What's Not To Like?

Last night I went to see Hancock with Scott and – eventually; he showed up after the movie had started – Casey.
Despite how well it’s done at the box office, most of the reviews I’ve seen of the movie have been negative.
I don’t get it; the movie was extremely entertaining, and Will Smith was his usual likeable self (as was Jason Bateman), and, also as usual, Charlize Theron was hot. So what is there to bitch about?
I mean, yeah, it wasn’t some dense existential exploration of the nature of heroism and the human condition, but it had a solid plot, a lot of humor, and some great effects.
(And some amount of existential exploration of the nature of heroism and human nature thrown in for good measure.)
The high concept aspect of the movie was, I think, brilliant, and was executed much more effectively than the equally brilliant high concept behind My Super Ex-Girlfriend (which I also liked).
As a comic book geek, I’m probably biased, as I’m frankly thrilled to see Hollywood coming out with original material that puts a new twist on elements that, while not directly adapted from the comics, are at least drawn from them, without resorting to the tired old clichés that have been the hallmark of Hollywood’s treatment of comics for decades.
So, yeah, I liked it, and I don’t know what’s up with the people who panned it.
Other than seeing the movie last night, things have been pretty uneventful since my last entry.
I’ve been doing some thinking about designs for a new version of the Heroic Portraits site that can serve as an improvement in quality over what’s in place now, and as something of a placeholder until I either miraculously become skilled in Flash, or hire somehow who has the skills that I’m unlikely to miraculously develop to build a new site.
Tonight looks to involve more of the same.
Tomorrow evening I’ll be seeing Hellboy II with Scott and several other people. All I can say is “It’s about damn time!” We’ve only been waiting four damn years for a sequel.
(I will say that the direct to DVD movies that have come out in the interim have been excellent. But then I’ll add, “More of those, too, please!”)
I neglected to mention that on Saturday, after watching the awfulness that was Tribulation Force, Scott and I watched a few episodes of The Venture Bros. as sort of a tonic, or as a kind of palliative.
It did the trick.
I watched a couple more episodes after Scott left, and found my mood much improved and found myself feeling much better about the collective worth of humanity after watching Tribulation Force – which is supposed to be hopeful and inspiring – had left me with a feeling of soul-crushing hopelessness and despair for the state of the world.
My point? Despite the extreme, over-the-top, casual violence, and the deplorable, but intensely human, behavior that can be found in every episode, The Venture Bros. is better for your soul than anything related to Left Behind and the nihilistic, death-obsessed, utterly inhuman, culture that produces and consumes it.
Or, to put it another way, Go Team Venture!
Of course, now that I think about The Venture Bros. and Left Behind, I can’t help but think about how awesome it would be to see Brock Sampson beating the crap out of Buck Williams and Rayford Steele (most likely beating one with the other).
(Note to Christopher McCulloch and Doc Hammer: make it happen! Also, seriously, you need to get Bruce Campbell to guest star as Ash on an episode.)
Still, here’s the next best thing: a collection of the 10 Best Brock Beatdowns.