@eddiebinge reviews: Hancock (2008)
Eddie plays: RedĀ (IMDb link)
We saw Hancock at the cinema before knowing who Eddie was; we wanted to see The Dark Knight, but it was full. ĀÆ\_(ć)_/ĀÆ Ā Out of a sense of duty, we watched it again for the binge.
The film had such potential, but the writing is so lazy itās irritating. It flits between a comedy, a superhero flick and a love story, and simply doesnāt try hard enough. Anyone paying attention, undistracted by the special effects, will notice how each new piled-on plot point results in far too many holes. They had a good idea, but a good idea can only carry a film so far and, in the end, it just gets silly.
Hancock (Will Smith) is an alcoholic with superpowers who lives on the streets of LA. If thereās something criminal happening, and he feels like helping, he causes millions of dollarsā worth of damage because heās either drunk or simply unaware of the consequences of his actions. A series of convenient TV news reports inform the audience that Hancockās been doing this for a long time and public attitude towards him is hostile. Once heās attempting to clean up his act and regain the publicās trust, Hancock crosses the path of Kenneth āRedā Parker Jr. (Eddie).
Red (always sporting a red item of clothing, how clever), is first seen robbing a bank while keeping hostages. Hancock saves the hostages, cutting off Redās hand in the process, and Red is thrown in jail. Within a week, Red convinces other inmates to escape and, out of revenge, tracks Hancock down. Again, we only learn who Red is through a convenient TV news report. The blink-and-youāll-miss-it report explains that Red, a former psychology professor at Stanford University, is a criminal mastermind who uses psychological persuasion to organise criminals of diverse backgrounds. Despite his miniscule amount of screen time, Red becomes the bad guy to Hancockās emerging inner good guy. But, as this is Hancock, heās also the filmās comic relief: Red screams like a girl, offers therapy and (hook)hand holding to two of his fellow inmates after Hancock shoves one of their heads up the otherās ass (seriously), and, as you can see from our favourite moment below, gets some funny lines.
The film is weak in almost every aspect, though the actors try their best with what theyāve been given which, in Eddieās case, is next to nothing. However, Eddieās revealed some layers to Redās character over the years. He filmed his first scene as Red two days after Mike Leighās Happy-Go-Lucky wrapped (weāve yet to review it!)
āIf you watch Happy-Go-Lucky and Hancock, my characters are the same because I couldnāt get Scott from Happy-Go-Lucky out of my head.ā [Source]
And one last thing... according to Total Film Magazine (weāre dubious) Eddie also had this to say about Red in 2010:
āMy first big Hollywood baddie... You donāt see it in the movie but whenever heās in prison, heās surrounded by massive, muscle-bound black guys. He was gay, basically, and he loved to control these people and yet also was being fucked by them. They took all that out because they were going for a younger audience.ā [Source]
Redās reaction to having his second and last hand cut off
Red was a two-dimensional character and didnāt have enough screen time for us to form much of an opinion for the cuteometer. Yes, he did some bad things, but we were also supposed to laugh at him and find him funny. The writers didnāt care about his crimes that much so neither do we - he gets a six.Ā
ā Cops & Robbers
ā He dies
ā Fisty-cuffs
A big time robber this time - a bank robber!Ā
Cause of death: axed in the face
Weāre finding it hard to keep rating bad films one star; it feels lazy. So let us explain ourselves on this occasion. Hancock is bad but it isnātĀ awful. We didnāt hate every moment of it. In pursuit of fairness, weāve compared it to a film we did truly hate, I Want Candy, which warranted zero stars. One is better than zero, so thatās what Hancock receives.Ā
Where to watch: Amazon (DVD)Ā | Netflix (UK)
