Good trailer for a good movie. It sets up the positives of the movie, Will Smith and Kevin James playing well of one another and Eva Mendez looking like Eva Mendez. The problem here though is that the trailer gives up some of the movie's best jokes/situations. It makes for an enjoyable ad but at the cost of seeing the real thing. There's that and the eye-rolling scene dragging out the dumb white guy who can't dance routine.

Labels: Eva Mendes, film, Kevin James, movie trailer, Will Smith

The gag that Hancock is a bum superhero lasts for a minute. Then the movie falls apart. The core of the film is bad. At the heart of the film is a detestable figure, Hancock, a broken down, drunken superhero. When he attempts to help others he ends up destroying everything around him. He's a self despising klutz with substance abuse problems. Who wants to watch that? Think of it this way, if this were a white character and not black, the lead would have been played by Larry the Cable Guy, not Will Smith. This is trashy stuff dressed up nice.

The film suffers because it can't decide if its serious, half-serious or a completely frivolous. In one of the early scenes Hancock is approached by a beautiful groupie. He takes her back to his trailer (told you this was meant for Larry the Cable Guy) and they have sex. The "joke" turns out that when he culminates his intimate efforts his semen shoots out like a bullet (told you this was trashy). This isn't funny, but this is the joke they decide to work with. Director Peter Berg (The Kingdom), like his audience, fails to find anything funny in the scene and lets it play itself out, the woman runs away in fear, with no humor or any deeper meaning. As crude as this scene is, I think it represents how the entire film is mishandled. Odd items or situations are broached and then played out but done so without an ounce of depth. This leaves Smith and the rest of the cast stumbling through scenes that do nothing but clumsily push the plot forward. By the end of the film the film has languished in toneless scenes for so long, so many times, the resolution is D.O.A. The final act seems more like a cleaning up than a resolution.

I like Berg's previous films, I think Smith is one of the better matinee stars working, but this film is an unfortunate misfire.


Related Reviews:
Will Smith movies
Pursuit of Happyness (2005)
I am Legend (2007)


Other Critic’s Reviews:
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Film Freak Central Reviews

Labels: Charlize Theron, film, Jason Bateman, movie trailer, Peter Berg, superhero, Will Smith

I can't say this speaks to me. Seems like a mopey version of My Name is Earl. The only reason I'd consider it is because Will Smith has a great track record picking movies that match his talents. His selection of projects isn't perfect but it is far better than most.

Labels: Barry Pepper, film, movie trailer, Rosario Dawson, Will Smith, Woody Harrelson

Short Review: On the Will Smith scorecard, this one makes up for Independence Day. He still owes us four movies like this one to make up for Wild Wild West.


Given his taste for big, splashy McMovies, I forgot Fresh Prince could act. Given that his usual products are little more than live action video games I don’t think I can be blamed for my lack of memory about Will Smith’s ability. Here he offers a nuanced performance as Chris Gardner, a man who despite being severely down on his luck, attempts to survive a competitive internship at Dean Winter. Smith’s performance is critical to the piece succeeding and he manages to deliver the goods. He clearly deserved his Oscar nomination for the Best Actor.

Getting through the film is an arduous task. Chris Gardner simply wants to become a stockbroker. To do this he has to be selected from a group of applicants in the internship program I’ve already mentioned. The problem? He’s uneducated, unconnected, and essentially unemployed. On top of this he is a single father with a small son (played by Smith’s actual son Jaden Smith). Why is so difficult to watch? Gardner is handed so many hardships that it is hard to comprehend a human being could emotionally survive everything he endures. Director Gabriele Muccino and screenwriter Steve Conrad do such a wonderful job at setting up and executing Gardner’s goals and obstacles that his painful journey is believable. They infuse a great amount of tension into a story that should be predicable and a tad outlandish. Mixed with Smith’s charismatic performance, the piece garners a great deal of sympathy. This sympathy is strained over and over again as Gardner suffers unbelievable setbacks. By the time the final act comes around the story is on the verge of becoming ridiculous. The resolution comes at exactly the right time for maximum effectiveness.

