Hollow Man (2000) User Reviews

"It's amazing what you can do when you don't have to look at yourself in the mirror anymore." I liked it.

[poolandrews · 7/10 · 29 December 2006]

Hollow Man starts as brilliant but flawed scientist Dr. Sebastian Caine (Kevin Bacon) finally works out how to make things visible again after having been turned invisible by his own serum. They test the serum on an already invisible Gorilla & it works perfectly, Caine & his team of assistant's celebrate but while he should report the breakthrough to his military backers Caine wants to be the first invisible human. He manages to persuade his team to help him & the procedure works well & Caine becomes invisible, however when they try to bring him back the serum fails & he remain invisible. The team desperately search for an antidote but nothing works, Caine slowly starts to lose his grip on reality as he realises what power he has but is unable to use it being trapped in a laboratory. But then again he's invisible right, he can do anything he wants...

Directed by Paul Verhoeven I rather liked Hollow Man. You know it's just after Christmas, I saw this a few hours ago on late night/early morning cable TV & worst of all I feel sick, not because of the film but because of the chocolates & fizzy pop I've had over the past week so I'll keep this one brief. The script by Andrew W. Marlowe has a decent pace about but it does drag a little during the middle & has a good central premise, it takes he basic idea that being invisible will make you insane just like in the original The Invisible Man (1933) film which Hollow Man obviously owes a fair bit. It manages to have a petty successful blend of horror, sci-fi & action & provide good entertainment value for 110 odd minutes. I thought the character's were OK, I thought some of the ideas in the film were good although I think it's generally known that Verhoeven doesn't deal in subtlety, the first thing he has the invisible Caine do is sexually molest one of his team & then when he gets into the outside world he has Caine rape a woman with the justification 'who's going to know' that Caine says to himself. Then of course there's the gore, he shows a rat being torn apart & that's just the opening scene after the credits, to be fair to him the violence is a bit more sparse this time around but still has a quite nasty & sadistic tone about it. Having said that I love horror/gore/exploitation films so Hollow Man delivers for me, it's just that it might not be everyone's cup of tea.

Director Verhoeven does a great job, or should that be the special effects boys make him look good. The special effects in Hollow Man really are spectacular & more-or-less flawless, their brilliant & it's as simple & straight forward as that. There's some good horror & action set-pieces here as well even if the climatic fight is a little over-the-top. I love the effect where Kevin Bacon disappears one layer at a time complete with veins, organs & bones on full show or when the reverse happens with the Gorilla. There's a few gory moments including a rat being eaten, someone is impaled on a spike & someone has their head busted open with blood splattering results.

With a staggering budget of about $95,000,000 Hollow Man is technically faultless, I can imagine the interviews on the DVD where some special effects boffin says they mapped Bacon's entire body out right down to he last vein which they actually did because you know everyone watching would notice if one of his veins were missing or in the wrong position wouldn't they? The acting was OK, Bacon made for a good mad scientist anti-hero type guy.

Hollow Man is one of hose big budget Hollwood extravaganzas where the effects & action take center stage over any sort of meaningful story or character's but to be brutally honest sometimes we all like that in a film, well I know I do. Good solid big budget entertainment with a slightly nastier & darker streak than the usual Hollywood product, definitely worth a watch.

Gruesome, Spine-Tingling, Invisible Man Gone Mad Flick

[ShootingShark · 7/10 · 12 June 2005]

A Pentagon science team seem to have perfected a serum which causes invisibility but when the lead boffin tries it out on himself he can't reverse the process. Frustrated and drunk with power, he turns psychotic in the classic H.G. Wells tradition.

This is a gleefully horrible Invisible Man story, delivered with relish by the ever-tasteful Verhoeven and Bacon as the genius-turned-loonytoon-maniac. As with much of Verhoeven's work it has a terrific unrestrained sense of Boy's-Own comic-book adventure (the secret underground lab where the scientists work is just wonderful) combined with the most horrific and depraved visuals (women in their underwear being groped and attacked by an invisible fiend, animals beaten to death, literally gallons of blood and wholesale slaughter in the last two reels). Whilst the story doesn't ring any new twists on an old idea, the CG special effects by Scott E. Anderson are eye-poppingly brilliant as we see veins and arteries, cardiovascular systems, muscles, tissue, bones and flesh all literally appear out of nowhere. In particular, a sequence where the team bring a gorilla back from the invisible state and the scene where Bacon drowns Devane in a swimming pool, are absolutely breathtaking in the detail and artistic invention of the effects. The film also has a great soundtrack by Jerry Goldsmith and classic horror-movie photography by Jost Vacano. The young cast are pretty much overshadowed by the movie's technical pedigree, but both Shue and Dickens are impressively out of their depth. This is a great fun nasty movie.

Good, but not great.

