Hancock
a.k.a. “John Hancock” and “Tonight, He Comes” MPAA Rating:
 for some intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, and language.Reviewed by: Taran Gingery Offensive
Moviemaking Quality:
½Primary Audience:
Teens, Adults
Genre:
Fantasy, Action, Drama
Length:
1 hr. 32 min.
Year of Release:
2008
USA Release:
July 2, 2008 (wide)
“There are heroes. There are superheroes. And then there’s…” Social outcast. Loner. Misunderstood. Drunkard? All of these you could expect to hear about any superhero, from Batman to Superman, at some point in their lives—except the last one. But that is exactly what John Hancock (Will Smith) is when we first meet him—a drunk, rude, abrasive, brash, and coarse man with superhuman strength, the ability to fly, immortality and automatic healing. Hancock is quick to any scene of crime, yet, in spite of that, the citizens of Los Angeles hate him, and not only because he is crude and downright mean, but because his entrances and exists usually wreak more damage then the crimes themselves. But there is more to Hancock then meets the eye, and what Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman) sees is a man who is lonely, insecure and who desperately needs to change his public image. As a PR specialist, Ray sees himself as just the man to do this. This proves harder than he thinks, especially with strong opposition from his own wife Mary (Charlize Theron), and soon Hancock finds himself forced to deal with his own emotional demons of the past, while trying to improve his future and take out the criminal masterminds of the present. There is actually a lot to admire about Hancock. At first he seems to be a man beyond salvation. But he shows a yearning to be accepted by the city, to improve his own flaws, to save lives, to find true friends, and he also shows a lot of respect to Ray, simply by his earnestness and his sincere attempts to change. Sure, the change comes gradually and many mistakes are made along the way. But, the point is, he is learning. And the final messages of the movie ask us what would we be willing to sacrifice to do the truly heroic thing. Ray is, also, mostly a model of perseverance, patience, understanding and good will (his wife tells him. “You see the good in everybody—even if its not there.”) Unfortunately, there is also a lot of negative content in this film, the strongest being the language, which mostly comes from Hancock. He calls everyone extremely crude names, insults and mocks people, makes a sexual advance on a married woman (he is strongly rebuffed), and often reacts violently when he is called a specific word (***hole), one that is thrown around by nearly everyone, including small children. He also uses the f-word once, and the s-word and God's name numerous times. He is constantly drunk. Again, this is all somewhat exaggerated to show what kind of person Hancock is before he changes, but it seemed a bit much to me. Mary also wears cleavage-revealing attire during several scenes. There is also plenty of violence. Hancock rains havoc on buildings, cars, streets, trains, tornadoes, even whales, no matter what he is doing, intentional or not. He is shot at with all types of guns imaginable, all leaving him, but, not necessarily the shooters, unharmed. A man's hand is severed, but non-bloody. A character is smashed in the face, stabbed in the shoulder and shot, and another character is also shot repeatedly, both with somewhat bloody results. A visual gag involves one man's head being shoved up the rear end of another man, something we did NOT need to see. It's unfortunate that all of this content had to be there, mostly to evoke laughs from the audience it seemed, and I feel a lot of it could've been toned down to be less offensive, while still utilizing Will Smith's natural comic acting to get the effect across and not downplaying Hancock's change of heart. Speaking of Will, he is excellent as Hancock, with his usual swagger and one-liners and moments of true emotion, while Bateman is fine as Ray the “straight man,” and Theron manages to make Ray's slightly schizophrenic wife sympathetic and weird at the same time. The special effects are good, nothing special, and there are surprisingly few action scenes. There are several genuine laughs in the script, and the story is original enough, with a few quite interesting twists. It's up to you to decide if Hancock is really one of “God's angels,” as they call his kind, or not, which is probably the only spiritual reference in the film. All said, “Hancock” is sure to be another Will Smith blockbuster, and there are several positive messages that discerning audiences can find, but the excessive foul language, violence and general negative content seems too much for me to recommend it (only for older teenagers and adults). Violence: Heavy / Profanity: Extreme / Sex/Nudity: Moderate See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.   Comments below:
