Questions regarding "Hancock" -- SPOILER ALERT!
Okay, so it turns out that Hancock (Will Smith) and Mary (Charlize Theron) are gods who are paired as lovers, but who become weaker the closer they become to each other. I got all that. But one thing nags at me, and I hate to get all race-based and everything, since the movie’s generally just about colorblind…but did they assume different um, forms over the years?
In the movie, it’s said that people would routinely come after Hancock and Mary since all the gods would be wiped out if they paired up. But, you have to believe in the olden days, a Charlize Theron-Will Smith pairing might not go over so well, gods or not, and angry racists would foolishly take them on. But in a way, that might help these gods survive after everyone’s paired up and dies since everyone keeps bothering the interracial couple. But the mores of 2008 might be a real threat to their lives, where it’s generally (kinda) accepted.
I apologize if there are huge-ass discussions of this elsewhere; I haven’t had time to look.
The other thing I wondered about, at the very end: Now that Hancock’s fighting crime in New York, that didn’t seem to make Mary take over as hero for L.A. I mean, L.A.’s crime rate has been consistently higher over the years, they probably need Hancock, or a hero, far more than New York does. I mean, while Mary gets to be happy and in love with Ray (Jason Bateman), that doesn’t mean she should shirk her duties to her fellow Angelenos, no?
Other question for early in the movie: If you arrest a superhero, why would you keep him in regular prison? I mean, they built a special prison for Magneto, and they usually don’t put cops in general population, from what I hear. Hancock basically stayed in jail as a public relations move; but wouldn’t the government take him apart and try to figure out his weaknesses and build a jail that would hold him?
As I said on my other site, this movie was okay, but I think they would have had something more special if they stuck with the lighter tone of the first half. The idea of immortals being weakened by love is an interesting if not necessarily a new one (remember Superman giving up his powers to bone Lois Lane?), on the other hand, sticking with the day-to-day logistical problems of a superhero would have been fine as the film’s driving force for gags and action. I think that would have worked along with having the loneliness of the burden of having to do extraordinary things as the film’s emotional anchor.
We all know it’s hard for superheroes to get it on, and when they get it on, trouble usually follows. In that way, I sometimes feel like a superhero.
I kid.
1 year ago