This was one I knew I wanted to see after seeing it as a preview for another movie during the summer. It really turned out to be a lot different than I had expected. As the movie starts off, we meet Hancock, a man with superpowers, a mysterious past, a drinking problem, and no one in his life. As you can imagine, he really doesn't care what people think because of this and is a bit crass, which probably only makes the situation centering around his being alone worse.

Everyone in town knows who he is. He often jumps into rescue people in trouble, but he ends up wreaking havoc and causing more damage than he is trying to stop since he is sloppy at his work. As a result, people are not exactly thrilled to see him coming. In fact, they often taunt him when he is finished "saving the day."

A chance encounter with Ray Embrey, a struggling ad man with hopes of starting a peace initiative supported by major corporations, gives him an opportunity to improve things. In fact, Hancock saves Ray from a train that is hurtling toward his car. Of course, the train is destroyed, but Ray encourages those around them to applaud Hancock's attempt.

After taking Hancock home to meet the family, Ray encourages Hancock to turn himself in to face charges relating to all the damage he has done as a start to re-imaging the superhero.

There is an interesting subplot that pops up, relating to Hancock's mysterious past that defines the latter part of the movie, but the film is really about what makes someone a hero. As you can guess, it isn't about strength or powers.

I was surprised at how much Ray liked this one. He is not a big fan of the superhero thing, which probably surprises most of you since I love just about anything with superheroes.

What is really different about this one is that it doesn't really make any attempts to have the flash and glitz of many comic book heroes. Instead it focuses on building a strong back-story and well-defined characters. It is a thinker rather than just an action flick.