[bat-5 · 6/10 · 5 August 2000]

Hollow Man boasts some pretty impressive visual effects and does have an intriguing story. Kevin Bacon plays Sebastion Caine, an arrogant scientist who develops a serum for invisibility. Withholding information from his superiors, Caine tests his serum on himself and undergoes a transformation that is quite visually arresting. It's like an anatomy book come to life. But while Caine's transformation and subsequent experiments with his new found power prove interesting, the movie fails to capture what it feels like to truly be invisible. Caine says to his colleagues, "You have know idea how much fun this is." In truth, we don't. We see Caine slowly going mad and trapping his fellow scientists in the lab when they threaten to go public. But, we don't get any sense of power from Caine. True he does venture out into public and enters the apartment of his very fetching neighbor, but that's about all the real world we see with Caine. It would've been interesting to see Caine in the real world, and what would've been done to capture him. Instead, we have Bacon, Elisabeth Shue and Josh Brolin and a few others mixing it up in a hidden lab somewhere in D.C. While the actors try to make the best with what they have, Paul Verhoeven tries to goose us a little. He succeeds in a few instances, and he does manage to hold your attention for a while, but the ending is the weakest link in the movie. Had there been a stronger ending, the movie would've been a little better. As it is now, it's a good exercise in visual effects territory, but there are so many other possibilities that lay with the story of an invisible human being.

Hollow plot and characters but visually fantastic

[bob the moo · 14 November 2003]

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.

Goes from being a decent look at an interesting theme to a predictable B-grade slasher

[TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews · 6/10 · 14 March 2004]

This could, and should, have been an interesting look on the idea of invisibility. Unfortunately, somewhere along the line, they ran out of ideas and decided to just kill everyone off and have it end in huge explosions, demonstrating a total lack of creativity. Too bad. It could have been great, were it not for the total lack of good acting, the one-dimensional characters, the corny lines and the general lack of anything worthwhile in the movie at all, other than good special effects. I feel bad for Paul Verhoeven; he used to make great movies; RoboCop, Basic Instinct & Starship Troopers were all way better than this mainstream garbage. The only good thing about this movie is the special effects, and, believe me, they are good. They are just not good enough to distract the viewer from all the negative points about the movie. It's really too bad that they couldn't make a better movie about invisibility; we've never had a truly good movie dealing with the rush of power it would be to be invisible. This movie tries, but it just falls short. All those great special effects, and no good movie to back them up. I'd only recommend this to special effect nerds, people who'll watch a movie regardless of quality just to see good special effects. I can't imagine anyone else actually enjoying this movie. I gave it a 6/10, but only because of the special effects.

Shallow Man

[mjw2305 · 6/10 · 13 January 2007]

Hollow Man has the most basic of plots, a team of scientists are working on a formula to make living beings invisible, the leader of the team decide to try it out on himself, he goes mad and people die; it's as simple as that.

OK this movie is lacking in plot, but it still entertains with its action, suspense, thrills and superb special effects; not to mention that the cast are pretty good in their ultimately shallow roles.

For some easy on the eye and uncomplicated fun, Hollow man is not the worst choice you could make, it delivers most of what you need for an enjoyable action thriller, and the lack of depth doesn't take away from the fun all that much.

6/10

Hollow Man takes an abundance of fantastic special effects and narrative possibilities and reduces it all to an expensive but cheesy horror movie.

[Anonymous_Maxine · 5/10 · 7 April 2002]

Ever since the original Halloween was released in 1978, there have been countless imitation films that desperately, although primarily unsuccessfully, attempt to feed off of the success of that film by copying its premise of a faceless and unstoppable killer. In the late 90s, there have been a resurgence of these films, such as the Scream movies, which started off good and then went sharply downhill with each additional sequel, Urban Legend, and I Know What You Did Last Summer (as well as, God willing, it's only sequel, I Still Know What You Did Two Summers Ago). Hollow Man is a film that takes a fantastic premise and reduces it to yet another of these cheap imitation slasher films.

Sure, the whole invisible man thing has been done before. Done to death, if you include literary examples. But let's face it, the possibility of human invisibility is one of the most fascinating premises that you can possibly tell a story about. The unfortunate thing about Hollow Man was that no one involved with the making of the movie seemed to realize that. What you have here is the development of an invisibility serum (as well as a reversing visibility serum) by a brilliant scientist, who successfully uses it on a gorilla in some of the best special effects scenes to date, and then uses it on himself. Well, of course he uses it on himself, what scientist could possibly resist? And why would any scientist WANT to resist? Well, the reason may be that, evidently, invisibility serum turns even the most intelligent scientists into raving madmen.

