HANCOCK

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 7/3/08 at 7:09pm

Anyone seen this one yet? It looks interesting. Nice to see Jason Bateman getting work.

[Luckydave14]

Posted: 7/4/08 at 1:15am

I saw the movie at one of the Tuesday night screenings and thought it was pretty mediocre. The twists were good and I didn't see them coming, but some of the effects were laughable. When Will Smith just starts to fly in the first minutes of the movie, it looked totally fake and I was really surprised that it didn't look more professional. I usually like Will Smith's movies, but I was even disappointed by him. He played a much better bum in the Pursuit of Happyness. Jason Bateman was just OK, as was Charlize Theron. Nobody gave any special performances in this movie. I am sure that the bad reviews will not stop the movie from making huge amounts of money this weekend. Will Smith is one of the most successful movie stars of today and just his name is going to make this movie hundreds of millions.

[gumbo2]

Posted: 7/4/08 at 2:55am

TERRIBLE movie. The first half was fine and then it went drastically downhill so quickly my mind was boggled. Jason Bateman was pretty funny and then the movie stopped being a comedy and threw in a zillion pointless twists. It could have been really cool and interesting because it's a solid concept for a movie, but Will Smith wasn't given anything interesting to act and it turned out to be dreck. I would not recommend it.

[DG]

Posted: 7/4/08 at 3:01am

"it's a solid concept"

Hmmmmm - that's been my thinking going into it. And the scene of him throwing the whale into the sailboat in the trailers has always made me laugh.

It will be interesting to see how this does.

[DG]

Posted: 7/4/08 at 9:56am

"At approximately 24 minutes into the film, while Jason Bateman’s PR whiz works to rehabilitate the superhero’s tarnished image, he shows Hancock three comic book images in an effort to inspire him. But Hancock rejects the traditional image of costumed superheroes as he responds to each one: “Homo. Homo in red. Norwegian homo.”

Well, then. My interest level may have just flat-lined.

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/4/08 at 10:00am

“Homo. Homo in red. Norwegian homo.”


Oh, yeah, I really want to see a character like that on the screen.

I hope they think that line is still funny when they don't get a dime of my hard-earned money.

Rap THAT one, Mr. Smith!

[DG]

Posted: 7/4/08 at 10:03am

I'm with you, Besty. And what I'm REALLY not up for is hearing the audience laughter in response.

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 7/4/08 at 11:08am

That does sound bad, and I wouldn't be eager to hear the audience response to the line, either, but I think that the Hancock character is supposed to be a rather awful person in the beginning of the movie, so maybe it works in context.

[beacon1]

Posted: 7/4/08 at 11:34am

What trailers are being shown with this film?

[Roscoe]

Posted: 7/4/08 at 4:02pm

Life's too short to waste on Will Smith movies.

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 7/4/08 at 4:07pm

The original trailers made it seem like a fun, mindless summer movie, but the recent trailers added a layer that completely made me lose my interest. After reading the reviews, I am skipping it. Maybe on dvd.

[violet72]

Posted: 7/4/08 at 11:56pm

it was ok...mediocre...I liked I Am Legend better

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/5/08 at 12:35am

I saw it this afternoon, and I was taken out of the movie by the homo comments, but then I realized that I think that's part of the bargain with a Will Smith movie. I think his contract states there has to be at least one homophobic comment per movie.

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 7/5/08 at 12:09pm

What are you talking about? When did he ever scream homophobic comments at the zombies in LEGEND?

Posted: 7/5/08 at 8:00pm

Weren't he and Harry Connick lovers in Independance Day?

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/5/08 at 8:02pm

He contract doesn't say the comments will definitely be in the final cut.

[TonyaFanatic]

Posted: 7/6/08 at 12:45pm

So our consensus here is that comic book characters don't look gay?

[artscallion]

Posted: 7/6/08 at 12:55pm

What does gay look like, Tonya?

[TonyaFanatic]

Posted: 7/6/08 at 12:58pm

aww snap.....look, i saw the movie. it wasn't that big a deal. i've heard more offensive gay jokes on 'will and grace'.

[LadyRosecoe]

Posted: 7/6/08 at 6:55pm

Regardless of my thinking whether superheroes look gay or not, calling someone "homo" is equivocal to other unpleasant words I wouldn't think of putting in here to show you. Coming out of the mouth of the bigoted grandmother in Wedding Crashers? Okay, I laughed because she's nasty and old and I'd expect that, to be honest. But from Will Smith in some failed attempt at a superhero movie?

[Weez]

Posted: 7/6/08 at 6:58pm

Gay looks like a man bu... uh, kissing another man, right?

I mean, it's a tricky line. As far as I can tell, Hancock isn't meant to be a likeable character, so gaybashing from the character does not necessarily reflect the views of the filmmakers, actors, other characters, film as a whole. BUT that's an interpretation, and the kind of people who'd laugh at the "homo. Homo in red. Norwegian homo" line are the kind of people who won't bother putting the interpretive work in to realise that it's just not an acceptable thing for people say.

[romantico]

Posted: 7/6/08 at 7:05pm

Ian McKellen says Will Smith is homophobic:

Sir Ian McKellen has accused Will Smith of being homophobic.

The gay 'Lord of the Rings' actor, who worked with the Hollywood actor on the movie 'Six Degrees of Separation', has slammed the way Will reacted to playing a homosexual character.

Sir Ian, who is an active gay rights campaigner, said: "When he said, 'I can't be kissed, because it will gross out my fans,' he thought he was saying something very individual. But what he was actually confirming was that he's got the disease so many people have - homophobia."


http://www.askmen.com/gossip/will-smith/mckellen-brands-will-smith-homophobic.html

[worrell4077]

Posted: 7/7/08 at 4:13pm

I never had any real interest in seeing this. It basically just looks like if Superman was African American, an alcholic, and just a nasty guy. Will Smith's summer blockbuster type films have taken a bit of a turn for the worst probably starting with Wild, Wild West, but usually I like his films. For instance, I enjoyed Independence Day and the Men In Black movies, but there are some that are eh like I wasn't too overly thrilled with Pursuit of Happyness.

Besides, they basically ripped off a storyline in the Iron Man comics. Tony Stark/Iron Man develops alcoholism in the comics and thus the character Rhodes(I forget his first name) takes over as War Machine. They are probably going to be using that storyline or begin it in the next Iron Man movie.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 4:35pm

i'll be sad not reading well reasoned and fact supported posts like this one anymore.

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 7/11/08 at 11:17pm

Just saw it. It's pretty obvious that it was test-screened and focus-grouped to death. It tries to shoehorn in a large amount of "crowd-pleasing" moments in order to attract a blockbuster audience and ruins the good thing it had going for the first half hour or so.

Missed opportunity.