Hollow Man (2000)

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.

the big hit
I give it a 3 star because of lou diamond phillips acting in this movie.

Just Watch It For Special Effects
This is a story about a scientific experiment that went wrong. A group of scientists were working a project on defence science to turn soldiers into invisible fighting machines. Dr Sebastian Caine is the ingenius protagonist who succeeds in cultivating the serum that would turn an animal invisible when injected into its body.

Somehow, the team did not have to inform the guys at the top of the defense department and invite the military to witness the event when they decided to experiment on Sebastian himself. The experiment went wrong. Sebastian invisibility became irreversible.

Angry at first, Sebastian soon discovered that he could enter the bathroom without its occupants being aware of his presence. He was also able to snoop on his ex-girlfriend and her new lover. With the power of invisibility, Sebastian leaves the facility and moves on to other more ambitious things. He ended up raping and murdering people who couldn't see him.

Returning to the facility, he sent on to kill everyone who knew his secret. The ending, is of course predictable. The special effects are simply fantastic, but definitely not for those with weak stomachs. The story is also not as unbelievable as some reviewers say it is. Those of us who have been around long enough have seen how some people change after they strike it rich or get a promotion. Sebastian's transformation from good to evil is quite plausible.