Hancock, Hancock, Hancock. There are a couple of different types of comedy film… you get the kind of relentless joke after joke films with no real attempt at any serious message, like The Naked Gun or American Pie. Then you get the films that can’t make up their damned minds and switch between serious and comic faster than you can blink – like East is East where scenes of domestic abuse can quickly transition to unattractive girls getting humped by very large dogs… Finally, there’s the films that start out funny and then about halfway through they go “Oh, how about a message and some seriousness?” Like… pretty much every Adam Sandler film and that’s the school from which Hancock seems to be spawned.

This will likely to some people feeling rather disappointed with Hancock because it essentially gets to the halfway mark and suddenly, loses all the fun energy and becomes rather serious and the joke count drops and you wonder what happened to the guy who wrote the first half of the film and why he didn’t write the second half.

Things start out with quite a lot of promise, Hancock is a drunken superhero whose intentions are good but whose methods leave a lot to be desired. Drunkenly destroying large amounts of property while trying to apprehend criminals and carelessly wrecking vehicles as he attempts to save people. Needless to say that this is quite the juxtaposition to Superman… as Hancock’s appearance is greeted with derision and contempt. This really could have been a great premise if only it was explored in more depth but halfway in this film is barely forty five minutes, so depth isn’t something we can really afford.

So - Hancock saves a somewhat down on his luck but all around good guy PR chap from an immensely unlikely accident. The crowd are pretty much shouting "YOU SUCK!" because of his hamfisted rescue technique. PR guy says "Hey, he just saved my life!" So, PR guy takes Hancock home for dinner... because, well he just saved his life. PR guy and his son seem to be about the only people in LA that like Hancock... PR guy's wife seems to be instantly on edge - so you know somethings up there.

Inevitably, the PR guy tries to turn Hancock around - he realises that he's inherently a good guy, trying to do the right thing and that people should love him - not hate him. It's not actually made particularly clear why Hancock is so bad at his rescues... He's a sloppy drunk, sure but you don't go around trying to rescue people who keep complaining for no reason... but that's never really elaborated upon... Anyway, PR guy convinces Hancock to hand himself over to the authorities to show he wants to make amends for essentially being a monumental fuck up as regards property damage and so, he's sent to jail.

If you hadn't guessed, this is pretty much the point at which the film gets serious. PR guy's basic plan is - if Hancock is a good guy, turns himself around and stops fucking up that they'll want him back as crime soars... yeah, we've got a city full of people that commit blatant crime when there's a Superman analogy (even a drunk one) around... that's pretty much a given in these situations though. Anyway, we spend some time showing how Hancock is progressing and eventually the chief of police calls him in for a nasty hostage situation from a bank job gone wrong. Hancock swoops in and saves the day without destroying everything.

There is adulation for Hancock as he becomes the hero he should have been, PR guy is naturally now everyone's best pal - although, he still wants to push his world changing branding... but people are really only interested in Hancock. Hancock relates how he woke up 80 years ago in a hospital and recalls nothing of his life before that moment - hence when the nurse asked for his "John Hancock", he assumed that was his name... but little more of his history is related.

Apparently PR guy had a skin full and when they get home, he goes upstairs to sleep it off. The tension between Hancock and PR guy's wife culminates in a kiss - followed by her tossing a fridge at him, knocking him out into the street. He's stunned but the next day - when the film seems to remember that it started out as a comedy - he smacks her about with various kitchen items while her husband is distracted and she agrees to meet up and tell him what the deal is.

Turns out, both of them are part of some race of superpowered beings who have been around for over 3,000 years. Everyone else has died though, apparently the one weakness they have - and yes, it's really as stupid as it sounds - they were created in pairs and they're drawn to one another, when they're in proximity their powers fade and they become mortal and die. Apparently this has happened several times with Mary and Hancock but he got brained when he was mortal 80 years ago and got the most common brain condition in Hollywood, AMNESIA!

The idiot crooks that Hancock beat in the hostage situation are showing just how stupid they are... because, despite the fact Hancock gets shot and wounded stopping a robbery... there is NO POSSIBLE WAY they could have known he was going to lose his powers unless they're psychic... So, they were pretty much going to chase after a guy who is bullet proof. Damn, they deserve the schooling they get.

As you can guess, Hancock decides it is a far, far better thing he does now... and flies off to save New York and leaves PR guy and his wife to live a normal life... even though she's immortal.

It really feels that the breaks slam on as soon as Hancock decides to reform. The second that happens, the film gets to be a LOT more angsty. It's more drama... the comedy comes to be thin on the ground and you're left wondering what happened to that rather amusing initial premise... because that's how the film was sold. Not very good superhero... but then it turns out he's actually a 3000 year old superbeing whose one weakness is Charlize Theron.

We don't really find out just why he's drunk and a fuck up... Oh, he rises to the challenge PR guy sets him but that's such a generic, loser makes good that if it weren't for the superhero angle - it wouldn't be anything remarkable... It's short and yet, it feels like it drags. The initial premise disregarded for no real reason. It's initially enjoyable but it just becomes so generic that the fairly original concept might as well not have been bothered with. It honestly feels as if the writer for the funny first part walked out after penning the first thirty minutes.

Probably best to wait for the DVD to rent... all the wasted potential just leaves a bad taste in your mouth.