| Product: |
Hollow Man (DVD) |
| Date: |
22/05/07 (102 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Stunning special effects
Disadvantages: Pantomime plot
Dutch director Paul Verhoeven was never known for subtlety and reserve. His CV reads like a history of violence, glamour and sex (Basic Instinct, Robocop, Showgirls – need I go on?). Hollow Man is typical Verhoeven, and contains all these things. But the criticism was too much for the director who subsequently turned his back on Hollywood and returned home to Holland.
The concept of the “Invisible Man” idea has been used on and off in cinema films for many decades, but the developments in cinematic special effects of recent years meant that a modern-day remake of the concept seemed rather inevitable. Hollow Man is The 21st Century Invisible Man and in my opinion, is a relatively competent piece of dumb cinema. For many, however, it was too dumb. Rather ironically, the plot is somewhat hollow in itself, and you can’t help wondering whether the makers couldn’t have come up with something a little more interesting.
Kevin Bacon stars as a brash government scientist, who has been seconded with a small team of specialists to conduct research into identifying the means to make animals and human beings invisible. When the viewer joins the film, Bacon’s team has successfully rendered a number of primate test subjects invisible, but has yet to crack the code which will allow the invisible animals to become visible again. Late one night, Bacon finally identifies the chemical formula, and the main test subject (a female gorilla) is successfully (although not without difficulty) brought back from an invisible state. Despite his success, Bacon decides not to disclose the breakthrough to his military sponsors as he fears that he will be disposed of once the military has the secret in its grasp.
Bacon controversially decides that in order for him to capitalise on the success of his research, the only solution would be for the team to move into phase three (testing on humans) without advising the military of their plans. His immediate peers reluctantly agree, and Bacon decides that the experiment will be completed on him in the first instance. The first phase of the test is successful – Bacon is converted to a completely invisible state. The problem comes when Bacon’s team attempt to restore visibility to Bacon’s body – the process fails upon the first attempt, and Bacon is left in invisible state. As Bacon’s team works furiously to uncover the means to return him to his natural state, Bacon is left to adjust to his new form, both physically and mentally – and very soon the whole exercise transcends into something altogether more sinister….
It would be very difficult to comment on this film without focusing on the special effects employed throughout. There is no doubt about it; some of the sequences within the film are visually quite staggering. The basic principle of the invisibility transformation relies on the injection of a chemical into the subject’s blood stream, which gradually renders each layer of the body invisible, as the solution is pumped around the body by natural blood circulation. The visual result of this is a breathtaking reconstruction of the body organ by organ, layer by layer. In the reverse of the process, it would appear as though the body is actually dissolving right before your eyes and either way the effects really are outstanding. Once Bacon is invisible, the use of effects to re-create the invisible human form is also excellent. The attention to detail is very impressive, and I have to say I was extremely impressed. This is not a film for those with a sensitive disposition though. It will come as no surprise that there are some quite nasty sequences; the first few minutes of the film are a good example of this.
Character performances in The Hollow Man were uninspiring. Kevin Bacon plays the lead with relative aplomb, although given that he is invisible for two thirds of the film, his role would seem relatively easy. Bacon always treads the line between nice guy and nut case, and this film is no exception. Having read articles elsewhere, I understand that Bacon was required to wear expensive body suits for large sequences of the film, but whatever the physical requirements, Bacon cannot help but be upstaged by the special effects in use. There were no other performances worthy of mention (hunky good guy, blonde assistant doctor etc etc.) but then Hollow Man was never going to be an exercise in Oscar nominations.
Verhoeven successfully develops a feeling of tension right from the start of the film. Not having read any detailed reviews of the film, I was unsure of what was going to go wrong but it was obvious that something clearly was going to go wrong. The film very quickly descends into a completely different level though. Initially, I thought the film was going to explore the potential consequences for an individual who was completely invisible to the world. There did appear to be some thought behind this (for instance, if your skin was invisible you would be very sensitive to light, because your eyelids would not stop any light). Unfortunately, this sort of idea was never really explored in any depth, and the film very quickly became formulaic, as Bacon started to lose his grip on reality.
Before long, the whole thing had ultimately descended into one of those “He’s behind you!” kind of Hollywood pantomimes that really do nothing for the intelligent viewer. Please rest assured – in terms of the “top ten silly things to do in a crisis” the cast of Hollow Man did them all. Despite the fact that the only way they can see Bacon is through heat sensitive goggles, you’ll be amazed at how long it takes them to actually put them on and keep them on. All I can say is this – I want to be a bad guy. They seem to be able to take relentless beatings, submerging and burnings, and still have energy to grab your ankles.
I am sure that most sensible viewers will ultimately feel quite cheated with this film. The idea was promising (after all, what would you get up to if you were suddenly invisible?) but I’m afraid the more original ideas were not really explored anywhere near as much as they could. I would also suggest that animal lovers would find the film hard-going. Despite the fact that no real animals were harmed in the making of the production, the suggestion of vivisection and cruelty to animals was too strong for my liking.
The Hollow Man is more evidence that special effects do not a great film make. I would recommend this film for one of those evenings when there really is nothing else to watch – and someone else is paying for the rental.
Summary: The Invisible Man - 21st century style
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