Like most people, it’s fair to say I’m a great admirer of yours. Heck, I even know you well enough to call you Big Willie, a nickname you obviously encourage. You’re talented, undeniably charming, a genuine screen presence, and perhaps – as I argued here – the only genuine movie star we have left.
That’s why I feel the need to protect you from yourself. You see, it seems like you’re developing a problem, and I hope by pointing it out – by leading you to acceptance – you’ll be able to turn things around before they get worse.
Saul (James Franco) and Dale (Seth Rogen), PINEAPPLE EXPRESS
It’s always fun and/or thrilling to see regular dudes thrown into the deep end of a live or death situation in a wrong man type of scenario. It was a particular pleasure to watch Saul and Dale – as unassuming as anyone can probably get – constantly scramble to find themselves out of their situation. It was distinctly relatable while still being utterly absurd and hilarious.
Tony Star/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), IRON MAN
Tony Stark is classic hero in the sense that he starts off as anything but, discovers his conscience, and then decides to do the right thing. It’s a solid, well established heroic trajectory, yet what made Stark somewhat refreshing is that in his transformation he is never saccharine. Afterwards he still maintains that devilish rogue charm and cocky swagger that made him such a fun and appealing character. He’s a hero, but never a square. That’s exactly how Stark would have it.
Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), THE X-FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE
See? I do have positive things to say about THE X-FILES movie. Aside from Anderson being more gorgeous now than she was on the show (okay, that has nothing to with her character being a hero), Scully was the highlight of the film for me. She was sensitive and engaging, and her noble (and heroic) struggle – medical, emotional, moral – to try and help a terminally ill child almost made the film worth the price of admission. Almost.
Jason Tripitikas (Michael Angarano), THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM
It’s really nothing against Angarano, whom I’m a great admirer of, but I have to moderately resent any character that is chosen as the hero of a film that also stars Jet Li and Jackie Chan. That being said, there was also the fact that he was basically The Karate Kid just thrown into Asian and kung-fu mythology, who has to learn how to defend himself to save some guy called The Monkey King (yeah…) and teach greaser bullies that even the Jets and GREASE boys would have been embarrassed by.
Fox Mulder (David Duchovny), THE X-FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE
One the biggest disappointment of the X-FILMS film was that it took one of my favorite television protagonists who was always dour, but always full of sarcastic humor and kooky passion, and turned him into a big whiny bore. That’s kind of ironic too because when the show was on that’s what I thought about Scully.
The Fearsome Five, KUNG-FUN PANDA
Though they were not meant to be the central heroes of the film, they were hyped up to be, well… fearsome. For supposed kung-fu legends they were barely in the film, and when they were they acted like petulant children. There’s also something to be said about the fact that all five of them couldn’t beat the bad guy, but Po did with his pot belly and a funny word (“Skadoosch”).
Watching HANCOCK something dawned on me. Will Smith is currently not only the biggest movie star in the world, but like his character in that movie I might even argue he’s the only one of his kind left.
Now when I say movie star, I’m talking about the kind we had many of back in the 1990’s, the kind whose presence in a film could single-handedly guarantee at least a $20 million draw at the box office. We’re talking Jim Carrey, Harrison Ford, Tom Hanks, Will Smith, Tom Cruise, Adam Sandler, Mel Gibson, Bruce Willis and Julia Roberts. These were stars that could get people to see a movie solely based on the fact that they were in it, and would make loads of money. Sure, admittedly, a lot of those films they starred in were high-profile summer blockbuster, which helps things considerably. The spectacle of the movies catered perfectly to the spectacle of their movie stardom.
These days though stars of that caliber seem to have all but disappeared, and I can think of a few reasons why. Some of those above mentioned stars have fallen prey to controversy and/or made idiots of themselves (Mel Gibson, Tom Cruise). Some have distanced themselves willingly from the public or projects (Harrison Ford, Julia Roberts). Some are starting to outstay their welcome, or unsuccessfully struggle between branching out and predictably pigeonholing themselves into the same old shtick (Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler). Throw in the fact that special effects have emerged as stars themselves, tabloids have reached new levels of overexposure, and the rising costs of movies (and hence greater risks) and you have a few more reasons.
There’s a scene in HANCOCK where the invulnerable reluctant super-hero played by Will Smith stops an oncoming train by standing directly in front of it. The sheer force of a speeding train ramming into an immovable object causes it to not only stop dead in its track but to be crushed, and all the cars behind it completely derail and scatter everywhere, making a huge mess.
It’s a perfect encapsulation of what goes wrong with HANCOCK halfway through the film, and what makes the Peter Berg directed movie the second Will Smith project (after I AM LEGEND) in a row that starts of promisingly and then violently and destructively derails. What’s more, in both films it happens after a very particular turning point that marks an abrupt change in each films’ narrative status quo.
Till that turning point occurs HANCOCK proves to be a somewhat refreshing, maybe even unique, take on the super-hero movie genre, by providing a distinctly anti (super) hero. John Hancock is a petty, alcoholic, abrasive, inept self-involved super. He’ll commit heroic acts, but it’s such an obligatory burden to him that he does it with callous disregard of property (ringing up millions of dollars in damage to the city) and others. As a result people have come to hate him, so he treats them and his surroundings with equal – and perhaps vengeful – distain. Hancock is a welcome spin on the superhero mythology by somewhat subversively suggesting that even if “with great power comes great responsibility,” if that responsibility isn’t accepted with the right intensions – or through only a sense of obligation – it’s perhaps more destructive than not accepting it in the first place.
