MOVIES: Smith’s ‘Hancock’ may crash

Had the subversive superhero film “Hancock” stuck to its own story line — washed-up hero finds redemption via a PR guru — the film might have been yet another Will Smith slam-dunk.

Instead, Mr. Smith will need every ounce of his box office clout to maneuver “Hancock” into the summer movie stratosphere.

Modern superheroes tend to be an angst-ridden lot. Spider-Man can’t get respect, and the Hulk’s alter ego just wants his green side to go away, permanently.

But Hancock (Mr. Smith) soars right past angst toward self-destruction. He’s rude, uncaring and cold to those around him. Oh, and he drinks way too much. When a man who can leap tall buildings in a single bound isn’t sober - look out.

Even when Hancock saves the day, which he does in the film’s opening sequence, he leaves a trail of destruction that costs millions to repair. He can’t even land or take off without shredding the pavement under his feet.

Enter Jason Bateman, a droll delight), a public relations executive whom Hancock saves during one of his heroic misadventures. Ray wants to take Hancock on as a client, pro bono, and turn his image around.

Hancock resists at first. He’s in pain, and he’s quick to lash out at anyone who tries to get close to him. But he’s also desperate for help, and there’s an unusual bond he feels with Ray’s wife, Mary (Charlize Theron) that keeps him coming back to the Embrey home.

Ray’s plan has Hancock surrendering to law enforcement as a show of good faith - he’s wanted on a series of charges but never sticks around long enough to have cuffs slapped on him. Ray figures as soon as the crime rate starts soaring again, the cops will be itching to let Hancock go.

So far, we’re on “Hancock’s” side no matter how surly its protagonist gets. Mr. Smith gives his anti-hero plenty of attitude, even if he relies too heavily on his sneer to get the point across.

Then “Hancock” shifts gears, hard, with character revelations that send the film careening into new and thoroughly unbelievable directions. Yes, a superhero movie deserves to be faulted for unbelievability if it defies its own internal logic.

The switch negates everything “Hancock” had built up until then, leaving the film nowhere to go but toward a noisy, unsatisfying finale.

“Hancock” isn’t as family friendly as one might expect. The language is more coarse than you’ll find in, say, “Spider-Man,” and there’s a tension between Hancock and Mary that might be hard to explain to the wee ones.

The first half does offer some thrills, from Hancock’s superhuman strength to Mr. Smith’s tweaking of politically correct conventions while saving a hurt police officer.

If there’s ever a “Hancock 2,” it won’t be because the original left audiences panting for more. Instead, it’ll be — like the current “Incredible Hulk” feature — an apology for messing up the formula the first time.

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