'Hancock' Sequel: Same As It Ever Was

As far as I'm concerned, Hancock is about 60% of a good movie. Will Smith is a fine choice for a comic book movie, the idea of a hero gone off the tracks works for me, too, and the backstory the character offers during the dinner scene with his publicist (Jason Bateman) and the publicist's wife (Charlize Theron) is probably the best writing in the film. So those things are sound. But I could do without almost everything else. The sequel, announced several times already, has a chance to correct some of those mistakes and give us a much better journey for this character, especially because his humanity is what is really fascinating. But it doesn't look like that's going to happen. Director Peter Berg had previously revealed that Hancock might find another godlike hero to tangle with, and that's not too far from the action of the first movie. Now Berg tells MTV that even less will be changing. "Everybody's going to come back for a sequel," Berg told MTV, meaning Theron and Bateman - no longer essential pieces of the puzzle for the Hancock character - are returning. And the longer they're on screen, the less time we can devote to the Hancock arc, which is the reason we're interested, anyway. Berg also recommitted to the idea of a third superhero, which only spiderwebs further off the central focus, giving us not so much a Hancock 2 but more of a Hancock times two. And that smells like a lazy way to do it: "We made $600 million, so let's not change anything...and then add more to it!" It's the same argument you'd use to say Spider-Man 3 was too crowded, not just with additional villains who never seemed that powerful because they were both supporting characters in the story, but also with storylines in general, like the addition of Gwen Stacy without the removal of Mary Jane. That's just superfluous. And it sounds like Hancock 2 will keep playing the hits, hoping to squeeze the good elements of the story out of the picture even more.

Comments

[Chad]

It always seems the things i think need to be changed (like losing charlize theoron, or even the way The Thing looked in Fantastic four 1 and 2 ) but things i dont want to change are always changed in sequals. sucks

[Charcole]

I'm all for more Bateman.

[Get The Big Picture]

Big Bateman fan, but he's served his purpose for the Hancock character. Can't rebuild the hero's image again.

[SEAN]

Their wasting their talent (smith & theron) for a huge grosser, but hey they need to play studio politics, make a major film ticket seller, please the studios, and then move onto something artistic and creative and original....

""""The sequel, announced several times already, has a chance to correct some of those mistakes and give us a much better journey for this character, especially because his humanity is what is really fascinating. """"

Couldnt agree with you more Colin, I want them to explore this so called superhero who just doesnt wanna specifically help people, save lives, etc etc....