There are many who may watch this film and see it as being a tad strong in its message of perseverance. I would argue against this. Garnder’s endurance makes him a valuable role model and showing his hardships (even if they may be pumped up for the sake of the movie – if they were) solidifies to power of refusing to give up on yourself. His story is inspiring stuff and I can’t recommend it enough.

On top of the powerful rags to riches story, this is also a tale of fatherhood. Gardner also serves as a quality image of what a father should be: protective, providing and patient. This film offers a father figure who is a real man who gives his son guidance and care. If only Hollywood produced more father characters such as this as opposed to the usual image of a bumbling moron who is little more than an oversized child.

If you missed this in its initial theatrical release and/or let it slip off your DVD rental queue, I highly recommend getting your hands on a copy and giving it a try.


Related Reviews:
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I Robot (2004)
Hitch (2005)


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Labels: film, Jaden Smith, movie review, Will Smith

Short Review: It has zombies, how bad can it be?




This could have been a brilliant film. As it stands, its still a darn good one. Don't fool yourself, this is big, sloppy, McMovie and the is plenty that doesn't stand up to close scrutiny. So, if you're someone who notices things like that if the zombies are capable of setting traps they would have been doing so already to catch food and wouldn't have cannibalized their fellow man out of starvation, then you should be just fine.

Will Smith is precisely the right guy to lead this film. He's a solid lead actor and is capable of managing most of the film on his own. He engenders interest and sympathy as Robert Neville, a military scientist who is apparently the last man on earth after a cure for cancer goes sour and either kills the population or turns them into raging zombies. Smith's charisma carries the first half of the film where he is alone in the world with his dog. As the story picks up and the zombies are introduced his natural talent handling scenes where he is in peril is displayed. The other actors in the film are passable and fail to compete with Smith's performance. This isn't to imply Smith created a memorable piece of acting, the other roles are simply underwritten and were designed to make them into talking props. Even when the film is populated with multiple human characters it is still all about Neville.

Director Francis Lawrence (the man responsible for the unwatchable Constantine), manages the first half of the film well and sets up the destruction of mankind in effective flashbacks. Once the other characters, a woman and a small boy, are introduced the film stumbles a little. Their time together is so brief and lacking of any depth that the relationships never emerge. The woman and kid show up and that night the zombies attack. Its over before it begins. Also missing is the sense that Neville has been utterly alone for years. His first interactions with other humans is oddly handled. He throws a fit, which is an interesting reaction, but it isn't played as an ironic reaction, it comes off more as bad writing. This mixed with the brief respite before the zombies attack saps the film of some potentially vibrant character development.

The other downside of the film is the zombies themselves. They're infected humans who have been turned into growling, frantic rage-machines. In the original book by Richard Matheson, the infected speak to him from the darkness, he actually recognizes one of them as being his old friend. This interaction sets up a great dramatic tension that could have been played out with great effect in this production. They chose to ignore this in favor of having the infected be faceless ghouls. This choice drains the film of some key tools to drive any symbolism and/or dramatic tension. The idea of Neville being called after as he tries to get home in time, or having the infected attempt to lure him out at night seems like cinematic gold. The irony of his never ending loneliness being interrupted every night by the voices of the undead calling for his blood could have been riveting. As it stands, we're stuck with pale, bald growlers.

Overall, the film succeeds, but it could have been far better. As a McMovie, it entertains, retains a worthy message and closes with a satisfying conclusion. Yes, I'm one of the few critics who think this film ended well. Actually, the ending is nearly perfect from my point-of-view. Neville's Christ-like sacrifice and the prominent images of the church at the end of the movie are well-placed and make an important point. The original ending, the one in the final film is an alternative that was thankfully inserted, had Neville and the zombies coming to terms. Neville gives up the girl zombie to the head zombie guy who holds her gently. This original ending is the typical moral-relativist conclusion we see these days. This ending would have spoiled the sin and redemption through blood concepts so vividly displayed in the final close.

