6
I... don't know. It was odd. A lot of potential, but ruined by trying to fit too much movie into too little time.
*** SPOILERS BELOW ***
First off, most of the funniest bits were in the trailer, so don't expect it to be hugely more comedic, but this is explained by the filmmakers own admissions (they had to really oomph up the comedy aspect in the trailer to avoid an NC17 rating in the US).
For me, the storytelling felt... jumpy. For one, it's two stories hastily jammed together - Hancock's redemption from drunken bum to true Hero, and Hancock discovering his origins with the revelation of Charlize Theron's character (who is hot even in her housewife makeup (i.e. very little) but utterly smoking when they make her up movie style) also being super. As a result, you never really got enough time with any aspect of the movie - in the first half, Hancock's character developed way to quickly - you never saw him as a bum, in gaol or as a true super hero for long enough. And then, for the second half, you never had enough time with the baddie (whos character was in no way fleshed out, which was quite frustrating). Plus, this meant that the movie had abosultely no consistent tone. The first half was a dramedy, the second a straight out action drama, with quite a bit of emotion.
Ultimately, this would have been vastly improved if released Kill Bill style, with a part one, and a part two twelve months later. I suspect that the DVD will have masses of cut material, and the directors cut (which I'm really hoping for) will probably be vastly superior, akin to the way Daredevil was savagely cut and went from decent to fairly crap (Tangent, but if you disliked that movie and haven't seen the directors cut, maybe go rent it sometime. Much better movie).
All that said, I wasn't completely unhappy about spending the admission price. It was probably a better use of my time than, say, Indiana Jones, because you go in with no expectations, and come out slightly pleasantly surprised (as opposed to going in with high expectations and coming out disappointed).
My advice would be to wait for the DVD rather than seeing it on the big screen, preferably the directors cut, if there is one (I really hope there will be). The CGI was nowhere near good enough to justify the big screen alone (unlike, say, Transformers), and I thought actually let the movie down a bit.
*** SPOILERS BELOW ***
First off, most of the funniest bits were in the trailer, so don't expect it to be hugely more comedic, but this is explained by the filmmakers own admissions (they had to really oomph up the comedy aspect in the trailer to avoid an NC17 rating in the US).
For me, the storytelling felt... jumpy. For one, it's two stories hastily jammed together - Hancock's redemption from drunken bum to true Hero, and Hancock discovering his origins with the revelation of Charlize Theron's character (who is hot even in her housewife makeup (i.e. very little) but utterly smoking when they make her up movie style) also being super. As a result, you never really got enough time with any aspect of the movie - in the first half, Hancock's character developed way to quickly - you never saw him as a bum, in gaol or as a true super hero for long enough. And then, for the second half, you never had enough time with the baddie (whos character was in no way fleshed out, which was quite frustrating). Plus, this meant that the movie had abosultely no consistent tone. The first half was a dramedy, the second a straight out action drama, with quite a bit of emotion.
Ultimately, this would have been vastly improved if released Kill Bill style, with a part one, and a part two twelve months later. I suspect that the DVD will have masses of cut material, and the directors cut (which I'm really hoping for) will probably be vastly superior, akin to the way Daredevil was savagely cut and went from decent to fairly crap (Tangent, but if you disliked that movie and haven't seen the directors cut, maybe go rent it sometime. Much better movie).
All that said, I wasn't completely unhappy about spending the admission price. It was probably a better use of my time than, say, Indiana Jones, because you go in with no expectations, and come out slightly pleasantly surprised (as opposed to going in with high expectations and coming out disappointed).
My advice would be to wait for the DVD rather than seeing it on the big screen, preferably the directors cut, if there is one (I really hope there will be). The CGI was nowhere near good enough to justify the big screen alone (unlike, say, Transformers), and I thought actually let the movie down a bit.
TI - Coming in 2011 - Promise!
"Everyone has to wear clothes, and if you don't, you get arrested!" - Mr. T
"Everyone has to wear clothes, and if you don't, you get arrested!" - Mr. T
