Hollow Man (2000)
This summer offering from director Paul Verhoeven (STARSHIP TROOPERS, ROBOCOP) is a science fiction thriller that blends an old story with very new special effects. At its best, HOLLOW MAN highlights all of the unsavory implications of invisibility; at its worst, it panders to some of the baser requirements of modern movie-goers.
H.G. Wells' novel THE INVISIBLE MAN is invoked continuously in HOLLOW MAN. The story is by Gary Scott Thompson, the screenplay by Thompson and Andrew W. Marlowe. But Wellsian influence is what really drives the story. What happens when a scientific genius (in this update it's Sebastian Caine, played by Kevin Bacon) creates the means by which to make himself invisible? Caine goes through the whole routine, only what he's after is cracking the key to becoming visible again. When his team of brilliant assistants helps him bring back to visibility a large primate (gorilla), Caine volunteers himself as the first human to be injected with the top-secret serum that will make him unseen.
Thinking back to Wells' story, viewers will remember Claude Rains' character going crazy after becoming invisible. Caine does the same. In fact, the filmmakers add a good deal of foreshadowing to get us to believe Caine is capable of doing what he does in the final acts of the story. One problem is that Caine is somewhat of a creep to begin with: he has been jilted by his right-hand colleague Linda Foster (Elisabeth Shue), and he flashes several signs of jealousy when he learns she has another man. So we don't really feel close to Caine at any time. Here's a paradox – viewers would be struck by the tragedy of the grotesque downfall of a man they admired, but perhaps for the purposes of modern thrillers, it is better to despise the fallen hero from the start. Of course when Caine discovers the identity of Dr. Foster's new lover, he slides even more deeply into a dark envy followed by a plummet into psychotic behavior.
Here's the rub. Watching, I was bothered not so much by my lack of empathy for Caine – it is easier, after all, to hate a non-human bogeyman, which the insane scientist clearly becomes, by turns ghost-like and grotesque. What struck me was the pattern the story follows: think of any hard-to-kill monster from the last twenty years of cinema. HOLLOW MAN could be traced even to one film, Ridley Scott's ALIEN, with Caine as the critter and Shue as Ripley. I'm afraid not even the slick effects can offset the sour taste of derivative storyline.
One thing that could have added comic relief to HOLLOW MAN is more harmless pranks. Couldn't Caine have cavorted around out in the world like Rains did when he terrorized the townspeople? Here we witness simple terrorizing and worse. (This does not include little touches on the hair and Caine's moving around Foster's can of Coca-Cola.) The last word is that the film's outlook on humanity is bleak: one of the researchers announces early, assuming a God-like voice, that the project is doomed, the scientists cursed tampering with Creation.
The story does do a nice job of exposing the implications of invisibility, though. The characters on Caine's team display constant paranoia and finally, dread. This invisible fiend even has an advantage over a housefly, which cannot see the hand about to squash it.
The coolest aspect of the film is the effects, which receive at least equal billing with the human stars. But here's a question posed by contemporary bio-ethicists everywhere: `Just because we can, does that mean we should?' Just because effects far-outdistance the reality of the effects of movies years ago, it doesn't mean the movies are any better. Plainly, the film relies too heavily on computer-assisted magic.
The acting is as good as the story permits it to be. Kevin Bacon is one of our finest actors, but he should probably talk with Tom Hanks about gaining a knack for spotting just the right script. Bacon is capable of showing more humanity than he is allowed to show here. Caine seems an egomaniacal, brooding jerk. Elisabeth Shue (whose name appears first at film's start, by the way) is very capable here, too, though she has to repeat too many times that there were reasons she broke up with Caine – what they are is a mystery, however.
In the theater I was reminded that American viewers get what they want. No lecture here, but for my tastes, HOLLOW MAN shows too much violence, and even exhibits partially nude women being abused by Caine. Sure, the ending is pleasing if typical, but ultimately it's the kind of film that does not make you feel very good over spending the time to watch it.
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