Hancock
Columbia Pictures | Release Date: July 2, 2008 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
49
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 37 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
16
Negative:
7
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
The New YorkerDavid Denby
Hancock suggests new visual directions and emotional tonalities for pop. It's by far the most enjoyable big movie of the summer. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
A rollicking tale of rehabilitation and redemption, rife with cool special effects, Hancock is smart and surprisingly raunchy. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubTasha Robinson
It's a daring, even mildly challenging mixture for a superhero film, and while the pieces don't entirely add up, the puzzle is at least original. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Bateman doesn't make a false move, and a stellar Charlize Theron springs her own bolts from the blue as Ray's wife. As for Smith, he's on fire. There's nothing like a star shining on his highest beams. You follow him anywhere. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Hancock is a lot of fun, if perhaps a little top-heavy with stuff being destroyed. Smith makes the character more subtle than he has to be, more filled with self-doubt, more willing to learn. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
The real hit of the movie is the hilarious Bateman. His low-key humor makes you wish Hancock could have saved Bateman's short-lived sitcom "Arrested Development." Now that would have been heroic. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
One of the rare action films that needed to be longer. Then changes in mood wouldn't be so abrupt, and director Peter Berg and writers Vincent Ngo and Vince Gilligan would've had more time to reveal things we want to know. Read full review
70
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
Hancock makes for one unexpectedly satisfying and kinky addition to Hollywood's superhero chronicles. Touching and odd, laden with genuine twists and grounded by three appealing lead performances. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
As popcorn movies go, this is fleet, funny, and even thoughtful: its central question, nicely underplayed by director Peter Berg, is why power and altruism never seem to intersect. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
The script doesn't always find the most effective way to the heart of the conflicts and Berg struggles to balance the mix of tones and the conflicts of man and superman, but he never sacrifices the integrity of his characters or their relationships for an easy ending. That alone makes Hancock the most adult of the new wave of superhero dramas. Read full review
67
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
The first half is diverting and inventive. But the filmmakers use the second half as a box-office insurance policy. They fill it with the conventional super-heroics and heartbreak that they spend the first 45 minutes gleefully deconstructing. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
In a film marketplace where even the best superhero movies tend to do a lot of the same stuff, I really admire Will Smith and bad-boy director Peter Berg for trying something different. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
The promise is dangled yet never developed. Rather, the narrative slips into a backstory that alternates between confusing and contradictory. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Sometimes funny, sometimes clever, and occasionally involving, but it's never brilliant and its edge is compromised by the neutering that accompanies the teen-friendly PG-13 rating. Read full review
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