The absolutely infinite amount of possibilities for an invisible character are completely ignored here in favor of turning him into yet another bland faceless killer. This time, we may know who it is that's trying to kill people, but what we don't know is why he completely ignores the outside world. This is the greatest scientific discovery of mankind, and this bonehead decides to use it to become a peeping tom and to spy on his girlfriend. This vast and hugely unfortunate simplification of the potential for the story of an invisible man is both bitterly disappointing and more than a little insulting. As Roger Ebert mentions in his review of Hollow Man, it seems that director Paul Verhoeven, who directed such great films as RoboCop and Total Recall, seems to think that his audience is so intellectually dim that they prefer a mindless killer to the incredibly imaginative villain (or protagonist) that Dr. Sebastian Caine could have become.

Hollow Man is an absolutely fascinating display of brilliant special effects, which seem to map out internal anatomy just as good as any medical textbook, and is also a great deal of fun as the visible characters desperately try to make Dr. Caine visible again, but it is a dismal failure on the story level. The film starts out with a gigantic amount of intelligence, both that required for the development of an invisibility serum and that involved in the brilliant premise of the story, but winds up in the end as nothing more than yet another mindless thriller, completely lacking in thought and intrigue.

A very good B movie

[hung_fao_tweeze · 7/10 · 2 October 2009]

True - this seems like a modernization of 'Invisible Man'. I enjoyed the 'Invisible Man'. I enjoyed this movie, too. (This is along the lines of the old 'The Thing From Outer Space' compared to Carpenter's 'The Thing'. Both movies work.) Don't try to look for any hard-core explanations of the technical-kind here. Ultimately it is a really good B movie along the order of something fun or entertaining to watch on a boring Sunday like we used to when we were kids. Yes, you know what's going to happen (Just like B movies) - the villain dies...duh! But getting there was fun. Very good special effects - probably worth the viewing alone. Top notch gorilla suit!! Kevin Bacon is good though the character is a shallow vehicle to carry the story. Every one else is slight as well but the story carries just fine. I'll watch it again for sure.

For fans of the sci fi and slasher genres, and fans of Kevin Bacon

[lemon_magic · 5/10 · 6 November 2005]

"Hollow Man" has enough strong performances, nice moments, and interesting plot turns to make for an mildly enjoyable film, as long as you don't think too hard about the plot. Visually, it is quite appealing and effective, and the soundtrack (especially the opening themes played over some effective and atmospheric opening credits) does a great job of adding some "oomph" to the action of screen. Keven Bacon is his usual on-screen self, and carries the film effectively, which is no small feat when consider that half the time he is either invisible or covered up in latex, which deprives him of most of an actor's most effective tools (his eyes and his mouth).In the scenes where he is covered in bandages, he has to get the character's emotions and presence out with body language and vocal cues, and even this is filtered through SFX. So I give him kudos for a professional, effective job in a difficult environment.

So why only a score of 5 out of 10? Having admitted that the film is enjoyable if you don't think too critically about it, I am now going to think critically about it for a minute.

Problem number one is Elizabeth Shue. Don't get me wrong, I think she is a very attractive woman, and she can hold her own as an actress in most movies. But she is horribly miscast here as a "top level research scientist" (just as she was in "The Saint"). She may come across as more than a typical "dumb blonde", but she's a clothes-horse, pure and simple, and I can't believe for a moment that she could get a PhD in the physical sciences. She's far more believable fending off Bacon's advances than she is playing "Pentagon Barbie". (The other two supporting actresses, who are by no means ugly or haggard, but still have considerably less "Vogue" cover potential, are quite believable in their roles).

Problem number two is a certain weakness in the script regarding how and why Bacon's character goes around the bend. The movie implies and foreshadows all kinds of reasons: Bacon is already a creep with a God-complex; the serum which turns him invisible is affecting his brain's neurochemistry; being invisible confers addictive power and opportunity he doesn't want to give up; invisibility creates an alienation and isolation from society...etc. But the script doesn't really drive any of these points home, and just flits from idea to idea without doing real justice to any of them. A line of dialog or two is meant to imply a whole series of attitudes and moral values changing, ("It's easier to sin when you don't have to look at yourself in the mirror", etc.), and even a pro like Bacon can't manage it in the space he is given.

Problem number three is (are) the escalating misogyny and graphic completeness of the voyeurism, molestation, and finally rape scenes included in the movie to convince the viewer that the Hollow Man is becoming a human monster. The first two scenes were bad enough (especially the CGI of a sleeping woman's bare breast being fondled), but perhaps necessary, but the final full blown rape scene was way too mean and misogynistic for my sensibilities. That scene didn't need to be there, and its inclusion makes it hard for me to recommend it to my more conservative friends...they would be angry at me if they watched this on my say-so and came upon these scenes unprepared, and they wouldn't buy or rent this movie if they knew these scenes were in it.

