Starring: Will Smith, Jason Batemen and Charlize Theron
Directed by Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights, The Kingdom)
With this being my first movie review, let me start off by saying that I am a huge movie buff. If hip hop is my first love, movies are a very close second in a tie with hockey. With that said, I mark movies very similarly to how I mark albums: out of 100 with the score being the conclusion of many elements that are taken into consideration. Theme, concept, execution, delivery, acting, vision, cinematography, dialogue, action scenes, realism, target audience, etc. Movies are beautiful when done right; it just so happens my first film to review is a film that was not done right, Hancock.
I’ll start off by saying I’m by no means a huge Will Smith fan. If anything, I think he is terribly over-rated as an actor. Nevertheless, that is not saying he is bad, I think he is ridiculously entertaining, and as we’ve come to know time and time again, a lead actor in a summer blockbuster can make or break the film. He plays John Hancock, a drunken super hero who is rude, reckless, and seemingly inconsiderate of the way he gets the job done. He would probably be adored if he cleaned up his image and mannerisms a little bit more. Insert Jason Bateman who plays Ray Embrey, a man who was saved by Hancock and feels like he owes him, thus, he wants to help Hancock become accepted by the public.
The movie is a development story about Hancock, a story about finding identity and could even be a clever piece on how society is accepting only to the pretty. The original script apparently had so much more to it and even had a darker story, which I felt could work much better than this. The added comedy is cool for the first bit, but the jokes (if you see it, you’ll know which ones) wear out very quickly. The first hour is promising and is exciting, but then the smart side of your brain kicks in and you realize you still know nothing about the main character. Charlize Theron plays Jason Bateman’s wife, Mary, and could be the help that Hancock needs more so than a P.R.
The special effects are great and you could tell that from the first time you saw the trailer, but the fact is, just about every summer blockbuster will have great special effects. These weren’t anything new. The character of the “Drunken Superhero” could be such an enigma, instead through the writing process; it is dumbed down to sessions of alcoholic anonymous meetings and is essentially ignored. Sadly, the Oscar winning talent of Theron is also dumbed down to a pretty “duh” role and Will Smith does whatever the script and Berg has allowed him to do, and he does it well. Bateman is by far the best out of the trio, and let’s all pray for an “Arrested Development” movie.
This movie will leave you frustrated because it could have been so much more. Its biggest problem is that it’s jumbled and incomplete. From the extremely forced 15 minute hospital scene to the failed symbolism of the eagle, the movie goes half assed in much of what it does. Even though a movie like this should give a clear indication of what to expect, it performs much below even the lowest expectations. Sadly, it was a big miss, a big mess, and a creative character, wasted.
Overall Score: 41/100
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22 Comments
Solid review once again Deez!
What do you all think about having movie reviews on the site? Good stuff? Or should we keep it strictly hip hop?
Why not? But I think that the emphasis should be on movies that Hip Hop Heads would feel! I would hate to see a review on “Are we there yet”
One-
I like the movie reviews. But definitely go back and review some older hip hop movies- the wash, belly, Who’s the Man? Peace guys.
The odd film review is cool, but lets not flood the site as there are plenty of film review sites out there if that’s your thing.
For what it’s worth I agree with the review above on the whole, but also agree we should keep the film reviews to either hip hop related films or classic films that people must go to see!
There Will Be Blood is still my favourite film of 2008 for anyone who cares! lol.
i think movie reviews would be cool. but and i think you already know and have thought about this, they need to be selective. films that would be of interest to the people who visit this site. i like how you look at movies and you seeem to think very similar to myself about films.
The problem at doing Hip Hop Movie reviews is this. There aren’t that many. With that said, accessing them is nearly impossible. I have a huge large collection of DVD’s. .ranging over 200 dvds, however, the Hip Hop movie section is slim.
Block Party, Belly, Brown Sugar, Up In Smoke Tour, Backstage, etc.
I could focus on particular movies. But if I recall, Will Smith was once a rapper.. was he not? Also interesting to note that the first song of the ending credits is Here I Come by the Roots
Guys, movies are hip hop. Do you know how Sean Price gets his inspiration? By watching plenty of movies. Ideally, I want to have my choice and pick films that A) Might be huge blockbusters and maybe encourage you to go or not go and spend your money and
B) Interest the readers and can provide a solid sense of what the movie is and such.
I’m willing to take suggestions for sure, I want to try out a few more of these, I believe Wanted is coming up soon
it’s nice to have this kind of thing here, i was going to watch hancock, but i think i’ll save money for the batman movie… And I think we don’t have to talk only about hip-hop movies, all kind of movie review is welcome
Yeah, I think I understand some of you all’s comments and trust me, I had the same concerns. These movie review WILL NOT take away for the greatness that we already have on the site. It’s sort of a bonus. I initially told Deez that maybe we should concentrate on hip hop related movies, but he’s right… how many good hip hop movies are there really?