Positive
Positive - I would say that this movie had good action and was very funny. One of the best this year. Positive - Definitely exceeded my expectations. “Hancock” is a very insightful, very interpretive, and very human tale of a quasi-superhero fitting in in “real life.” He struggles with depression, loneliness, alcoholism, and a world seemingly as ambivalent as he is to his existence. He is welcomed nowhere but yet needed everywhere: truly, a man with more dilemmas than even Atlas could bear. So with the convincing talent of Will Smith and an original, even thought-provoking storyline, you surprisingly have a decent flick. Now, I'm partial to superheroes. Always have been. I was 4 when I got my first Batman action figure, and I've never deviated from the world of superheroes since. Much in the way of comic book lore has hit the screen over the years: some of it great, some not so great. Positive - Good movie if you just want to sit back and have a good laugh. For all those who sit in a movie and count the swear words, it's not for you (as I see some have done already done so by the comments I have read).. This is NOT “The Pursuit of Happyness,” so don't go expecting to see that kind of Will Smith performance. It's just a silly, far fetched comedy made to make you smile a bit, so go and see it and remind yourself as you enter the theatre and watch it: This is the world we live in and that's how they talk, you don't like it... Don't enter!!! Sound fair??? Positive - I saw this film with my 12 year old son. If you can get past some bad words, it has a great message, and after all it's Will Smith. A very good movie. Positive - First off I don't know what alot of other viewers seen. Such as Ann Darby. There was no sex in this movie. Maybe some kissing or a scene of cheating but no sex (especially no ejaculation as someone she put). Neutral
Neutral - Hancock was a fantastic idea... that being said, it was not a fantastic movie. The plot was very much a family movie plot, but the language and vulgar references were greater than any PG-13 movie I think I have ever seen. very strange, the 2 did not mix. Almost every cuss word you can think of was used at least once (including the F-word) and the lesser words (if there is such a thing) were used in most every scene. Multiple sexual and crude bodily harm references were made and in one instance, the reference and character reactions would have been enough for the laugh, but the director decided to blow the joke by actually showing the outcome. Neutral - I just returned from a family outing to see 'Hancock.' Being a fan of Will Smith, I expected to be entertained. I got exactly what I was looking for. I love the fact that, even when the script tries to make him get serious, he is always finding some way to make an audience laugh. The laugh factor is high in this film. The action will blow your mind. There are some fight scenes that will leave you breathless. The supporting cast, which includes Jason Bateman (Good to see him bounce back after the awful 'Arrested Development), and Charlize Theron, are all very good. The director, Peter Berg, Knows how to bring good performances out of the cast and stage a fight scene. Neutral - The movie could have been very good if only they could have explained the way the characters had super powers, and if they could tone down the language. There were very small children in the audience and I felt for them. I think the movie went too far into the vulgar than it had to. I was very disappointed, Smith could be a lot better. Neutral - Took my wife to see this movie, not really knowing what it was about. Had read previous reviews on this site, and saw them about evenly split. Neutral - Hancock was a decent comedic film for the first hour and half. There were qualities of Will Smith's character that we haven't seen in his other pictures. The lazy alcoholic gritty super hero smashes and destroys government property and causes more ruckus than the situations before. The sudden plot and character change made the film spin in a completely different direction with pointless action scenes to fill in the gaps. It wasn't such a bad film it just didn't have anywhere to go after the twist so it felt as if the film was running on short fumes until crashing to a clumsy ending. Negative