Problem number four is that the movie producers overreached themselves a bit with the invisible SFX...some of them, especially the transformation scenes, don't quite work. The figure struggling on the table is very plastic and inorganic-looking and doesn't convince. (Ironically, the first transformation scene, with the gorilla, works much better, possibly because our human eyes aren't as familiar with the textures and shapes of the simian physique). And here and there the articulation of the shoulders isn't quite right, or the swing of the hips. These deficiencies seem to be a common problem for 3D computer graphics of the human form, and they dog the animators here. Sometimes the animators get it, but sometimes they don't. I know it wasn't easy, but if they couldn't pull it off, they shouldn't have used it.

The last major problem was that the movie should have ended when Shue does her wonderful "base-stealing" slide into the elevator and hoses Bacon's character down with her home made flame thrower. That was a great moment, and should have been the climactic payoff for the film. Instead the movie staggered on for another 10-15 minutes in "Friday the 13th" territory with the Hollow Man popping back up from what should be mortal injuries again and again - who knew that naked invisible men could be so resilient?

So that's why only 5 out of 10. Too many problems and weakness to score this as a classic. But I do own this movie (bought it used) on VHS, and will buy it (used) on DVD if I find it cheap enough. Enjoy the eye candy and strong supporting performances and the many nice little touches here and there...if you are into that sort of thing.

thrilling

[kurtman-3 · 7/10 · 4 August 2000]

The Hollow Man was a great film. It was scary and an on the edge of your seat thriller. Kevin did a great job as the scientist with a god complex and Elizabeth Shue also did a good job as the big breasted bimbo who had brains. Yes a bimbo! Most of the clothes she wears are tight and meant to show breasts. The beginning is good, with more character development in it then usual for this kind of film. While the end turns into a fantabulous horror film with blood galore. Mix in some female (some women) and male (Kevin Bacon) nudity we got ourselves a great film. The only bad thing was that the highly touted special F/X where Kevin turns invisible were only good not great and for the hype they should have been better. The movement of the character was good but it just didn't look real enough for me but don't worry about it because the rest of the special effects are very good and the action is excellent. I give this film 3* out of 4*.

Poster movie for the hollowness of most Hollywood offerings!

[tessjon · 1/10 · 14 August 2000]

"Hollow Man" can boast state of the art special effects, but as is the case with so many recent Hollywood films, its characters and plot have been grossly ignored. The film speaks to nothing endearing and noble in the human spirit. I left the theatre saying, "So what?" What a waste of talent, time, and money. Even a hollow man needs a heart.

Not Hollow At All

[cstotlar-1 · 8/10 · 5 January 2014]

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

I can't tell you how bad this movie is! Well, maybe I can...

[Prophet1-2 · 1/10 · 8 August 2000]

This is, without a doubt, the WORST movie I have seen in a very long time. From the flat out bad plot, to the "horror movie stupidity" of the characters, this movie reeked, even worse, it had such promise...

I had high hopes for this movie originally - it could have been a great movie exploring what a real person would do if suddenly granted invisibility, and how it might slowly erode your morals since "Who's going to know?" The temptation would be great, and in the hands of Kevin Bacon, one of the most versitile actors in Hollywood, it would be a superb movie.

But "Hollow Man" disappoints. We never CARE about Sebastian, and he strikes us as the type of person who might off somebody who seriously got in the way of his progress ANYWAY. He is crass, cruel and egomaniacal, so his descent and fall is not a surprise; it's inevitable.

The plot is like a 22 minute "Twilight Zone" or "Tales From The Crypt" episode someone thought might be a good idea for a movie. No surprises, no twists, and so MANY slasher movie cliches it is sickening. You KNOW what will happen before it does. I hate it when a movie spends so much time (and money; the special effects are excellent, too bad they are wasted here) getting you to believe in the thin scientific premise surrounding the plot (which I have no problem with; they did a good job here, albiet briefly, and I'm prepared to suspend a little disbelief), and then ignore BASIC PHYSICS and totally and blatently destroy the disbelief they worked so hard to create...

Example - End of the movie. The insane invisible killer gets fried by Elisabeth Shue with an impromptu flamethrower. OK. Fine. THREE SECONDS LATER he is running after her full tilt. Apparently, invisibility grants super-healing. He is then hit FULL ON THE HEAD with a CROWBAR, and immediatly jumps up to attack our heroes while their backs are turned. Then, while all three main characters are each standing in THREE INCHES OF WATER he swings a crowbar into a high-voltage box, frying himself and turning himself semi-visible, while the others escape. Apparently, invisibility also hinders conductivity, otherwise all three would be dancing the electric boogaloo. Fast-forward - Sebastian is apparently unconcious. Heroes climbing to escape explosion (which should have fried them all, but thats just an action movie cliche as well: Flames licking at the heros feet while he climbs/runs/drives/jumps to safety.) Huge explosion. FROM THE WRECKAGE comes the semi-visible Sebastian?!?!?! Either he got caught in the explosion, and he should be dead, or he was on the elevator with them, and they would have seen him since he was SEMI-VISIBLE!!! ARGH!!!! I am prepared to suspend disbelief, but this is TOO MUCH!!! And he has the strength the tangle with the heroine after the MAJOR COOKING, CROWBAR TO THE HEAD AND THOUSANDS OF VOLTS OF ELECTRICITY!!!! Just ONE of these would be enough the make me say "now hold on,..." but ALL THREE!!! PLUS him crawling IMPOSSIBLY FROM THE TWISTED WRECKAGE OF THE ELEVATOR!!!