During the summer everyone is always talking about anticipating this film or other, but a lot of times the reason we’re looking forward to a particular film is not just its concept, but the acting performances it promises. So with my Top 10 Most Anticipated Summer Movies list already up, I thought I’d highlight a few of the actors – in no particular order - whose work I’m most looking forward to seeing this summer season.
Will Ferrell/John C. Reilly, STEP BROTHERS
These two are a perfect comedic duo, and the concept of STEP BROTHERs – purportedly devised by the two actors themselves – is a perfect, simple vehicle to let their humor shine. Above all else, I’m just so happy to see John C. Reilly finally breakout, even if after years of solid character roles it turned out to be comedy that would get him noticed.
Robert Downey Jr., TROPIC THUNDER
It’s really hard to imagine Downey Jr. could top his performance in IRON MAN, but I’m incredibly curious to see how he is going to pull off playing a white Australian actor who in the film is in turn playing an African American. Inherently it seems like a politically incorrect disaster (then again, the Wayans did turn themselves white a while back), but based on all the trailers it looks like he pulls it off perfectly and – most importantly – hilariously.
Heath Ledger, THE DARK KNIGHT
Before you get the wrong idea, I’m not morbidly looking forward to Ledger’s performance in THE DARK KNIGHT because it was his last. I’m looking forward to it because it looks phenomenal. Based on the trailers, it just blows my mind how Ledger all but disappears into the role of the Joker, both in manner and appearance. It seems like such a seamless melding with the psychopathic spirit of the villain, that HYPERLINK “http://www.cinematical.com/2008/05/14/discuss-could-heath-ledger-land-an-oscar-nod-for-his-dark-knig/” some are already wondering whether it may deserve an Oscar nomination.
Editor’s Note: Our Top 10 Anticipated Summer Movies was actually written in April, but posted late due to theTVaddict’s unfortunate addiction to TV!
Honorable Mentions: THE HAPPENING, THE INCREDIBLE HULK,
Guilty Pleasures: MAMMA MIA!, SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELLING PANTS 2, THE ACCIDENTAL HUSBAND , WANTED, THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR
10. GET SMART (June 20th)
I’ll concede that there’s a pretty substantial chance that GET SMART might not end up being very good. The thing is I grew up loving the TV show (when I lived in Germany the only English-language channel we got was one that played older shows like “Bewitched,” “I Dream of Jennie,” etc), and Steve Carell is ideally suited for the role – both in terms of appearance and humor. I also never cease to enjoy watching The Rock poking fun at himself, nor seeing Anne Hathaway get increasingly more attractive and diverse with her roles.
9. STEP BROTHERS (July 25th)
The interactions between Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly in TALLEDGA NIGHTS were the highlight of the film for me, and the notion of pitting them together as boy-men stepbrothers is nothing short of comedic gold. I mean, I can’t remember the last time I laughed so much during a trailer. The “Did we just become best friends?!” line cracks me up every time. It’s good too to see that Will Ferrell is taking a role that is also ideally suited for his brand of humor (and isn’t making fun of a sport/career).
8. TROPIC THUNDER (August 15th)
Robert Downey Jr. playing an over-the-top method actor playing an African American solider? That’s all I pretty much need right there. But sure, having Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Jay Baruchel, Nick Nolte and a handful of cameos doesn’t hurt either, nor does the film’s motivation to spoof war films like APOCALYPSE NOW and the way they attempted to immerse their actors in the war experience.
If an initial teaser trailer for a film doesn’t hook me right away, I usually slot the film into the “meh” category of anticipation. HANCOCK is different though. I have to give credit to the people who put the HANCOCK trailers together, because each subsequent one we’ve seen has built interest in me, to the point where with this most recent trailer, I can honestly now say that I’m really pumped for it.
It’s not just the cool special effects, Will Smith playing an anti-hero, or that it seems like this film is actively aware it’s a summer blockbuster and completely reveling in that fact. It’s that the trailer – while giving away a lot of SFX and humor scenes – isn’t showing us much on plot. Yes, it alludes to Hancock’s transformation from zero to hero (sorry, I’ve always wanted to use that expression. It wasn’t as satisfying as I had hoped), but there are only slight hints as to what Big Bad he really faces at the end. There seems to be a lot of destruction (two tornadoes, for example), and at one point it looks like he’s swirling around in battle with someone else in a way that can only mean that person is super-powered. But we still have no idea what the story really builds towards, which is great. Makes me want to go find out.
Also, the fact that recent news that HANCOCK got an “R” rating twice before snagging a “PG-13” rating indicates it may be a darker (read: interesting), more mature film than we all thought.
I wasn’t too excited about HANCOCK really, but this trailer is turning me around. It looks like the silly, effect-heavy blockbuster I like to indulge in during those hot days of summer. Also, despite the fact that he doesn’t always make good movies, I remain a fan of Will Smith because he is so damn charming, and has such a presence on screen, that I can’t help but call him – in the truest sense of the word – a movie star. And movie stars are always fun to watch, especially when it could be a hoot to see Smith play an anti-hero, even if it’s only for probably the first fourth of the film.
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