Hancock isn't by any means a dead loss, but it could have been a lot better.
Comment
07/10/08
Hancock (2008)
40
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:210
Fresh:84
Rotten:126
Average Rating:5.4/10
Consensus: Though it begins with promise, Hancock suffers from a flimsy narrative and poor execution.
Australian Theatrical Release:
Jul 3, 2008 Wide
US Box Office: $227,946,274
Synopsis: There are heroes… there are superheroes… and then there’s Hancock (Will Smith). With great power comes great responsibility – everyone knows that – everyone, that is, but Hancock. Edgy, conflicted,... [More]
Starring: Will Smith, Jason Bateman, Charlize Theron, Eddie Marsan
Director: Peter Berg
Reviews for Hancock
1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating; Australian critics are listed first)
Top CriticA clumsily executed, forgettable mess that's too dark for kids, too dull for teens and too dumb for adults
06/28/08
Top CriticI love surprises and would happily be led up the garden path with Will Smith, but there's a fatal flaw to Hancock, with alien-sized plot holes and worse still, characters behaving out of context.
06/28/08
Top CriticWith superhero films as hot in 2008 as psychedelics were in the 1960s, the new blockbuster superhero film Hancock fits with the label but without any of the ancestry. The 1983 film The Return of Captain Invincible is flipping in its grave.
07/03/08
There's a good chance Hancock will still rake in the cash over the next few weeks solely because of Smith's marketability, but as a whole the film is his most deplorable project since 1999's Wild Wild West.
07/03/08
Hancock can fly; Hancock can punch; Hancock is bulletproof. Regrettably these things don't hold true for Hancock as a film, which starts promisingly enough, but ultimately gets knocked off course by a reveal of dubious dramatic value.
07/02/08
Initially, it seems like Hancock is going to have some fun with the superhero paradigm, but this dark, muddled and tedious noise machine winds up being an inferior copy of that genre's highlights.
07/01/08
Director Peter Berg mounts a special-effects extravaganza that's very boring indeed, and doesn't quite deafen us to the inadequacies of the script, while Smith pretends to be a grumpy git but, naturally, winds up begging us to love him.
06/30/08
Hancock tries to be several things at once, but fails to be anything at all! I was hoping that this was going to be a fun take on the superhero genre, but instead it's easily the worst film of the summer!!!
06/30/08
Can someone explain how this high-concept dud nabbed a coveted Fourth of July opening?
07/02/08
I'm willing to give a superhero film some leeway in terms of realism but a film has to remain true to its own inner logic and this one keeps changing the ground rules.
07/02/08
A ton of potential, but ultimately a mess.
07/01/08
"Hancock" is not a bad movie, just an underachieving one. It lacks a "wow" factor. It is bland and routine and flies off in too many directions.
07/02/08
Drunk superhero comedy turns into ... something else, not all that successfully.
07/02/08
A fun, fairly crisp opening hour gives way to a muddled, entirely unsatisfying ending.
10/18/08
Best as a comedy and worst when it tries to get serious.
07/01/08
Hancock is a film that starts off promisingly, but takes a left turn about halfway through and literally comes apart at the seams.
07/01/08
Ill-conceived and oddly executed, this Will Smith vehicle perplexes more often than it entertains.
07/02/08
Too bad it's brought down by the most dreaded form of cinematic kryptonite %u2013 the fear of going against an audience's expectations and giving them the same old superhero song and dance.
07/01/08
With only an inter-personal story driving the picture, this becomes a sorry case of big concept, small movie.
07/06/08
Latest News for Hancock
September 11, 2009:
Will Smith and Charlize Theron on Board for Hancock Sequel 
We've already heard that a "Hancock" sequel is in development; now Peter Berg tells MTV that "everybody's going to come back." More...
August 28, 2009:
Weekly Ketchup: Hancock Sequel Script Started, Bioshock Scaled Back
We are firmly in the dog days of Summer, as Hollywood sneaks a couple of end of the menu horror movies into theaters, and movie news this week came to a near standstill. There... More...
August 25, 2009:
Columbia Hires Hancock Sequel Scribes
Looks like Peter Berg's recent comments about a "Hancock" sequel weren't just idle speculation: Columbia has hired scribes Adam Fierro and Glen Mazzara to write the script for a... More...
August 19, 2009:
Peter Berg Talks Hancock Sequel
There aren't any definite plans yet, but if a "Hancock" sequel ever comes to pass, Peter Berg has a few ideas about where the story might lead. More...
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