To make matters worse, Kevin Bacon and Elisabeth Shue are fine actors both. But to have this movie devolve into slasher movie stupidity is unconscionable. The cast acts well with what they are given, but this movie has NO redeeming qualities WHATSOEVER!

One of the top ten worst movies EVER. (except for the special effects, the SF guys should get an Oscar for this.)

Fast-paced and occasionally exciting, but ultimately disappointing.

[Li-1 · 12 April 2003]

** out of ****

I've seen Hollow Man twice now, the first time in theaters, where I had the distinct impression that I'd seen a fast-paced thriller that was nonetheless entirely disposable and unfulfilling. Seeing the film again, I had the exact same feeling. Hollow Man is a film of great potential, packed with terrific special effects and a surprisingly engaging cast (the exceptions being Josh Brolin and Elisabeth Shue). So when the movie goes to cliche hell in its final 1/3, you'll be very disappointed even though the action is still entertaining.

Kevin Bacon stars as Sebastian Caine, a scientist working with a diverse crew in an underground laboratory on a military project. The goal: to achieve the power of invisibility, as well as the ability to return to a visible state. Caine, being the egotistical hothead that he is, performs the procedure on himself, but finds he is unable to return to his human state. With Caine growing further and further mad, the rest of the crew try to find a way to revert him back to his normal state, not knowing Caine is beginning to prefer his invisibility and will do anything to keep it.

The first half-hour of Hollow Man is the best, when we're introduced to these wow-inducing, eye-popping visual effects. This is also the point where the story holds the most potential, before devolving into B-grade land. Now, most people seem to agree that the film would have worked a lot better if it had focused on Bacon brandishing his invisibility on the outside world, and there is a ten-minute segment where he does do this, but it's also arguably the film's worst part.

The reason? That's easy, it's because he rapes Rhona Mitra. Apparently, director Paul Verhoeven seemed very satisfied with just presenting this rape, as if though to make a statement about man's human nature and what we'd do if we didn't have to face up to the consequences. That's fine and all, I'm for a little depth here and there, but it disturbs me that he doesn't address Mitra's character further. Here's a woman who's been raped by an invisible man, and we're simply supposed to accept this scene and not wonder about the effect this will have on her psychological state (think about it this way, unless the military goes public with all the invisibility stuff, there's no way she wouldn't know if she'd be attacked again). This is where the movie truly goes awry.

The last half-hour is essentially Caine going around, knocking off all the lab workers, and while it's uninspired material, it's still rather exciting to watch, if only because Verhoeven is a skilled action director who really knows how to make us squirm and cringe at the sight of blood and guts. But by the time it's all over, though I found myself mildly entertained, there was still a bad taste in my mouth from the filmmakers' poor decision-making and routine route they chose for the film.

Invisible Man Verhoeven Bloodbath?

[chiumt · 7/10 · 13 June 2020]

An interesting premise, though not original. A scientist making himself invisible. The movie was entertaining. It degenerated into a bloodbath with lots of screaming and blood. After all, its a Verhoeven movie.

Hollow Man

[CinemaSerf · 6/10 · 28 August 2023]

Kevin Bacon ("Sebastian Caine") leads a team of scientists looking for ways to make living things invisible. When he decides to be the ultimate guinea pig, it all starts to go a bit wonky - they can make him disappear ok, but they cannot quite reverse the transaction. Needless to say, despite the best efforts of Elisabeth Shue ("Linda") and Josh Brolin ("Matt") he starts to go off the rails a bit, and with his new found abilities to go about undetected, he soon becomes quite a nasty piece of work determined to wreak retribution on his boss and his erstwhile colleagues. It's a rather daft slasher with plenty of clever skeletal effects and pace, but the dialogue and scenarios are pretty preposterous with little, if any, chemistry between any of the stars.

Absolutely awful

[jenniferlisabrowne · 1/10 · 11 April 2020]

I will say, the CGI for its tome is absolutely fantastic. However, it is just full of sexual abuse, rape and misogyny. Absolutely awful the treatment of women in this film, and it really begs the question as to the directors & screen writers feelings towards women. Absolutely disgraceful.

