Seeing how my wife and I attended an advanced screening of Hancock before it opened, I am going to be careful not to reveal too much in my review. I felt like it was a great honor to write about a movie BEFORE it opened so I could truly inform my readers about whether or not to see it. Before I go any further, I want you to know that it is my opinion that this movie is worth seeing…but just don’t rush out in a hurry.

Now that we have the legalities out of the way, let me just tell you that whatever you have seen in the trailers and whatever sense you get about the story of Hancock, you are going to be very much surprised by the actual movie. Going into Hancock, I was expecting to see a totally different movie than what I did. Granted, I only chose to watch the opening teaser trailer and then one other trailer afterwards; I intentionally chose not to immerse myself in plot-revealing trailers that movies debut these days. I wanted to walk into Hancock with as little information as I could so as to not over-expect and end up being let down. Armed with an expectation of a summer superhero movie with a twist (the twist being that the superhero doesn’t actually want to be a superhero), I walked into Hancock expecting as much and left the movie feeling a lot more emotionally spent than what I thought I would.

The film stumbles a bit as it appears to be a comedy at first, then moves quickly to being dark, but then slides a little downhill towards a “take-it-serious” film. From the outset, a drunk hero with an attitude, who goes around saving people sounds pretty laughable and funny, but then it suddenly and quickly turns to a dark movie. The character of John Hancock (Will Smith) is not a likable guy. He is rough, and not just comically rough like you’d expect out of lovable Smith, he is a straight up jerk. Will Smith fans will have a hard time with this one. His distrust and general indifference towards human beings really pervades everything that he is about, so much so that for most of the movie I was finding myself rooting against him. I don’t root against Will Smith. I love Will Smith.

As strong as his performance is though, there are quite a few things about this movie that are just plain corny. There appears to be a few sequencing errors that left my wife and I wondering why they were filmed in that order…scenes that don’t make sense in the setting of the story. There is also a multitude of back story that we weren’t given yet had to make guesswork about because without it, the story doesn’t connect correctly. Let’s just say that the majority of my friends didn’t even know Charlize Theron is in the movie, and towards the middle of the film when she is heavily involved in another storyline (which is the storyline that eventually took over the movie) it was apparent that the movie shifted into more of a melodrama than a “summer blockbuster superhero movie.”

The first half of the movie is really exciting and engaging, the special effects and action sequences are spectacular and I love the ride that the film takes you on. One of the more subtle characteristics of Hancock that I find really interesting is that when he flies, he looks awkward. His arms flail about to his sides like he doesn’t really know how to fly like “Superman” because he’s not! He’s just a regular guy who happens to be indestructible and immortal and who also happens to fly. I was glad to see the director keep Hancock as human as he could because the story, I felt, would suffer if he was “more than life” or over-the-top superhero.

I really think Jason Bateman is a perfect cast in this movie. I have always liked him as an actor, fell in love with him in Arrested Development, and think that his role in Hancock is one of the more endearing and “saving” characters of the film. His character is humble and wise, trusting in Hancock when he’s too screwed up for anyone else to give him a chance. His discernment in Hancock’s situation truly serves as a cornerstone for how heartfelt and caring Bateman’s character is. He added that much needed laugh when the movie tried too hard to engage your emotional core, it was like his character was telling us, “Look, this is about a guy who is immortal like Superman but who drinks and cusses, let’s not get too carried away with reality.” Besides the humor he adds to his roles, I also think, as an actor, he adds a comical class and charm to the films he makes.

It was a very enjoyable film regardless, it just needed to pick a direction that it wanted to go in and stay the course. It’s not one of Will Smith’s best films and it won’t be remembered as his strongest, but it will make a lot of money and be at the top…for about a month, until The Dark Knight comes out of course.