Hollow Man (2000)

In Paul Verhoeven's appropriately shallow Hollow Man, Kevin Bacon plays a bad-boy egotistical scientist who heads up a double-secret government team experimenting with turning life-forms invisible. How do we know he's a bad boy? Because he (a) wears a leather overcoat, (b) compares himself to God, (c) drives a sports car, and (d) spies on his comely next-door neighbor while eating Twinkies. Sadly, this is the most character development anyone gets in this undernourished action/sci-fi thriller, which boasts some amazing special effects and some amazingly ridiculous plot twists. After experimenting rather ruthlessly on a menagerie of lab animals, Bacon finally cracks the code that will turn the invisible gorillas, dogs, and so on, back into their visible forms. Does it work on humans? Faster than you can say "six degrees," Mr. Bacon appoints himself human guinea pig, strapping down for an injection of fluorescent-colored serum. Thanks to some phenomenal, seamless and Oscar-worthy computer effects, Bacon is indeed rendered invisible, organ by organ, vein by vein. And what's the first thing you'd do if you were invisible? Why, spy on your female coworkers in the bathroom and molest your comely next-door neighbor, of course! Soon, Bacon is thoroughly psychotic, and it's up to Elisabeth Shue (Bacon's coworker and ex-girlfriend) and hunky Josh Brolin (her current snuggle bunny) to defeat the invisible man, who's picking off the science team one by one. You'd think this would be a prime opportunity for copious amounts of cheesy sex and aggressive violence--which Verhoeven served up so well and so exuberantly in Starship Troopers and Basic Instinct--but if anything, the director seems to tone down the proceedings, and really, who wants a muted Paul Verhoeven movie? Shue (who got top billing and a bad haircut to boot) and Brolin (who, yes, does take off his shirt at least once) generate little heat, and while Bacon does give an effective, primarily voice-oriented performance, his character is so underdeveloped that, well, you can see right through him. --Mark Englehart Amazon.com

Hollow Man better on blu!

This movie is one of those that require you to check your brain at the door, But it is still a good popcorn flick. It is kind of suspenseful and has killer visuals the story is only so-so. May 19, 2008

LOUSY! HORRIBLE!

SOME OF THE SPECIAL EFFECTS ARE GREAT. THE CHARACTER IS SUPPOSED TO BE INVISIBLE. FOR SOME REASON THEY DECIDED TO SHOW THE GUYS PACKAGE CONTINUOSLY DURING THE MOVIE. GIVE ME A BREAK. I DID NOT WATCH THIS TO SEE AN OUTLINE OF KEVIN BACON'S PRIVATE PARTS. May 1, 2008

The title says it all; truly hollow...

One thing that can't be praised enough about `Hollow Man' is the amazing, and I mean A-M-A-Z-I-N-G, special effects that are so believable and so impressive you'd swear that it was real. Sadly, that aside, `Hollow Man' is just that; completely hollow. There is no substance here. `Hollow Man' just serves as a sorry excuse for nudity and violence. I know that complaint sounds strange since this is a horror movie and what else do you expect from a film in this genre other than violence and nudity. Well, to be completely honest, there is nothing wrong with either of the aforementioned as long as they are strung together by a feasible and interesting plot. `Hollow Man' just has no point. It moves from slightly entertaining sci-fi thriller into eerily cold slasher film and then plummets into cheesy and ridiculous action film; all the while nothing of really any interest is taking place on the screen.

I think the biggest problem with `Hollow Man' is that none of the characters are interesting. Kevin Bacon is as boring a villain as they come. His `god complex' is stereotypical and bland. Elisabeth Shue and Josh Brolin generate no real heat and while both are beautiful human specimens the film drains them of any acting talent they possess. In the end we don't really care who lives or dies and that detracts from the entertainment value of the film.

The story follows Sebastian Caine, a scientist who is heading a secret government team experimenting with invisibility. They have so far successfully turned a handful of animals invisible but have had grave difficulty bringing them back to visibility. Once Caine breaks the code and finds a way to bring the animals back he decides he wants to be the first human to undergo the procedure. Once invisible he realizes that the same serum that brought the animals back will not work on humans and he winds up invisible for far too long (apparently after being `out' for too long it starts to mess with your mind) and he winds up doing some very questionable things. Now it's up to his co-workers to stop him before he goes too far.

The sad thing is that with a premise like that of `Hollow Man' the director, actors, screen writers; whoever made these decisions had the opportunity to really take this story places. Instead they resort to the same ol' same. Sebastian Caine spys on his hot neighbor; attacks her and then starts to kill off his co-workers. It's predictable and sadly very been-there-done-that. The acting is also very bland. Bacon is horrible, truly stereotypical and one-note.

The best acting comes from Rhona Mitra...hmmmmmm.

