Hollow Man
Is that Jason Vorhees? Michael Myers? Ken Dryden?
Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolfman, The
Mummy. Everyone knows these classic monsters from the Golden Era of
horror movies. They have had countless adaptations, remakes, and
re-imaginings. One monster, though, has been looked over more than
the Creature From The Black Lagoon. I'm talking about the Invisible
Man. Perhaps it's because the Invisible Man is, well, a man or maybe
he is not as visually appealing as the other monsters, but for
whatever reason, the Invisible Man is just not very popular. Maybe a
modern take on the story would breathe new life into the character
just like The Mummy series with Brendan Frasier. Having Kevin Bacon
involved is a good start.
Hollow Man is a 2000 science-fiction
horror movie inspired by the H.G. Wells story, The Invisible Man. The
movie stars Kevin Bacon (Tremors, Apollo 13) as Dr. Sebastian Caine
and Elisabeth Shue (Adventures In Babysitting, The Karate Kid) as Dr.
Linda McKay. They are part of a team of scientists, including Dr.
Matt Kensington (Josh Brolin, No Country For Old Men, W.), working on
an invisibility serum for the Pentagon. They test their serum on
animals and are capable of turning them invisible, but cannot return
them to their visible state. Sebastian has a breakthrough and injects
an invisible gorilla with the new serum, making it visible again.
When asked by his government superiors about his progress, Sebastian
does not tell them about the breakthrough. He believes that in order
to keep control of his work he must test the serum on himself.
Sebastian asks Matt and Linda to lie to the rest of the team for him
in order to convince them to test the serum himself. Unbeknownst to
him, Matt and Linda are secretly seeing each other romantically. With
his group's help, Sebastian, through a great deal of physical pain
and psychological stress, becomes invisible. Unfortunately, they are
unable to turn him back, and the added power of being able to go
anywhere undetected affects Sebastian's already fragile mental
stability. Sebastian begins to harass his co-workers and people out
in public, even molesting Linda in her sleep. When Linda and Matt
tell their superior, Dr. Kramer, about what has happened, Sebastian
drowns him in a pool. With his sanity slipping, Sebastian begins
killing the members of his team one by one. How will Linda and Matt
be able to stop someone they can't even see?
Six degrees of Kevin Bacon looking like a Jack O'Lantern
Most incarnations of the Invisible Man
suffer from a lack of visuals. They show nothing and we just have to
take their word for it that someone is there. They have to rely on
bandages and clothing to show the Invisible Man, even thought there
is no real point for him to have clothes on. Hollow Man uses modern
special effects to actually make that weakness into it's greatest
strength. The effects used throughout the movie look great, from
highly detailed muscles and nervous systems to Kevin Bacon's
transparent eyes when he wears synthetic skin. Special effects can
only go so far, though. The movie starts out promising with good
character development and a believable basis in science. The movie
slows down once Sebastian becomes invisible, exactly where the movie
should speed up. It takes too long for things to happen and when they
finally do, it's very predictable. This is also around the same time
that the movie goes from interesting and suspenseful to typical
horror movie, complete with a race against time to stop an explosion.
The movie poses interesting questions about absolute power corrupting
absolutely and then just kind of forgets about them.
Director Paul Verhoeven is no stranger
to science fiction/action movies with a resume including Total
Recall, Starship Troopers, and Robocop. The action isn't the issue as
there is plenty of it, with a good amount of blood and violence. The
science fiction is fine, but not great as the movie loses it's
direction in favor of action and special effects. It doesn't help
that the movie is at least 20 minutes too long for no particular
reason. The horror is pretty straightforward, which is unfortunate,
because the Invisible Man has the potential to be scary in a cerebral
way. Why not have him whisper in someone's ear rather than just
charge at them with a weapon? That's just lazy writing. Kevin Bacon
makes for a very good villian as the he is able to capture the
egomaniacal nature and rage of Sebastian. Elisabeth Shue is good as
well, pulling off the vulnerable yet confident Linda. Josh Borlin is
fine, though he is just kind of “there” throughout the movie.
"You spilled my cranberry juice! I'll kill you!"
It's always nice to see a horror movie
use a classic character, especially one that doesn't receive much
attention. Hollow Man gives the Invisible Man a modern spin, basing
it in the modern world and giving it a heavy dose of science. The
special effects are fantastic, even 12 years later. The violence is
good and there is enough action to keep things interesting. The movie
is a bit too long and tends to slow down in the middle. There are
some missed opportunities for good scares as the movie goes for a
more straightforward horror feel. The acting is good, but the story
laves something to be desired. The movie did very well at the box
office, and I can see the appeal. It's a good popcorn flick, but it
is missing that something special to make it memorable.
6/10
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