Hancock (2008)
★½ — Hancock (2008)
Released in the summer of 2008, Hancock arrived at a curious moment for superhero cinema. The genre was finding its feet in interesting ways, with studios beginning to take risks on stranger, less conventional takes on the costumed hero formula. On paper, the premise was genuinely appealing: a superpowered figure who drinks too much, causes more destruction than he prevents, and has become a public embarrassment rather than an icon. It was a concept that had the potential to puncture the po-faced earnestness that can weigh the genre down. Columbia Pictures and Relativity Media backed the project with Will Smith at the centre, releasing it just weeks after Iron Man had reset audience expectations for what a superhero blockbuster could be. The timing, and the pressure that came with it, would prove to be a relevant factor.
Behind the camera, Peter Berg directed from a script by Vince Gilligan and Vincent Ngo (the original spec script had circulated Hollywood for years under the title Tonight, He Comes). Berg was, at that point, a director with a taste for kinetic, grounded action, as anyone who has read the site's coverage of The Rundown will know, though he would later become better associated with prestige military drama, work you can get a sense of from the review of Lone Survivor. Hancock sits somewhere between those two modes and perhaps not entirely comfortably in either. The production ran to a reported budget in the region of $150 million, a considerable sum that comes with considerable commercial expectations, and the film's marketing leaned hard on Smith's star power rather than the story's more offbeat qualities.
Will Smith was, at that point, arguably the most bankable film star on the planet, with a string of hits across action, comedy and science fiction (his other forays into the fantastical are worth a look, including the site's take on I Am Legend, which came out just months before this). Charlize Theron plays Mary, the wife of Hancock's PR adviser, bringing a quiet intensity to a role that the script pulls in some unexpected directions as the film progresses. Jason Bateman, then riding the goodwill of Arrested Development, plays that adviser, Ray Embrey, with the kind of warm, slightly flustered likeability he does well. Eddie Marsan and young Jae Head round out the principal cast in support. On paper, it is a polished but unremarkable ensemble for a film that clearly wanted to be something a bit more unusual.
Hancock is a superhero movie with a promising idea, what if Superman was a drunk, antisocial jerk hated by the public?, that quickly spirals into a mess of tonal whiplash, wasted potential, and baffling choices. Will Smith, usually a charm machine, plays the title character as a bored, apathetic vigilante with zero accountability, flying around LA like a grumpy, hungover god. The first act has a dark, satirical edge that’s actually kind of interesting, Hancock trashes cities while “saving” people, gets arrested, becomes a meme before memes existed, it feels fresh, even bold. Then the film completely loses its mind in the second half, swapping gritty realism for a clunky origin story, forced romance, and a bizarre third-act twist that makes zero sense and undercuts everything that came before. Suddenly it’s not about redemption or fame or consequence, it’s about ancient immortal couples and awkward family dynamics. What started as a sharp(ish) satire turns into a generic, emotionally hollow action flick with no stakes and even less logic. The dialogue is cringey, the pacing lurches from slow to rushed, and the message (something about love and purpose) feels tacked on. It can’t decide if it wants to be edgy, heartfelt, or funny, so it tries all three and fails at each. For a genre built on larger-than-life heroes, Hancock somehow manages to feel both ridiculous and dull. Arguably one of the worst superhero films ever made. Not because it’s offensive or badly acted, but because it starts with fire and ends with a whimper. A once-in-a-lifetime misfire for Will Smith and a cautionary tale in how not to reinvent the genre.
What sticks with me, thinking it over, is how rare it is for a film to feel genuinely exciting for half an hour and then proceed to dismantle every good idea it introduced. The first act almost had me. That central conceit, a superhero as civic nuisance, as tabloid punching bag, as someone the public would rather see locked up than celebrated, had real satirical teeth. And then, well, you've just read what happened to those teeth. If you're in the mood for a superhero film with actual conviction in its strangeness, you'd be far better served elsewhere. Hancock will always be a what-might-have-been. Sometimes that's the most frustrating film of all.
Rating: ★½ | Year: 2008 | Watched: 2025-09-13
Trailer
▶ Watch the official trailer for Hancock (2008) on YouTube
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
Stream: Netflix · Netflix Standard with Ads
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Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi
Watch in the US
Stream: Hulu
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Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US
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Related on Movies With Macca
More from Peter Berg: The Rundown (2003) · Lone Survivor (2013)
More with Will Smith: Suicide Squad (2016) · Shark Tale (2004) · I Am Legend (2007) · Men in Black 3 (2012)
More from the 2000s: Kirikou and the Wild Beasts (2005) · Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) · Daredevil (2003) · Apocalypto (2006)
More fantasy: Viy (1967) · Alice in Wonderland (1951) · Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain (2024) · Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II - The Ashes of Rage (2025)
More action: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · The General (1926) · Hand of Death (1976) · Daredevil (2003)