Should you see it? Sure. Particularly if you've ever sat through The Omega Man, the embarrassing Charlton Heston version of the same story. For all of the faults of this production, it didn't make the zombies into nonsense babbling hippies.


Cautions: It has zombies so there's plenty of violence. The violence is rather subdued and there isn't much gore. The language is rather tame as well.


Worldview: Exceedingly rare in Hollywood films is not only the mention of God by name but the instruction that he is concerned for humanity and works with us directly. Normally Hollywood deals with issues of faith in neutered language that fails to reveal any real conviction to anything real. This film stunningly breaks from that tradition. While Neville drives through an abandoned New York he casually passes a sign that reads "God still loves us". Presumptively, he has been passing by this obtuse sign of hope everyday since the apocalypse destroyed his world. This reminder of the endearing love God shows for his creation didn't make it into the film by accident. This is also the case with Neville's picture of himself on a magazine cover citing him as a "savior". The film sets Neville to be a surrogate Christ-figure, but one that has been distracted. He has been flummoxed by the apocalypse because he has insisted on seeing the devastation through the eyes of the material, through science. Employing science while ignoring the governing hand of God is like completing a jigsaw puzzle upside down. You can figure out how the pieces fit together but you're missing the beauty and function of the design. Neville struggles to find a man-made cure for the infection (sin) but is unable. When Neville finds Anna (who is reminiscent of the prophetess from Luke 36-38). She tells him that God still exists and that "he has a plan". Of course, meaning a plan to eradicate the infection/sin. In the end, Neville sacrifices himself and gives the cure for the infection/sin derived from his own blood, again he is a Christ-figure, to Anna who witnesses his sacrificial death. She then travels to a sanctuary where she closes the film telling of how Neville and his blood cure was indeed the savior of humanity. The Christian overtones to the film are unmistakable and wonderfully woven in without being to heavy-handed. Pay attention Christian filmmakers, the inclusion of faith is exactly how it should be done. Faith plays a critical role in the production but doesn't consume it, God is involved but the narrative doesn't turn into a Bible-banging sermon. Its amazing what a little subtlety can do.



Related Review:
Omega Man (1971)


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Labels: film, movie review, Will Smith, zombie

Releasing today, this Will Smith vehicle has him playing a down-and-out superhero. Peter Berg (The Kingdom) is directing the McMovie. I imagine this will be humorous, but not funny - entertaining, but not memorable. Check out the trailer below. Seems like its a one joke movie, but then again Smith has a knack for picking good projects for his image.

Labels: Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman, movie trailer, Peter Berg, superhero, Will Smith

The alternative ending (the original ending) for Will Smith's film I Am Legend has been leaked to YouTube. The DVD hits shelves on March 18th.




I'm not impressed with this version. While the ending that was released in theaters was meant to be the more easily consumable version, this one saps the story of its grander overtones. Without Neville's sacrifice the film loses its point. Removing the transferring of the vial of blood and the arrival of Anna in the Eden-like human retreat at the end also drains the piece of some rich symbolism. This ending feels convoluted and lacking in the same power. Let me know what you think.


Update: The video has been taken down as a part of the DMCA.

Labels: film, Will Smith, zombie

Releasing on July 2nd, 2008, this Will Smith vehicle has him playing a down-and-out superhero who takes up with another man's wife. Peter Berg (The Kingdom) is directing the McMovie. I imagine this will be humorous, but not funny - entertaining, but not memorable. Check out the trailer below. Seems like its a one joke movie, but then again Smith has a knack for picking good projects for his image.

Labels: Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman, movie trailer, Peter Berg, superhero, Will Smith

Labels: movie trailer, Will Smith, zombie