Running time: 114 minutes
Starring: Kevin Bacon, Elisabeth Shue, Josh Brolin, William Devane, Greg
Grunberg, Kim Dickens, Rhona Mitra, Mary Jo Randle, Joey Slotnick.
Rating 5 out of 10
Kevin Bacon is the renegade genius Sebastian Caine, head of an elite group of scientists developing a serum that will make man invisible. His success in experiments with animals has thus far been confined to making them disappear. The problem of making them reappear has eluded him. The obsessed Caine finally hits on the answer one night and calls his colleague and ex-girlfriend Linda McKay (Elisabeth Shue). McKay doesn't appreciate being woken in the middle of the night, especially as she's now sharing a bed with another member of the group, Matt Kensington (Josh Brolin).
When Caine successfully treats an invisible gorilla with the reversion serum, his place in scientific history is assured. There is only one experiment left to perform and that is to see if the serum works on humans.
The whole project is top secret, sponsored by the Pentagon and overseen by Dr Howard Kramer (William Devane), who is as impressed by Caine's genius as he is contemptuous of his arrogance. He promises to replace Caine unless he gets results and quick. With no time to conduct further tests, Caine offers himself as a human guinea pig.
The domineering and egotistical Caine takes the serum and with stunning graphicness we see his tissue slowly disappear layer by layer. At this point, with Caine having successfully managed to become invisible and only detectable through heat sensitive goggles, the film's possibilities are endless and intriguing. Unfortunately this is precisely when Hollow Man starts to go wrong.
Having devoted his life to finding the secret of becoming invisible and loftily proclaimed, "We always said we were going to change the world", Caine might have taken the opportunity to do something a little more original and profound than sneaking into a neighbour's flat to watch her undress. But, like every schoolboy's dream, Caine uses his newly acquired state to satisfy those sexual impulses he had repressed in favour of his work when visible.
When the reversion serum fails to restore Caine to normality, dooming him to remain invisible forever, his hold on sanity snaps and he begins to take it out brutally on his colleagues. From there on in the movie hurtles inexorably towards its gorey climax, a showdown between Caine, McKay, the woman who jilted him, and Matt, her lover and the focus of Caine's jealousy.
Director Paul Verhoeven is on familiar ground, having directed such sci-fi thrillers as RoboCop and Total Recall, however, Bacon is neither a superhero nor Schwarzenegger and, despite some amazing effects that would be of great interest to anatomy students, the film fails to establish a convincing world or people to inhabit it.
Hollow Man is an apt title for Kevin Bacon's character who has little substance even when visible. He is a charmless, conceited jerk, but his metamorphosis to crazed killer is as sudden as it is baffling. In the end a film needs more than good effects, unfortunately if you look to Hollow Man for anything substantial, you'll come away empty.
When Caine successfully treats an invisible gorilla with the reversion serum, his place in scientific history is assured. There is only one experiment left to perform and that is to see if the serum works on humans.
The whole project is top secret, sponsored by the Pentagon and overseen by Dr Howard Kramer (William Devane), who is as impressed by Caine's genius as he is contemptuous of his arrogance. He promises to replace Caine unless he gets results and quick. With no time to conduct further tests, Caine offers himself as a human guinea pig.
The domineering and egotistical Caine takes the serum and with stunning graphicness we see his tissue slowly disappear layer by layer. At this point, with Caine having successfully managed to become invisible and only detectable through heat sensitive goggles, the film's possibilities are endless and intriguing. Unfortunately this is precisely when Hollow Man starts to go wrong.
Having devoted his life to finding the secret of becoming invisible and loftily proclaimed, "We always said we were going to change the world", Caine might have taken the opportunity to do something a little more original and profound than sneaking into a neighbour's flat to watch her undress. But, like every schoolboy's dream, Caine uses his newly acquired state to satisfy those sexual impulses he had repressed in favour of his work when visible.
When the reversion serum fails to restore Caine to normality, dooming him to remain invisible forever, his hold on sanity snaps and he begins to take it out brutally on his colleagues. From there on in the movie hurtles inexorably towards its gorey climax, a showdown between Caine, McKay, the woman who jilted him, and Matt, her lover and the focus of Caine's jealousy.
Director Paul Verhoeven is on familiar ground, having directed such sci-fi thrillers as RoboCop and Total Recall, however, Bacon is neither a superhero nor Schwarzenegger and, despite some amazing effects that would be of great interest to anatomy students, the film fails to establish a convincing world or people to inhabit it.
Hollow Man is an apt title for Kevin Bacon's character who has little substance even when visible. He is a charmless, conceited jerk, but his metamorphosis to crazed killer is as sudden as it is baffling. In the end a film needs more than good effects, unfortunately if you look to Hollow Man for anything substantial, you'll come away empty.
