Hey...High Concept really does work!

Hancock's initial trailer pitch:
Will Smith plays a feckless, uncouth superhero who must clean up his image to recapture the public's approval.

Hancock's new and improved trailer pitch:
Will Smith plays a feckless, uncouth superhero who must clean up his image to recapture the public's approval, but in his quest to become a kinder, gentler man, he's becoming mortal.

I was at a seminar recently about high concept writing, and realized it really does work. When I saw the first trailer for Hancock, I was all, "Meh, might be good on a matinee at Rainbow Cinema." But when I saw the newest commercial and heard this additional line about becoming mortal, I thought, "Hey, now, THAT'S a movie I want to see. "

Why? CONFLICT.

It's the foundation for all good storytelling, goddamn it. I'm glad Hollywood marketing realized that.

Now to see if the movie is actually any good....

On a separate note, I saw The Incredible Hulk over the weekend. My review's pretty simple: better than the godawful first one. Liv Tyler spends most of the movie whispering "Bruuuuce" and "It's okay, you'll be okay"; Ed Norton is an okay Bruce Banner (but I don't really have a clue as to how he can be played--having never read the comics, I just can't really characterize his alter ego the way I do Peter Parker or Clark Kent); and the scenes filmed in Toronto on U of T campus and along Yonge Street really distracted me from the frenetic, explosive action. Still, fun. But not as good as Iron Man.