The original John Hancock was some American guy, famous for signing some American independence paper or some such. Not well known this side of the pond, but important enough to the Americans that "John Hancock" became slang for "signiture".
This latest John Hancock will prove to be far more rememberable. An amazing film, although judging by various internet comments floating around it tends to have a Marmitian feel to it, in that you either love it or you hate it. Story time.
80 years ago, a man woke in hospital with no memory of who or what he was. The big hole in his head healed up pretty darn quick and any attempt to give him needles simply saw them brake on his skin. Had the accident somehow made him superhuman? Or if he had always been superhuman, how did he get the big hole in his head to begin with? No one knew. Despite the story being all over the news, no one ever came to tell him who he was. No one ever showed up. He was alone.
On leaving the hospital he was asked to put his "John Hancock" on a document. He took this as his name.
Skip ahead 80 years. Police cars racing after a get-away car. Bullets flying everywhere. The Americans call it a Monday.
"Hancock?"
"uurr.."
"Hancock?!"
John Hancock (Will Smith), lay face down on a public bench, surrounded by empty beer bottles. A little child attempting to wake him.
"What's up kid?"
"Badguys," said the child, impatiently, pointing to the news report. Stopping just long enough to pinch a sexy girl's bottom and pick up another bottle of beer, Hancock springs into action, destoying the bench in the process.
Turns out flying drunk is not as easy as it sounds. Crashing into birds, traffic signs, accidently taking out most of the police cars and almost hitting a plane, Hancock then stops the criminals in the rather unorthadox method of picking up the car and dropping it onto a rather large building.
The news report, far from praising Hancock, reports yet another huge mess he's caused, this time costing the city around 6 million in damages, a new personal best for Hancock.
80 years of solitude has turned Hancock into an unpopular miserable drunk. Will Smith pulls it off perfectly and you can not help but laugh.
"I can smell the liquor on his breath"
-"Thats cos I've been drinking bitch."
"She should sue you", says an over weight man
-"You should sue McDonalds, cos they've messed you up good."
For those who haven't seen it, pop down to your local cinema, then come down and finish reading this.
Unfortunately, there is a downside to the film. The main female of the plot, married lady Mary (Charlize Theron). Her story simply doesn't make any sense and it jumps around all over the place. To begin with, she is a concerned housewife. Her husband has taken a liking to Hancock and took it upon himself to improve Hancock's image and life. She seems, naturally, concerned about having a guy known for mass destruction around the house.
Things then start to develop. Turns out Hancock has a thing for her. With her husband out of sight he gives her "the look", she kinda returns it, he goes in for the kiss. She throws him through the wall.
OK, so turns out she's not quite a normal house wife. She refuses to tell him, or the audience, who she is simply telling him to stay away. Obviously, after 80 years of solitude, he refuses to do so. In exchange for keeping her secret from her husband, she agrees to meet up for a chat. She seems to hate him with a passion at this point.
She lets him know they are the last two of there kind, imortals created by "the Gods". The others have all died. She tries to pass herself off as his sister, but based on the physical attraction between them and possibly the fact that he's black and she's white, Hancock doesn't buy it. His refusal to believe this causes her to get even more pissed. They end up having a huge superhero type fight, which for some reason causes hurricanes. They also decide to do this in front of Hubby, so much for the secret.
She confesses to her husband that technically she's married to Hancock, but they broke up decades ago, Hancock just doesn't remember. She tried so many times over the centuries to get rid of him, but they just end up drawn to each other. But she doesn't want Hancock, she wants him.
At this point, the logical guesses might be Hancock and Mary used to date, but Hancock clearly did something to piss her off. Perhaps he was suppose to take her out those 80 years ago but never showed due to whatever happened to him? Or perhaps his drinking problems started before he could remember? Or... what? For some reason she was pissed.
Hancock does what he always does at times like this, he goes off to buy booze. There are guys with guns holding the shop keeper hostage. Americans call this late night shopping. He stops them, while causing destruction to half the shop, only to find the gunshot to his stomach has resulted in a bullet hole. Huh.
He's rushed to hospital, where Mary shows up as another new character. Turns out now she's truely madly deeply in love with Hancock. All sweet with puppy dog eyes. She lets him know that the reason he can be shot is that when they're together they turn each other mortal. She left him for his own good, because so many times when they were together he risked his life to save her. That time 80 years ago had been one such time, when they were attacked by a gang. When she discovered he had forgotten everything she had decided it best to disappear so he would never be harmed again. Fair enough. But what was with all that seriously pissed, fighting in town centre causing hurricanes nonsense? What was wrong with giving him a little heads up that he might not be so bullet proof any more?
Anyway, despite this, Hancock is a great film and a breath of fresh air in the comic book world (although having never actually been a comic book). Definately worth a watch.
