enough to engage the audience like say, The Incredible Hulk, nor were they as jaw dropping as those in Wanted.
The film's strength rides on its three stars. Action veterans Will Smith and Charlize Theron both deliver winning performances as usual, and that should come as no surprise. Smith's charisma is enough to make anyone happy, and it's so easy to see why so many people love him. Theron is always a sight to behold (except in Monster, lol), and this film is no different. I enjoyed her performance the most, especially in the second act and the beginning of the third. Jason Bateman, who seems to be the bridge connecting the performances of Smith and Theron, is great as usual, and likable, marking a change from his recent turn in "Juno". There really isn't another performance to note, and part of Hancock's weakness is that there are really only three main engaging characters. It should also be noted that the kid who played Bateman's son was absolutely adorable.
Hancock is the classic case of great idea, and mediocre execution. I can see this idea being remade years from now, and pulled off even better. It's not a fault of Peter Berg, the film's director, as the real weakness is in the screenplay, which falters after an excellent and wonderful opening act. It's not a bad film by any means, nor is it great. It's in between "okay" and "good".
- The_Amazing_Spy_Rises
- Jul 1, 2008
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- John Hancock
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $150,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $227,946,274
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $62,603,879
- Jul 6, 2008
- Gross worldwide
- $629,443,428
- Runtime1 hour 32 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1