An invisible man

[pulikd · 7/10 · 22 October 2023]

Why "Hollow man"? That's what you may rightfully ask before seeing the film or, say, reading H. G. Wells' novel "The Invisible Man". Both deal with discovering a way to become invisible, transparent. Both deal with how this can eventually transform a person into a monster. The film does not claim to be an adaptation of that novel, though. It is set in a different time and does not deal with a genius secretly making dangerous breakthroughs in science. It deals with a group of scientists headed by a genius and controlled by the government. The visuals of the film are brilliant. And they do explain the title of the film.

The main character, Kevin Bacon's Sebastian Caine is, from a certain moment on, invisible. But that does not go for his clothes. And when he's wearing them, he looks hollow. When he isn't wearing anything and comes in contact with smoke or water, you can see a hollow human form. The shape is there but it's like there's nothing inside it. Again, the film looks amazing. And it's not just the VFX. It's the cinematography in general. The lights, the colors, the picture looks great. Director Paul Verhoeven, I hear, would say this movie wasn't really his because there wasn't much he specifically could do with it. It's like any other competent director could have handled the material. Verhoeven is known for the stories he tells in "RoboCop", "Total Recall" and "Starship Troopers'', of course. But compare Verhoeven's "Hollow Man" to the "The Invisible Man'' released around 2020. The older one has more color to it and does not try to "look dark". Jost Vacano was the director of photography working with Verhoeven then. They don't shoot pictures the way they used to, do they? And not every invisibility related movie has music by someone like Jerry Goldsmith. By the way, that new "Invisible Man" movie isn't an H. G. Wells adaptation either.

2000's "Hollow Man'' looks and sounds great. But the story could have been better. It is simple. The main scientist goes too far and things build up to a big and bloody third act. Not that you don't get to know any of these people, not that you don't care about them, but the story could have gone in a different direction. Here is what I see as a missed opportunity.

Doctor Caine may be a brilliant scientist but he isn't a great person. He's proud, stubborn and tends to look down on others. First, animals are tested, and it's clear he does not care about them at all. But there is someone who does care about them. Kim Dickens' Sarah Kennedy is responsible for the test subjects. And you can tell from her very first scene that, one, these test subjects aren't just a job to her, she's a caring soul, and two, she has been very unhappy about how Sebastian treats them. There's a conflict here. But then Sebastian volunteers to become the first human test subject. This is what they call "Phase Three". Once the whole team learns this has been "green lit" by the government it's clear there are no more animal tests coming. Sarah should be happy. Even Sebastian understands this and he tells her that, specifically. Also, she seems enthusiastic about "Phase Three" once she knows the time has come.

Elisabeth Shue's Linda McKay used to be with Sebastian but she's now with someone else and he is alone. It's clear he does not have anything much in his life other than the science. He is a hard working genius but he is also a lonely man. And he still is unhappy about Linda no longer being there.

So, he is now the lab rat. He'll now know what it's like to be a test subject and there is a young woman whose job is taking care of them and, clearly, is more than a job to her. Sebastian and Sarah haven't been famous for getting along, only now he is going through a very hard time. And she, as a doctor, is still there. In a way, he's in her care. What if these two went from disliking one another to the opposite? She hasn't liked him because of how he looks down on test subjects but he basically is one now. And he is quite miserable. What if the hardships, instead of turning him mad, made him see things in a different way? What if her caring about him gradually made him like her? What if he was no longer unhappy with his previous love interest not being there for him? He isn't a teenager, after all, have him get over it and move on. Sarah, by the way, has no social life either, just the work, so that's what her and Sebastian have in common. This could have been very interesting.

What also could have been interesting is how Sebastian sees this whole invisibility as excitement and fun at the beginning, but then the tests and all that take their toll. What if he, eventually, grew tired of invisibility and, instead of going "crazy god mode", hated the idea instead and wanted it wiped out along with the whole data? Because it's dangerous to everyone, not just the invisible individual, but the human world in general, and nobody, no matter how well-meaning they may seem, should ever get their hands on such powers.

Doctor Caine is a brilliant scientist working for the government who has made a breakthrough. Unfortunately, he is a lonely man who has nothing much in his life except for the work he has been doing night and day. A proud man seeking greatness and tempted by the unique abilities he has discovered. Also, a woman in his team used to be his lover. She is with someone else now and Sebastian is lonely. Once "no visibility equals no evidence" starts doing bad things to his mind, he alienates from the team and becomes dangerous. He learns his previous lover is with another man from his team now and that, specifically, is why he decides to kill his entire team and live using his invisibility. His previous love interest and her new lover live but everybody else die, including Sebastian. The killings, the destruction, everything is the might of Hollywood. As for the characters, you do get to know them and you do get to feel bad when they die. But the story is primitive. I wouldn't label it good. It's the visuals and the sounds that are good or even great, the package. This is what is. Now let me share what I think could have been.

