One of my guilty pleasures from back in 2000, Paul Verhoeven's mad, cool take on the Invisible Man, HOLLOW MAN still thrills.
Verhoeven (Basic Instinct, Starship Troopers) has never been one to hold back and he certainly doesn't here.
Kevin Bacon stars as Sebastian Caine, an egotistical but brilliant scientist about to realize his secret project to render a creature invisible and then bring it back to tangible reality.
As he film opens, Sebastian and his team, including Linda (Elisabeth Shue) and Matthew (Josh Brolin) are injecting a huge gorilla with their formula and it disappears before us, one layer of skin at a time. It's a fantastic anatomy lesson, set to a great music score by Jerry Goldsmith (Patton, Planet of the Apes, Body Heat, Star Trek: The Motion Picture).
The big money behind their research, led by the always game William Devane, is running out of patience. That combined with the hubris of Caine, drives an almost immediate leap to Sebastian injecting himself.
What could go wrong?
In the hands of Verhoeven and a lean screenplay by Andrew Marlowe (Air Force One), plenty. I' ve always loved the European attitudes toward nudity and sex that Verhoeven brings to his American films like "Total Recall" and "Basic Instinct". I'm not sure he could even make this film today as it's far from politically correct, but it's a lot of fun.
The production design by Alan Cameron (Starship Troopers, The DaVinci Code) is first rate, as are the special effects by William Aldridge (Die Hard, Star Trek (2009), The Fifth Element).
Is this a Robin Cook medical thriller, a horror film or an action flick that feels like it was made in the 80's?
Yes.
The finale in the elevator shaft is one hell of an action sequence, well shot, beautifully staged and loaded with great visuals. Bacon is an absolute blast and clearly relishing his role as a cocky scientist gone very mad & angry. He later admitted that he accepted the role partly under the false assumption that he wouldn't need to be on set for scenes of Sebastian invisible, and that it would be an easy performance. He claimed that, to the contrary, this ended up being the most physically demanding and difficult role of his career.
Verhoeven's always been our voyeuristic tour guide for the dark side or ambition and sci-fi gone awry. His original "Robocop" is a modern classic. For me, HOLLOW MAN is just as enjoyable as an adult sci-fi action film for the ages.
Look closely, that solid B rating is already beginning to fade...........
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