Where does one begin when trying to rate/dissect/analyze a Will Smith movie? Anyone who doubts Smith's global drawing power has either been under a rock since he took complete and utter control of the box office in 1996 (Independence Day), or isn't aware of Tom Cruise's recent image meltdown. Smith is an actor as well as a movie star, who is able to fill theaters by his mere presence on a poster - as in the case of the ghastly Hitch and the mediocre I Am Legend - and rack up critical accolades. He has, after all, been nominated for an Oscar. Twice. It will take all his considerable charms to make a hit out of Hancock, a confused film that runs hot and cold from moment to moment, yet somehow maintains a respectable level of watchability. Smart money is on this being a hit, too, though if is it will go down in history as the weirdest summer blockbuster of all time.

There are two distinct films in Hancock: The first is an almost-satire of the entire superhero sub-genre; the second is a romantic drama about destiny, fate, and loss. Hancock (Smith) is the world's worst superhero. He's a great crime stopper and deterrent, but the public hates his guts. He's a foul-mouthed, surly, drunk that lives in a dump of a trailer. He has no funky uniform, and perpetually causes more damage than he prevents. After he saves, Ray (Jason Bateman) a compassionate public relations executive (!) from a train wreck - wrecking the train in the process - Ray offers him the chance at an image makeover. Ray's wife Mary (Charlize Theron) is suspicious of him, and clearly knows something about Hancock that she's not talking about. Once Hancock comes into their lives and simultaneously wins over their young son Aaron (Jae Head), the psychologizing begins, and Hancock starts to spiral out of control.

Part One is an often hilarious, appropriately uncomfortable superhero takedown that boasts several truly inspired moments. Riffing on the idea that no good deed goes unpunished, Hancock's confrontations with angry mobs are pitch-perfect. So is Hancock's way of dealing with an elementary school-aged neighborhood bully. As is the reformed Hancock's first foray into popularity in his new outfit after thorough coaching from Ray. There's some sharp wit at work here that sadly isn't carried all the way through the film.

After the reformation, Part Two takes over, and a misguided weepy begins - albeit with flashes of the same snarky humor of Part One. It's all very disjointed and perplexing, particularly when some jailhouse revenge is thrown into the mix. When the inevitable final showdown unfolds, the screen is flooded with cold, blue-tinged images that resemble something from Heat. Oh, look at that: Michael Mann is a credited producer. Will Smith comedy and Mann-style urban bleak in one scene? It's hard to make that work. "If Hancock works, those big tone shifts will separate us from films of the past. If it doesn't, that's one of the areas we're at risk," director Peter Berg (The Kingdom) told Entertainment Weekly, sounding prescient about the film's potential reception. And he was right. Light, funny sequences come to dead halts when the subject turns sinister (but not that sinister), and dark ones get infused with sudden levity. It's like Pulp Fiction without that film's singular vision.

Hancock's fundamental premise trades in audience expectation; it relies on the viewer's familiarity with superhero convention and Smith's screen persona. So more unforgivable than jarring tone jumps is Hancock's inability to create a convincing backstory about Hancock's origins given all the ammunition it has at its disposal. All superheroes, even satirical ones, require a mythology of their own that drives the story and motivates the hero. Bruce Wayne/Batman has the murder of his parents hanging over his head. Clark Kent/Superman is from another planet and is just trying to fit in. Hancock's thin history is fluid at best, and it conveniently rewrites itself from minute to minute in order to move the plot ahead - resulting in massive plot holes. That lack of consistency smacks of too many writers (the script is credited to Vincent Ngo and Vince Gilligan, a producer on The X-Files and other Chris Carter properties) or an unfocused production. Either way, it takes any wind out of the film's proverbial sails.

Regardless, Smith's performance once again comes to the rescue, though he has only a modicum of real material with which to work his magic. Once again, he brings that intangible Will Smith factor to the role and the film, and makes the material seem at least a little better than it really is. Bateman is well cast as the eager-to-please underachiever, replete with the baffled expressions of an eternal optimist, but Theron blandly channels her performance in the little seen sci-fi stinker on Flux. Not nearly the unmitigated piece of junk it will be labeled as, Hancock's most serious transgression is being a missed opportunity to be what Superhero Movie should have been.

Hancock opens in Hong Kong on July 3.

(HK Edition 07/03/2008 page4)