Once Upon a Geek

While the reviews have been somewhat mixed, I personally enjoyed the new movie “Hancock“.  I felt the movie delivered on what was promised in the trailers (a down-and-out superhero mends his ways to become a hero).  There were fun displays of superpowers, such as the way Hancock does super-jumps and his landings.  They also did an excellent job showing the collateral damage caused by superheroes.  It makes you think how dangerous it would really be to have super-powered beings running around.

Surprisingly, there is a whole other plot that takes place on the back-end of the movie that was not featured in the trailers.  I won’t spoil it for you, but I imagine that is what most people are fussing about.  The expectation nowadays is that every major plot thread should be featured in the trailer.  When something hits you during the film you weren’t expecting, you should rejoice!  Wow, a genuine surprise during a movie!  When was the last time that happened?  We’ve all become so used to knowing in advance what is going to happen, we’ve forgotten how much fun it is to be surprised.  Good job Hancock!

Finally, there were some concerns early on about the similarities between the Hancock plot of a down-and-out/alcoholic superhero and the potential “Demon in a Bottle” plot for Iron Man 2.  In fact, the director of Iron Man 2 suggested they may have to drop the entire Tony Stark alcoholic storyline if it would be too repetitious of Hancock.   After seeing Hancock, I don’t think they have anything to worry about.  I think the storyline of Tony Stark spiraling into self-destructive alcoholism could still be done quite well without concern for plot repetition.  Just my two cents.