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I’ve been on the fence about Hancock from the beginning. Sure, it’s a Will Smith blockbuster and it co-stars Jason Bateman, both typically prime selling points for me, but it also seems a bit one-note and silly. Upon first hearing about the concept of a drunken has-been superhero, I immediately thought about drunken Superman in Superman III. After seeing the teaser trailer, I felt the exaggerated special effects (including the rather funny whale toss) were a little too over the top.

Now comes a full trailer (Quicktime version here) that reveals a lot more action and a lot more plot points. The former seems to have everyone on the Internet suddenly more excited about the movie. But what about those new story reveals? Aside from the usual problem of giving too much away, the trailer exposes the overdone concept of a world without its under-appreciated hero(es) — think Ghostbusters, any one of a thousand comic book titles (the hero is in jail, or half-defeated, or in an alternate state such as in Superman III) — and makes it seem as though screenwriters Vincent Ngo and Vince Gilligan based the rest of the movie around that single, simple recycled idea.

Of course, mainstream moviegoers like familiar concepts, so the trailer should work in that regard. And it’s interesting that Sony isn’t actually revealing too much of the plot, since we still haven’t seen any indication of the storyline involving an affair between Hancock (Smith) and the wife (Charlize Theron) of his new PR man (Bateman). In fact most moviegoers are probably wondering why Theron seems to have such an insignificant role.

Anyway, it seems the buzz on Hancock is building quickly today thanks to the new trailer, which means most people are responding differently than me. I can’t remember the last time I saw a movie’s anticipation level rise so suddenly. Here, a sampling of quotes from the newly excited blogosphere:

• Empire asks: “Is this summer’s surprise super hit?”
• John at The Movie Blog says it clearly: “I have to admit that my interest in this movie went from “That looks ok” to “Holy shit! How many days until this comes out??” in less than 3 minutes.
• Eugene at Cinematical highlights the appeal of the movie’s “focus on what it’s like to be a superhero not in a universe where you can do whatever you want, but in the American bureaucratic state.”