अनहोनी

I was pleasantly surprised by this film. The acting was quite adequate, the film score very imaginative and the special effects amazing (and gruesome). It copies "The Invisible Man", made half a century before, in having its protagonist lose his mind but unlike the other film, there is no humor to be found - nor any reason for it. It is a bit too apocalyptic near the end and I felt that the special effects turned it perhaps too much into a technical spectacle, but it made sense in general and brought me more pleasure than I had expected. Kevin Bacon was certainly up the his part and William Devane was frightening in his brief scene,

Curtis Stotlar

Sebastian Caine and his team have worked tirelessly to develop a formula that can not only turn animals invisible but also bring them back to normal at will. With Governmental pressure on them to show results, Sebastian decides he will be the first human to try the formula. He becomes invisible for a short time, however efforts to bring him back fail and he finds himself stuck. As work continues on the formula, the others in the lab begin to notice him becoming increasingly unhinged.

From director Verhoven the norm is to expect great special effects and violence. He has also been known to integrate themes and good stories into these mainly effects driven films. On this occasion however he fails to really do that and is left with a fast paced and enjoyable film that makes up in effects what it lacks in substance. The plot is pretty basic and never goes deeper – Sebastian's descent into madness is not really a descent so much as a short trip that is not really built to so much as just delivered. In it's placed though, the effects are really impressive and make the film worth seeing simply because, not only are they great, but they are also used very well in the action rather than just being the film in themselves.

The cast is OK but don't really have much to work with in terms of material. Bacon is much more interesting when not on screen than when he is. His character is too thin and he fails to portray any sort of `descent' in his character's behaviour. Shue is pretty good and seems to enjoy running round with a flamethrower. The rest of the cast are OK but basically just act as fodder in the way that a normal slasher movie will have actors to be disposed of as the film rolls.

Overall I really enjoyed this film as it is a very expensive special effects movie which relies on spectacle to keep things moving. The effects are great and take the mind away from the lack of real substance and the action at the end is very enjoyable. A really good special effects movie as long as you don't expect anything more.

I watched Hollow Man in theaters and maybe once after that. I remember liking it. All these years later as a much more seasoned movie fiend, I expected this to be outdated, cheesy and bad. Yet I found myself enjoying it from beginning to end.

It barely feels dated. The visual effects are a thousand times better than I expected them to be. The pacing is great with increased intensity through to the climax. There are so many suspenseful scenes as well as creepy ones.

There are a few questionable parts but the movie is way smarter than the usual late 90s/early 2000s movie. It also repeatedly surprised me with the violence. Every time I think something will be implied or will happen off screen, the movie says nope, in your face. I miss when movies weren't afraid and am so sick of all the neutered PG-13 horror movies.

(about 3 viewings, 6/29/2024)

Some viewers complain "this is not scary". Well, no, not in the way that a typical horror film is scary. Instead, this is more of a psychological thriller. If you remember the 1933 Universal film "The Invisible Man", you only meet the Invisible man after he has already gone insane. What happened before? This film is more about what could have happened beforehand, although the film only takes the basic idea and sets everything in present day.

Sebastian Caine (Kevin Bacon) is a brilliant scientist who, unfortunately, is not independently wealthy. Thus he relies on the military for his funding. He manages to make a gorilla invisible then visible again with serums he has invented with said funding, but then lies to the oversight committee about his progress, although this threatens to shut his project down. He convinces two of his team members -Linda McKay (Elizabeth Shue) and Matt Kensington (Josh Brolin) - to go straight to human testing without telling the oversight committee or informing the other team members that they are going rogue. Sebastian says he will be the human test subject.

Now Sebastian is a bit of a creep to begin with . He was formerly involved with McKay, but they broke up and now - unknown to Sebastian - she is seeing Matt. But Sebastian has now become obsessed with McKay once again. So the team makes Sebastian invisible but attempts to make him visible again fail repeatedly. Sebastian goes from at first playing pranks on the team members using his power of invisibility, to growing increasingly agitated, angry, and violent as he is trapped in this invisible state and feels like a lab rat. What makes him lose it completely is when he finds out about Linda and Matt's involvement. Even before he loses it completely, though, he has been taking to the streets and doing some increasingly evil things given that he cannot be seen and therefore be held responsible.

The concluding half hour is lots of edge-of-your-seat suspense, is somewhat Die-Hardish, and then parts of it are just plain gross. The film makes good use of special effects, especially when Sebastian is transforming between being visible and invisible. Unlike today's films, though, the special effects are used to accentuate the story, not replace it. I'd highly recommend this one and do not understand the current low rating.

The 2000 movie "Hollow Man" from director Paul Verhoeven is a movie that can be watched again and again. And I have certainly sat down to watch it several times since it was initially released. And the movie continues to be every bit as entertaining with each viewing.

The storyline in "Hollow Man", as written by Gary Scott Thompson and Andrew W. Marlowe, is a rather enjoyable and entertaining script which makes for a very watchable movie. Not only is it good entertainment, but the storyline definitely also gives you something to think about, and that is something I enjoy about this movie. So thumbs up to the writers for that accomplishment.

Not only does "Hollow Man" have a good storyline and script, but it most certainly also have a great cast ensemble. The movie is carried nicely by leading actor Kevin Bacon, but the movie also have the likes of Elisabeth Shue, Josh Brolin, Kim Dickens, Rhona Mitra and others on the cast list. So you definitely are in capable hands here throughout the course of the 112 minutes that the movie run for.

Visually then "Hollow Man" was and still is a great movie. I like the special effects they pulled off in this 2000 movie, because it looks and feels real, and it adds a very enjoyable layer to the movie. So the special effects department really pulled their weight when they worked on "Hollow Man".

If you haven't already seen "Hollow Man", from director Paul Verhoeven, you certainly should do so, if you get the chance. It is a good movie.

My rating "Hollow Man" lands on a seven out of ten stars.