Doctor Caine is a brilliant scientist working for the government who has made a breakthrough. Unfortunately, he is a lonely man who has nothing much in his life except for the work he has been doing night and day. A proud man seeking greatness and tempted by the unique abilities he has discovered. Also, a woman in his team used to be his lover. She is with someone else now and Sebastian is lonely. Now that he is undergoing some seriously unique and dangerous experiments, he becomes a different man. He realizes that it isn't fame or powers that matter so much, it's life in general and the people around you in particular. That's where happiness could be found. Because when you dedicate all you are to some project, that project might just consume you whole, become your life and leave no place for anything. It will make you hollow. There's nothing to you anymore, just the project you're working on. When you're sick or in trouble, it's not your project you can turn to for help, it's the people around you. And Sebastian no longer looks down on the others in any way. He values them and respects them. The woman he loved is with someone else now and it is her business, not his. It's time to let go of that past and move on. Not just because it is reasonable but because there's someone else right here who could be very good for Sebastian. Apart from all else, neither him nor her have any personal life, that's what they have in common, and that's what could be a new beginning after what they've gone through with all these experiments.

And these experiments should not be. They are wrong. Nobody should ever get their hands on such power, no matter how well they seem to mean. This is where the third act could have gone Hollywood level explosive and violent, only for a different reason. Sebastian and the team could have united against the committee that controls them and who knows how that conflict could have worked. Maybe the team would use invisibility in some way because troops were sent to deal with them. Or maybe they decided to destroy the whole project. And the laboratory was pretty deep underground. Things could have been done here. Maybe they got blocked down there and ordered to come out in order to be arrested. And maybe they chose to sacrifice themselves to make sure the invisibility formula is buried for good.

Pointlessly sick and demented.

[dave-645 · 1/10 · 17 August 2000]

The first thirty minutes keeps your interest as dazzling special effects highlight an intriguing new twist to a common premise. But, as soon as Kevin Bacon disappears, so does the interest. The movie quickly falls apart, transforming into a stinking heap of senseless and disturbing violence and all-too-predictable cat-and-mouse chases. My girlfriend and I left the theater in shock; amazed at how easily our twelve dollars disappeared.

Fine for a light, lazy day, albeit unremarkable and flawed

[I_Ailurophile · 7/10 · 10 March 2023]

His films range from phenomenal, to so-so, to - more rarely - poor, but one can almost always trust Paul Verhoeven to do something interesting, even if it doesn't quite turn out. I've been slightly reluctant to watch 'Hollow man' ever since it was released just because the word of mouth of which I'd caught wind wasn't especially strong. Having more recently watched Universal's iconic 1933 adaptation of 'The invisible man,' and dearly loved it, did nothing to curry any additional favor for this 2000 title. It's been high time for me to watch it for myself, however, and here we are. Before even ten minutes have passed I find myself forming a divided opinion: on the one hand, reading about the hard work put into producing all the effects is decidedly encouraging, and shows that this wasn't just a proverbial "dog and pony show"; on the other hand, we're introduced to snappy songs on the soundtrack, extra "cool" and "slick" visuals and presentation, and marginally accelerated pacing that's more than a little overbearing. One can't help but worry from the outset that 'Hollow man' is going to be more style than substance. Ultimately I do like this, and think it's worthwhile, but I understand why it was met with mixed reception, and it's definitely less than perfect.

I don't know if it's specifically the collaboration with cinematographer Jost Vacano or some other facet, but it's noteworthy that this really does look like it's cut from the same cloth as the filmmaker's previous outing, 'Starship troopers.' It doesn't feel like it, though, in various ways, not least of all in that the latter was superficially plainspoken and over the top, but was saturated through and through with underhanded wit and nuance that was cloaked by the surface appearance. This title, on the other hand, doesn't particularly give us more than meets the eye. It is mostly a straightforward sci-fi thriller, with tinges of horror on the edges. There are crumbs of a psychological element to the proceedings, as there were in the 1933 picture and H. G. Wells' original novel, but they are emphatically less pronounced here - or in the very least, emphatically less successful. A major component of the narrative is supposedly the deterioration of the invisible subject's psyche, yet I feel like we don't really get that in this case; Sebastian is already written as such an egotistical, selfish, crude, and rather cruel person that there's no significant contrast, no significant progression. The tale could have been an exploration of the psychological effects of the experiment, and it does play with that notion to some extent, but not with what feels like nearly the full potential.