Negative - Joe hit the nail on the head, “the language and vulgar references were greater than any PG-13 movie I think I have ever seen.” In the first 15-20 minutes their was nearly 30 obscene words (maybe more) coming from the mouth of not only adults but young children. This PG-13 movie needs more than parental guidance to be viewed, it needs earplugs to be worn. Negative - I took my 11 yr old son to go see this movie tonight. We walked out after 35 min into it. this movie is for adults only and even at that we must really ask ourselves if this is appropriate. The language was horrible, and the references were nasty, and then they even showed a scene of a man with his head literally shoved in a different mans ...rear. This is disgusting, and definitely nothing a child should be seeing. It really was not done in a humorous manner just a gross disgusting manner. Negative - This movie had a few funny parts, but you hardly noticed them because there was so much cursing. It was overwhelming how offensive the language was. Also, there were some parts that were so inappropriate, I was going to walk out of the movie. One of which, Hancock places a man's head in another man's backside. They don't just let you think that's what happened—they show you unfortunately. I would hope you would read this before you subject yourself or your family to this movie. I strongly regret ever going to see this at all. Negative - There's nothing good about this movie. the language was horrible. I walked out of the movie probably a little later than I should have. I was terribly disappointed at seeing little children under the age of 10 even attending this movie with their parents. But then again, that's why the world is in the state it is in. There is nothing redeeming about this movie. Stay away, don't take your children to see this movie. “Wall-e” would be a safe choice. Thank you and god bless. Negative - I watched “Hancock” last week with my wife and neither of us were crazy about it. I liked the first half of it but then the movie took a weird and unexpected turn that failed to satisfy. One of the things I found sickening about the movie was the fact that Hancock kissed Ray's wife after everything Ray had done for him. The implication was that they were going to sleep with one another (Ray had passed out, it was just the two of them and the music took a an edgy turn) but then she throws him out the window and nothing actually happens. This is where the movie gets weird. I won't spoil it, but definitely a waste of money. It's too bad because the movie could have been something great. Negative - I just saw that someone said they were disappointed that they spent $17.00 on this movie to walk out on it 35 minutes later. Just so that people are aware if you walk out of a movie you can go to the box office and get your money back for the ticket(s). I have done this on a few occasions where the movie was terrible or if it was a kids movie and my toddler could not sit through it. I have been in a movie that was 30 - 40 mins. in and have gotten my money back. So if you don't like a movie don't feel you have to sit through it just because you bought a ticket. You can leave and get your money back and maybe that would send a message back to Hollywood as well. Negative - Trashy. A waste of money and bad morality. Negative - My husband and I went to see Hancock with a great deal of expectation of watching a humorous, super-hero type movie. However, we were a great deal disappointed. I think they could have had a real good story line with their concept of the unlikely super hero, which Hancock was playing. Hancock's character was also played so well, with the various emotions displayed on his face. Other viewers noted the language as an issue, and as much as this is an issue for some, the main issue for my husband and I was the blurred marriage lines that we saw. I don't want to ruin the story line, so I won't say anymore, but there is a definite issue there. If only that portion of the story wasn't included, we would have walked away with a much better feeling. We went with a group of friends, and we all walked out of the movie feeling pretty deflated, instead of feeling excited over watching a good movie. We should have seen something else. Negative - PG-13??? Very trashy movie that is absolutely NOT kid-friendly. I’ve seen R rated movies that weren’t half as offensive as Hancock. Like an idiot I went to see it July 4 because I like Will Smith—or did. I've told my son to keep his kids away. Cursing, extreme violence, sex (including an ejaculation scene), drunkenness, crude & rotten behavior, extreme property damage, no plot, not at all funny, weirdness. Plus, there are references to the two main characters as being “gods or angels,” and they have healing powers. I've only walked out on two movies my entire life but Hancock was #3. Will Smith & Sony should be ashamed. I hope it bombs. Negative - Although I've never seen this movie, Hancock. I'd have to say that the previews were enough to cause me not to want to see it. Common sense, and the Word of God tells me that the Lord Jesus Christ would not be please if I did. it's bad enough that I have to hear and see the same things on TV. Why would I pay money and find pleasure in watching something that even Christ would find offensive to look at? Negative - My mother wanted to see this movie as she likes Will Smith so my husband and I took her to it. All