There are many laws that human beings would happily break if it were not for the fear of being caught. Who knows what actions men and women might take if they were confident in their anonymity before and after the fact. That is the vague philosophical foundation of "Hollow Man," a slasher flick masquerading as a thriller.
"Hollow Man" has a story, but its an underdeveloped narrative used mostly to introduce visually stunning special effects and soon-to-be victims. It tells the story of genius scientist Sebastian Caine (Kevin Bacon) and his research team, made up of ex-flame Linda McKay (Elizabeth Shue), Matthew Kensington (Josh Brolin) and several other one-dimensional personalities. They're all working on a top-secret Pentagon project to create a serum which renders its hosts invisible.
When the most believable part of a movie involves a secret government project for an invisibility potion, something is terribly wrong.
We meet Sebastian as he finally, after weeks of frustrating disappointment, develops a serum which returns hosts to a visible spectrum. The research team tries it on an invisible gorilla and she transforms, although with some complications, into a completely visible being. Sebastian then coerces the senior team members to inject him with the invisibility serum, hoping to complete the final phase of the project: human transformation.
For a long time, easily 75 minutes, "Hollow Man" is completely dull. The audience meets the team, none of who are remotely interesting, and Sebastian, who's a run-of-the-mill egomaniac. Most of the action takes place in an underground lab where Sebastian in confined after his injection. It's strange to see Sebastian, who is touted as a genius, use his newfound powers simply to perform practical jokes on his associates.
Finally, when the movie reveals its true identity, bodies begin to pile up. Everything degenerates into a silly cat-and-mouse game with lots of blood and little suspense.
The only thing which separates "Hollow Man" from "Friday the 13th" or "Halloween" are its visual effects, almost all of which are brilliantly conceived. The most amazing effects involve Sebastian's initial transformation, where layers of skin, muscle and bone disappear in stages, leaving him completely invisible. Other neat effects include Sebastian's invisible body submerged in water and in a cloud of carbon dioxide.
"Hollow Man" was directed by Paul Verhoeven, who is famous for his graphically violent and sexually explicit films, including "RoboCop," "Total Recall," and "Basic Instinct." Although those films flirted with NC-17 ratings, they were all intelligently directed and full of suspense. In "Hollow Man," Verhoeven seems like nothing more than a director for hire; he doesn't appear to care for the script, the characters or even the extraordinary special effects.
** out of ****
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