Movie Review: Gee Will, it's not so super ...

The superhero movie "Hancock" should have "bad idea" emblazoned across its chest.

Ill-conceived and oddly executed, this Will Smith vehicle perplexes more often than it entertains.

Part of the problem lies with Smith. Though it's fun to see Mr. Squeaky Clean cut loose as a misunderstood, hard-drinking superhero, Smith relies on the same pained expression whether playing angry or anguished.

Most of what troubles "Hancock" comes from behind the camera. There are certain things one expects from a Smith summer blockbuster that the film doesn't deliver. Like dazzling special effects and not being able to see actors' pores.

Director Peter Berg ("The Kingdom") opts for a shaky-camera, naturalistic approach that makes everyone look sweaty. While such a style might enhance a Dutch documentary about unfair labor practices, it's a tad gritty for a Fourth of July weekend action movie.

Especially when combined with half-kidding, half-serious special effects. The studio obviously shelled out bucks on "Hancock," but no amount of money can make a man flying in baggy surfwear look good. Flying scenes tend to require a certain sleekness of garb and seriousness of purpose to look plausible.

Unless the film is a spoof, which "Hancock" is not. What it is, exactly, is hard to pinpoint. Moving from silly to overly dramatic, the story never seems to know what to be, and the audience, in turn, isn't sure what to make of it.

A superhero who reluctantly rouses himself from a drunken stupor to pursue bad guys, Hancock doesn't exactly endear himself to those he protects. He saves people, but in doing so incurs significant damage, descending from the sky and onto the asphalt with such force that every landing entails a cleanup of the order of the I-5 fix.

It's not that he doesn't know his own strength – he's just unwilling to curtail it. When fed-up citizens hurl invective, he comes right back at them. (The film's surfeit of curse words suggests the filmmakers researched how many profanities, down to the syllable, they could include while maintaining a PG-13 rating).

When a man (Jason Bateman) gets stuck in his car on railroad tracks as a train approaches, Hancock swoops in to save the day. He also derails the train in the process.

But the dude in distress, Ray, turns out to be a public-relations expert who wants to restore Hancock's reputation. Hancock's subsequent visit to Ray's home offers some enjoyably modest special effects and fish-out-of-water humor.

Ray's wife (Charlize Theron) appears rattled by their dinner guest, partly because she doesn't want her Hancock-worshipping son (Jae Head) influenced by a superhero whose main accessory is a whiskey bottle rather than a cape. But she and Hancock also seem to share an instant attraction.

Theron and Smith show real chemistry. But Theron, an earnest presence by nature, will prove an odd fit for this semi-comical superhero film as it progresses. Bateman, however, always delights, tapping his signature soothing delivery and dry wit as a good-hearted man trying to help Hancock be all he can be.

Bullets might bounce off Hancock, but Ray's pitches do not. The PR man persuades the down-and-out superhero to serve jail time to make amends for the havoc he's caused.

The jail interlude contains a shot that's not just gross but completely unnecessary. As in, the image in question is so strongly implied by dialogue that it need not have been shown.

Such objections seem minor once "Hancock" reaches its third act and spins out of control. Not only does the film grow overly serious, it also fails to make sense at times.

Or perhaps it might make sense if one gave it more thought. But that would go against the other thing we expect from a Will Smith summer blockbuster: a mini-vacation from having to think.

About the writer:

• Call Bee movie critic Carla Meyer, (916) 321-1118. Hear her discuss the week's movies at 4:40 p.m. on Fridays on NewsTalk 1530 (KFBK). Read her blog at www.sacbee.com/21q.