Hancock review
Jul. 6th, 2008 09:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearI think the thing that most struck me about Hancock is that it's *nothing* at all like the trailer. I guess that shouldn't come as too much of a surprise, as I know it's easy enough to make films look entirely different with judicious editing, but I don't really get why distribution companies want to market films so erroneously. I'm guessing they think more people will go if they think it's going to be funny, but doesn't that just mean they get a lot of disgruntled punters coming out of showings in the first weekend and telling all their friends that the film is no good?
I actually thought Hancock was pretty good overall - I had been forewarned by Empire not to expect a silly comedy, and I thought the darker side of the story was very effective. I did, however, also agree with Empire that it felt as if the script had had a few rewrites (one of which probably *was* the silly comedy it was made out to be in the trailer). There were several changes in direction throughout the film, which all seemed rather abrupt and as if they could have had a whole film to themselves. That left the plot rather fragmented and underdeveloped.
However, it was well acted, with good special effects, and what turned out to be a very interesting premise. Oddly, the action didn't suffer from "extreme-close-up-itis", but a lot of the dramatic scenes did, with the camera getting so close to each actor that not all of their face showed on screen. That was a little *too* close for me.
Still, largely enjoyable, and with a lot of interesting aspects that could have been developed more.
I actually thought Hancock was pretty good overall - I had been forewarned by Empire not to expect a silly comedy, and I thought the darker side of the story was very effective. I did, however, also agree with Empire that it felt as if the script had had a few rewrites (one of which probably *was* the silly comedy it was made out to be in the trailer). There were several changes in direction throughout the film, which all seemed rather abrupt and as if they could have had a whole film to themselves. That left the plot rather fragmented and underdeveloped.
However, it was well acted, with good special effects, and what turned out to be a very interesting premise. Oddly, the action didn't suffer from "extreme-close-up-itis", but a lot of the dramatic scenes did, with the camera getting so close to each actor that not all of their face showed on screen. That was a little *too* close for me.
Still, largely enjoyable, and with a lot of interesting aspects that could have been developed more.