But don’t worry, the site is not changing. We’re just trying out new things and keeping it dope at the same time.
couldn’t agree more Deez, great review.
i like this new feature with the movie reviews! i do agree about going back and doing older movies, like Belly, which was basically a long ass hip hop video (back when they were still good). or maybe movies that get referenced heavily by artists? dead presidents, new jack city, godfather, scarface, etc. even ones that don’t get referenced, and just are relevant to particular lifestyles, like City of God? and maybe relevant documentaries too? possibly style wars or cocaine cowboys and such?
these reviews could really become an asset, but limiting them to soley ‘hip-hop’ themed movies like paid in full and such would be a waste. relevant films would broaden the options. everything from mind boggling brain teasing murder mysteries, to gutter gritty nitty type stuff.
and if you REALLY wanna merge hip hop into the review, then make comparisons to hip hop artists. for example, the movie casino. i can totally see jay-z as ace, and nicky as dame. or in Dead Presidents, Nas would’ve been a shoe in Anthony Curtis, or even an Andy Dufresne from Shawshank Redemption. an attempt to make the connection (sans corny) between the movies’ characters with actual hip hop artists would be in itself, ill.
big ups Krome, in response (as I do with all of the people who take time to write back),
Is there really much to review in Belly? I mean, you’ve all seen my album reviews, I would torch that movie. Considering its stupid character development, tacky music video scenes, and terrible acting of DMX who some how gets out-acted by Nas. Thats your second career X, do something about that. Hype Williams was great back then I guess, but he’s kind of dry now.
But as I said in my last response Krome, if we focused on movies that rappers got their influence from, I could be straying all over the place. As I mentioned, Annie and Oliver Twist were used by Jay-z for samples, would you guys really like me to review those?
Personally, and I’ll say this one last time, I want to review movies for the benefit of the audience so that they could a) Save their hard working money or spend it for a good cause and b) Give the readers insight.
You mentioned the hip hop connections, but I mean, that would get stale over time. Who’s to say that Phonte can’t be a Tyler Durden but Andre 3000 can. That’s too broad. I’m very specific and look in depth, and I would love to give you guys an inside look on those things.
I think movies are drastically important to us today, but I don’t think people are seeing the right movies. Little Miss Sunshine is a great movie, but was beat by a very mediocre Departed due to the star power in that movie. Or a movie like Juno or Garden State.
I want to do a few more of my own movie reviews, I believe we’ll be doing 1 every Friday. So if you feel like going out, or renting a movie or watching it online, go for it, I hope my reviews help.
Kinda feel like you reaching with this review; I honestly didn’t see too much wrong with it. They could have elaborated a little more on the history between Hancock and Mary, but nevertheless it was an all around great movie. Just my two cents.
Interesting Ben,
I thought this movie was terrible. Save for the first 35 minutes, it was brutal. It got messy in the 2nd hour especially, and I made mention of that 15 minute hospital scene that attempted to wrap things up, but still left me so dazed and confused. I didn’t even care about the history between Hancock and Mary, but that was certainly a flaw. But the way things are going, they probably cut out a 10 minute conversation between the 2.
Essentially, it was just a messy movie with not much going for it. It has a strong lead character storyline, they just didn’t take full potential on it
I understand, more of what your saying will probably come to the light once I catch it again on dvd. I’m not going to risk watching a bootlegged Cam version online, because the quality of that will only bring the rating down. You the same Deez that used to post at Boxden.com?
By the way, to the question Kevin asked,I kinda like the idea of reviewing movies.
I love the movie, was really funny!
sean go for it. i definitely think movie reviews will add to an already great site. looking forward to reading more reviews.
wow, big ups guys…
I’m loving the love (or hate) for the review and movie reviews.
Nice work as usual Sean. I haven’t seen the movie…and probably won’t until it hits DVD or HBO.
love the feedback guys. Feel free to contact me regarding movies or hip hop.. I’m a man for all seasons
agree about keeping the movie reviews relevant. Liking the variation though, good work!
again deez, props on the review, I respect your response.
but just to clarify, no one’s ‘hating’ on it. the concern was that this is a hip hop site, not a lifestyle site. so it’s inevitable that you’re gonna have people askin, ‘where’s the relevance?’. but if that’s what was intended, more of a lifestyle aim than hip hop, then by all means, more power to you. i’d be happy to save a buck thanks to a review.
and for the suggestion of trying to keep the movies relevant, it can’t just be a rapper being (or attempting to be) an actor, it’s gotta be more than that. or just cause hov sampled annie’s track. no, i’m talking past the obvious, deeper than the soundtrack. and ofcourse, i understand your concern for it becoming corny and stale, but i guess that’d be more of the challenge on your end to make sure it doesn’t. but again, if hip-hop relevance wasn’t intended, then nevermind it.
as for Belly, in no way am I backing it as an amazing & ground-breaking movie. but as far as the cinematography goes, it was the hotness. visually, it was a BEAST. when Traffic came out, everyone was sweatin the yellow and blue color filters, even though Hype Wiliams did it in Belly before that, and possibly a few before him. from stories i’ve heard, people that paid to see Belly knew EXACTLY what they were paying to watch - a 90 minute hip hop video, visuals courtesy of Hype Williams. and it being the 90’s, it was Hype Williams at his peak. for some ‘hip hop music video director’ to create somewhat of a movie (moreover music video) and throw it into the film circuit was big, so to dismiss Belly is just a little unfortunate to me. plus, ike love was my favorite name & character for the longest time.
anyways, by no means do i even want a Belly review, just had to throw in my 2 cents. no hate deez!
no doubt Krome
Well there will be a few to choose from. Me and Kev will go back and forth whether we want to stick to recent movies (I’m seeing Hellboy 2 tonight, and the Dark Night this following Weekend, and you all can suck it, I’m doing a review for the Dark Knight) or older movies ( I had one for Chappelle’s Block Party)
That ain’t the same Krome from HHU… Just in case you wonderin