At this point, Will Smith (I am Legend) could take a nap in a cardboard box for 90 minutes and probably gross $100 million. The 39-year-old is one of the biggest movie stars in the world, with smash hits every year since 2002’s Men in Black II. The type of star who can get heterosexual males to go en masse (without dates) to a date movie (Hitch) and open an end-of-the-world film in which he is billed as the sole actor to record numbers (I Am Legend). He should have no trouble scoring with audiences again with the mostly entertaining Hancock, a fresh twist on the superhero genre.

Rumors of Hancock’s “edge” and “dark” subject matter have been greatly exaggerated (notably so by a New York Times article). The word was the film was still in keeping with scribe Vincent Ngo’s original draft, which had been circulating in Hollywood for more than a decade.

But Hancock is no worse along the lines of violence and sexuality than the recent The Incredible Hulk, certainly palatable for mass audiences. Its protagonist may be a perpetually boozed-up, foul-mouthed superhero, but Hancock is no Sin City.

Smith plays the titular Hancock as a standoffish and subtly sensitive hero, conflicted about his role in society. Smith manages to remain endearing and an everyman while playing a fairly unlikable character. Hancock might save a life, but he’s usually so drunk and careless he wrecks an entire highway doing so.

All this changes when Hancock meets the idealistic PR man Ray (Jason Bateman, The Promotion). Ray has been trying to get big corporations to “change the world” by giving charitably, with zero success. He sees his chance to fulfill his altruistic aspirations by turning Hancock into a respectable hero. Bateman plays Ray as a soft-pedaling life coach, his usual sarcastic wit still effective despite being toned down.

The basic conceit of a jerk superhero is the film’s strong point, and Hancock excels when indulging in the obvious humor and fun to be reaped from such a premise. Seeing Hancock toss a beached whale into a sailboat, throw a 12-year-old bully miles into the air and generally act like a mean-cuss to everyone is funny and refreshing. And all the action scenes are shot with director Peter Berg’s (The Kingdom) penchant for showing a million unusual angles, another positive. For the first 45 minutes or so, it seems Hancock is going to be the rare superhero film to not take itself too seriously.

But then it does – a lot. Hancock turns into a different movie in the third act, one caught up in a convoluted (and arguably inconsistent) web of its own superhero mythology. As the exposition and back-stories pile up, the energy drains out of the film. What was a fairly pleasant comedy turns into something out of Greek tragedy.

Berg tries to prepare the audience by keeping the quieter scenes unusually personal for such a big film. He does this by bringing his trademark home video-like semi-shake cam and acoustic guitar score with him from Friday Night Lights and The Kingdom.

The emotionally heavy third act also gives Charlize Theron a chance to show some dramatic acting chops when her role as Ray’s wife, Mary, takes on larger significance. Ultimately, though, it leads to an overwrought finale.

The viewing whiplash makes for a feeling of disappointment leaving the theatre, but it shouldn’t diminish what went before it. For most of its runtime Hancock is top-notch summer entertainment.

Similar to Will Smith’s last film, I Am Legend, Hancock garners enough goodwill with its stellar first hour to overcome the bad taste left by its ending. Much like its titular superhero, Hancock is flawed but certainly not boring.

dan.benamor@gmail.com