Hand in hand with how Sebastian is written, other ideas that this plays with are mostly accentuation, and amplification, of the awful behavior the protagonist already demonstrates. Thus, content warnings are necessary for animal cruelty, sexual assault, and - part and parcel as well with the more overcooked sensibilities of the early 2000s - rather gratuitous nudity. Speaking of overcooked, as the last act rolls around the writing becomes so forthright (in dialogue, characterizations, and scene writing alike) as to become a little tawdrily blunt; moreover, setting aside a handful of critical details or intermittent dashes of cleverness, the brunt of this genre flick is very familiar and nothing especially remarkable. All this is the bad news, making the picture less interesting, more difficult to engage with, less worth our engagement, and in some ways kind of tiresome.

On the other hand, in every other capacity it's safe to say 'Hollow man' is very well made. The cast give swell performances all around, maybe even a bit impressive since in some select instances they're not necessarily acting in earnest reaction to anything. Likewise, between Verhoeven's orchestration of shots and scenes and Vacano's photography, it's clear that great pains were taken to fashion the film around the conceit that an invisible character was present on the set, and toying with various props, instead of just relying on digital fabrication of effects out of thin air. The endeavor certainly paid off in that regard. To that point, congratulations are surely in order for the visual artists who operated behind the scenes here, because even at their most over the top (primarily transformation sequences, and the climax), every such contribution is superb. From more ordinary tidbits like blood, explosions, and wrecked set pieces, all the way through to depictions of unseen Sebastian and his ill doings, the teams that concocted the visual wonderland of this feature are undeniably the real stars. I may not agree with every single choice, but frankly, they knocked it out of the park.

Dabbling with what is broadly a straightforward thriller, Verhoeven's direction is sharp and careful, helping the climax to attain genuine thrillers that the movie may have lacked elsewhere. The sets are splendid, and in all other regards it's as solid as one would hope contemporary films to be. Truthfully, more so than not I think this Y2K production is fairly good, reasonably enjoyable, modestly worthwhile. Would that the screenplay did something more unique and actively absorbing than "genre thriller," but I suppose there's no rule that every picture has to be positively brimming with bedazzlement. My opinion wavered throughout, and at length I wonder if I'm not being too kind as it is, but I think what it comes down to is that so long as you're not looking for a revelation, this will suitably fit the bill for entertainment. It's not everything it could have been, and you don't need to go out of your way for it, but for something light (if violent) that you don't particularly need (or sometimes want) to engage with, this is decent for a lazy day. Kept aloft primarily by excellent effects work and a more exciting climax, 'Hollow man' would have benefited from a more compelling screenplay above all else, but there are definitely worse ways to spend your time.

Kevin Bacon flopped in this one...

[cskoenig-2 · 1/10 · 17 February 2001]

This picture was the worst that I've seen this year. The graphics were good yes, and that's the only reason on why I gave it a "1" rating. If it weren't for the graphics, I would have tried to give it a zero. This movie reflects what I call "pigism." Yes, if we were invisible we would play tricks on people, maybe sneak-a-peak here and there but I'm sure the normal person would not commit murder or rape. The "Kevin Bacon Game" stops short of this one folks; the plot sucks and the security that the pentagon adheres to in this movie is horses**t. Thumbs down, please don't waste your time.

Clay S. Koenig

A movie that was ahead of its time when it came out nearly 20 years ago

[justin-fencsak · 10/10 · 25 June 2020]

When I saw the trailers for this movie back in early 2000, i was curious to see how it would be vs The Invisible Man starring Claude Rains as well as its remakes including the most recent one starring Elisabeth Moss as the girlfriend of the invisble man played by Oliver Jackson Cohen that came out weeks before the pandemic. When I indeed saw the movie at what is now AMC Clifton Commons on opening weekend, I was happy to enjoy this movie, the last good one that Paul Verhoeven made before he went back to smaller movies. It was nominated for best visual effects before losing out to Gladiator, which was also a good movie. The cast is excellent and the effects are good and the music is great. The director's cut bluray has most of the deleted scenes seen on the special edition dvd from 2000 remastered in 1080p. A sequel was made without the director's approval and was blasted by fans.

A decent little film

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 21 August 2011]

I watched Hollow Man not expecting much but while it was flawed the film was decent. The story is predictable despite a very interesting theme complete with a rather abrupt ending, the characters are hollow particularly Elisabeth Shue's character and the script is on the weak and cheesy side. However, visually it is fantastic with the photography crisp and the effects spot on and the music from master Jerry Goldsmith is very atmospheric. A lot of scenes are genuinely suspenseful and taut and the action is well choreographed. The acting is mostly good, though I thought Shue tries a little too hard with her shallow character, with Kevin Bacon particularly impressive. All in all, decent. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Ug

[Cheeseboy · 1/10 · 23 August 2000]

Okay, just got back from Hollow Man and my advice is save your money. That was possibly the worst movie I've ever seen. Granted, the special effects were pretty good, but at some point, you need a plot and believable characters.

Maybe it's just me.