of us hated it. Where do I start? Most has already been mentioned but just a re-cap: Negative - I went with my brother to see Hancock several nights ago. Based on what the Hancock trailers showed I thought it would be a funny and relatively decent superhero movie; especially with all the new superhero movies coming out like Iron Man and the Hulk. Also, with Will Smith as the lead, I figured, out of the one or two movies I'd seen with him in it, and his praised performance in I Am Legend, I'd be in for a real treat in acting and overall quality of film. I was wrong. Negative - I don't recommend this movie at all; especially to Christians. I believe that this film could have had the makings of a very good film had all the vulgarity and bad language been left out. I agree with the critic's comments about the film's excessive use of bad language, disrespectful use of God and Christ's name, and the vulgar content from what my family and I viewed until we finally had to leave. Negative - I expected a fun movie starring Will Smith, but I was greatly disappointed. I went to this movie with my nephew and my dad. If I had been by myself, I would have walked out. The profanity and vulgarity were extremely offensive. It is hard to believe that his movie is PG-13. It should be R because of the language and graphic vulgarity, even from children. My nephew is 14, and I told him of my disapproval of the behavior in the movie. Negative - I took my two boys, ages 10 and six, along with my wofe to view this latest 'superhero' flick. The comic book hero genre is our family favorite due to a house with 2 boys and a kid like Dad (me). My wife likes these movies as well. Negative - I went to this movie with my husband and his unsaved brother and his girlfriend without know anything about what it was about and without refering to this site first, and it was not a good decision to see this movie. The profanity is absolutely terrible all throughout the movie and very offensive, and the plot is absolutely ridiculous and very strange. I would not recommend this movie to anyone who is wanting a deeper walk with Christ, because it will not help you there at all! This movie should have been R for all the cussing. Not worth your money. Comments from young people
Positive - …I just saw this movie with my dad and my brother. We had seen reviews about all the bad language and how dumb it was because of the cussing! Most reviews gave it a 3 star or less… Positive - I did like this movie despite what everyone says about it. All you parents who are taking your children to the movie then complaining about having to walk out, don't take them. This movie is PG-13, but I think it should be more like PG-15. This movie was good, but a little vulgar for young ears. If your going to complain about it, don't go. That is your fault if you are aware that the movie is PG-13 and you take your 10, 11, 12 year old to see it. Don't blame it on Hollywood. The sound did go off towards the end but that problem was easily fixed. I personally like this movie but many people will feel different than I do. The use of @$$ hole was used way too much, but other than that this was a good movie. Negative - My aunt and uncle saw this movie one night, and we recently ate out with them. My uncle said it was loaded with bad language, and wasn't very good. Also, I'd like to say to parents something extremely important... Do not take your young kids to pg-13 movies without watching them yourself. It's part of being a parent, and even I know better than to take my kids to a PG-13 movie I haven't heard much about, or haven't seen before. It's too risky. Nowadays there's sex in every PG-13 movie, and some PG movies aren't even safe anymore. Movies aren't rated very strictly anymore. Personally, no 13 year old should see a movie with sex in it, so no PG-13 movie should have that kind of garbage in it. Hollywood's starting to do a much better job of making bad movies look good in the trailers. And even movies like HP just lure you in, getting darker and darker through the series until finally you're letting your kids watch the kind of thing you never would have let them watch before you'd seen Harry Potter. Hollywood's trying to put a few good things in movies just so parents won't notice the bad things in them, and parents need to start being a lot more careful with what they let their kids watch. Neutral - Now don't get me wrong this was a fun movie to go and see. It was entertaining, funny, and kept you on the edge of your seat. But the end was pretty stupid. They should've had a good villian. To let adults know this movie was made to attract high school kids. That's why they show some disgusting stuff but that's what boys like. The swearing was not needed which really brought this movie down. I think kids from 13 up are good to go seeing this movie |
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