In the end I will say that when I first saw this film I loved it. I was fifteen I think and it had nudity and violence and I didn't care if it was senseless or ridiculous; it was just what I wanted to see. Now that I'm older I can't see any real value to this movie. They took masterful, state of the art graphics and pasted them together with a rudimentary plot that took no imagination to construct and that single-handedly drives this film into the ground. Watch the first twenty minutes of the film to experience the amazing special effects (when they bring the gorilla back to visibility it's a visual god-send) and then turn it off before your mind turns to mush. April 11, 2008

You Think You're Alone, Think Again...

What would you do if you had the ability to turn yourself invisible? Would you use it to mess with friends, co-workers, and maybe even neighbors? Or would you try to get into places that you are not normally allowed to go? Or are there some of you out there that would embrace your darker desires and abuse the ability by committing wrongs against others whether they know it or not? I know for me, I would most likely use the ability to mess with others (not in a harmful way, just play tricks on them), and the temptation would be there to go into certain places where I'm not allowed to go, but I know for a fact that I wouldn't abuse the gift by hurting others directly or indirectly. In director Paul Verhoven's ("Robocop" and "Basic Instinct") 2000 hit science fiction release of "Hollow Man" starring Kevin Bacon, Elisabeth Shue, and Josh Brolin these questions are pondered to varying degrees, and the results tend to be more sinister in nature.

"Hollow Man" is the story of a team of scientists, led by Dr. Sebastian Caine (Kevin Bacon), who have been commissioned by the U.S. government to create an invisibility serum. After successfully testing the serum to turn living beings invisible on animals and finally achieving the breakthrough of turning them back to visible, Caine manipulates his team into jumping head-first into human testing, namely on himself. Once the serum has turned Sebastian invisible, the remainder of his team discovers that the serum that returned the animal subjects back into visible beings doesn't work on humans. This surprising discovery leaves Caine invisible for a much longer period of time than was initially planned, and he eventually begins to believe that his co-workers, led by Sebastian's former flame (Elisabeth Shue) and her new boyfriend (Josh Brolin), are in fact trying to kill him. This realization, combined with the rationale that you can do whatever you want when you don't have to look at yourself in the mirror anymore, causes Sebastian Caine to turn on his former colleagues and begin hunting them one by one. Now, this team of ill-fated scientists find themselves in the fight of their lives against an unseen foe that is becoming increasingly dangerous and unstable.

"Hollow Man" is a slick, fast-paced sci-fi/horror movie that is very enjoyable, but loses some of its luster if you stop to think about the story too much. The story for the film is decent, though nothing spectacular by any means. I liked the way the film spent some time trying to explain the science behind the invisibility serum, and its effects on animals and their mental capacities, which made Sebastian's eventual psychosis later in the film more plausible. However, I would have preferred his descent into madness not been so sudden after he discovered that the serum to return him to being visible again may kill him. It was his rationale of believing that his co-workers were trying to kill him via the serum that made this portion of the movie seem a bit weak. There had been no indication of that intention on their behalf prior, but suddenly the serum fails and voila, they must be trying to kill me. Come on writers, a little more depth could have been given to his reasoning here, not just glossed over to start the horror aspect of the film. Even though Sebastian's reasoning was weak, the time spent showing the escalation of his pranks on fellow co-workers turning into full-blown criminal activity was very well-paced and made his eventual murderous rampage much more believable based on what his character has been shown to be capable of over the course of the film.

With a script that was decent, but could have been better, "Hollow Man" could easily have been swept aside as being just another average sci-fi/horror hybrid that would quickly be forgotten. Fortunately for the film's financial backers the cast was comprised of top-notch stars that elevated the material above the average existence it would have had. Kevin Bacon, Elisabeth Shue, and Josh Brolin comprise the main cast for the film, and each actor/actress delivered strong performances, even handling the sci-fi techno-jargon rather convincingly. Thanks to the rather talented cast, the inadequacies of the script were somewhat forgotten, or at least not nearly as obvious to the point that they were too distracting to the viewer during the film.

Finally, the most spectacular component of the film would have to be the outstanding visual effects work. Even for an eight year old film, the effects that are employed to create invisible characters are still as visually impressive today as they were the day it was released. I wonder though, if "Hollow Man" had been created today with the even more inflated budgets that most sci-fi movies enjoy, would the effects look any better? I tend to think that they would most likely look pretty much the same as they already do, which shows just how great the effects really look. The only place that could even remotely be improved is the sequence when Kevin Bacon turns invisible, some of the sequence looked a little fake, but then again, I haven't seen anyone with their skin invisible before to see what they look like underneath, so for all I know that may have been an accurate representation. Even if it wasn't completely accurate or realistic in appearance, it still looked impressive, so you get no real complaining from me, it was just a passing thought.

In the end, "Hollow Man" is a visually stunning special effects extravaganza that does a good job of mixing science fiction and horror together into one film. The storyline is somewhat weak in places, and could have benefited from a bit more character development and depth to the story, but the talented actors and actresses in the film, plus the terrific visual effects, more than make up for any short-comings the story had.

"Hollow Man" is rated R for violence, language, and sexuality/nudity. March 2, 2008

the big hit

I give it a 3 star because of lou diamond phillips acting in this movie. February 17, 2008

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