Movie review: Hancock

Hancock is a very cool movie. I got more then I expected. From the trailer, we get that Hancock, played by Will Smith, has superhero powers, such as flight and great strength & speed, but he doesn't care much about it. He does help by stopping bad guys, but causes a lot of damage along the way, not caring about how much it will cost the city to repair it all, when he could easily perform the same tasks with minimal damage.

After a chance encounter with Ray Embrey, a PR person played by Jason Bateman, he is offered a new way of living with his powers. He talks to him, invites him home for dinner, introduce him to his young son Aaron, played by Jae Head and his wife Mary, played by the beautiful Charlize Theron. Embrey convince him, after much encouragements, that he would feel much better about himself if he was considerate to other people's properties and in return, they wouldn't consider him like such a jerk. He even convince him to surrender to the police as a sign of good faith, after he received yet another warrant for arrest. Of course, the police can't force him to do anything if he doesn't want to. The hope is also that once Hancock is in prison, the crime rate will rise and the authorities will realize that they need him back on their side. That's what happens, of course.

I pretty much much expected the above, but not much more. I was wrong. There is more to this story and I just didn't see it coming. I won't say any more on that subject, but it's makes the movie much more interesting. Hints of it can be seen in the trailer, however...

There is some violence and strong language, but apparently it was toned down because they were facing an R rating in the U.S., which would greatly diminish the audience, so they edited it to get a PG-13 instead. I wonder if they will make the original version available on DVD... Also, this being a superhero movie, physics takes a backseat to reality. Even if we accept that someone could fly and be super strong and fast, there are obvious impossibilities in this movie. For example, like we have seen in other similar movies, when he trows a kid in the air, the kid stays in the air for a very long time, which means he goes really high and fast. If that didn't kill him, then he certainly would when Hancock catches him just before he hits the ground. At the speed the kid was going at that point, it wouldn't make a difference if he lands on Hancock's arm or on solid ground. The sudden deceleration is what kills someone, not the fall itself. Anyway, if you can look past these details, it's a really well made movie and fun to watch.

Movie review: The Incredible Hulk

I saw The Incredible Hulk and I really liked it. Much better then the first one. It's what Hulk should be, with lots of action and smashing. Good casting too, starring Edward Norton as Bruce Banner, the beautiful Liv Tyler as Betty Ross, Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky and William Hurt, barely recognizable as General Thaddeus Ross, amongst others.

As expected, Banner is on the run from the government and is looking for a "cure" to his condition. The intro is a brief explanation of what happened to him and the ones around him when he got his overdose of Gamma rays. The story is interesting and well told, special effects are great a sequel is just about guaranteed, at this point. There are a few nods to the TV series and also a few cool cameos. There was also humour throughout the movie, of course...

At the end, there is a little scene that connect the movie to other ones, like another recent superhero movie... But it's before the credits, not after. We were a lot of people who stayed until the very end, hoping for one last shot which never came and there was some disappointment about that. But the movie itself being what it is, I don't think anyone regretted having been there on opening day.

Movie review: Iron Man

While it's not quite summer yet, the "summer movies blockbusters" season as started! Iron Man is sure to be a big hit and will be followed by not only sequels, but "spinoffs", in a way. It looks great (ILM being one of the special effects studio involved surely helped), has a great story, lots of action & humour, good acting and is fairly realistic. On that last point, I don't expect to see a real life Iron Man flying around anytime soon, but it could be possible with technology from the near future to create a suit with most of the features that Tony Stark engineered.

Of course, I expected action and I got that in this movie. There is also a good amount of humour, but it doesn't interfere with the story. No slapstick or one-liners with nothing to do with the scene. This movie will be used as a reference when judging other superheroes movies for sure.

Other movies are betting on Iron Man's success, as I saw many previews before the movie, some new, some newer versions.

If you usually don't stay until the very end of movies, I would suggest you do this time, as there is a scene after the end of the credits. I'm not going to spoil it here, so if you want to know what it's about, you will have to see it for yourself or get it from somewhere else on the net.

The movie star Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark / Iron Man), Jeff Bridges (Obadiah Stane / Iron Monger), Gwyneth Paltrow (Virginia "Pepper" Potts), Terrence Howard (Jim Rhodes), among others. It is directed by Jon Favreau, who gave himself a short role in the movie. Of course, there is a short cameo from Stan Lee...

Movie review: Fantastic Four, Rise of the Silver Surfer

On June 18, I saw Fantastic Four, Rise of the Silver Surfer. Of course, this is a sequel to Fantastic Four. Seeing the first movie is probably a must, since all the main characters are established in it. On this sequel, we get right in the story and your supposed to know who the FF are, as well as Doomsday. There is of course a few new characters, the more important of them being the Silver Surfer, whose main purpose seems to be destroying planets. We learn his motivation in this movie.

The special effects are top notch, the story is interesting and there is a good amount of humour, once again. On the first movie, I didn't have much expectations, since I didn't know the background of these characters. But now, I knew about that first movie and seen several episodes of the animated cartoon on TV. I had some expectations this time and they were met. I liked the movie very much and I'm looking forward to the next one, which I'm sure they are already working on. The superhero type of movie is just perfect for sequels, after all.