Paul Verhoeven is the master of sleaze. The grimy director has such masterpieces out there as the ultra-violent films Total Recall, RoboCop and Starship Troopers. Then you have his films where he gave soft core porn a stab, Basic Instinct and Showgirls. You either love his films, or you hate them. I for one hold a soft spot in my heart for the old pervert. His films are dirty and fun. Hollow Man is no exception.
Talk about a great opening. The first two minutes of Hollow Man consist of having a rat's head bite off by an invisible gorilla. Verhoeven is not subtle. We see the imprints of the gorilla's hand as it holds the little rodent up to it's invisible mouth, and then splat. Blood sprays in all directions, and covers the monkey's teeth. Beautiful.
The film stars Kevin Bacon (The River Wild), Elisabeth Shue (Leaving Las Vegas), and Josh Brolin (Nightwatch). The plot is basically simple, as it should be for this type of film. They all play scientists working on the ingredient to make things invisible. Actually, we learn it's easy to turn something invisible, it's turning something visible again that's the hard part.
The majority of the film takes place in their underground lab. There is a whole group of scientists working on the project, and a bunch of animals locked up in cages. Including the invisible gorilla, Isabelle.
Like I was saying, the plot is very simple. Once they find the way to make things visible again, it's time to test it on a human. Sebastian Caine (Kevin Bacon) gladly volunteers himself. They succeed, and bingo, he's invisible. Now the film gets really fun. You see, Caine was already a bit of a prick to begin with. When he finds out he can get away with doing anything, and I mean anything, he goes on a killing and raping spree. It is a little distasteful and crude, I know. But if you just go with it and not judge it too much, it can be fun.
The special effects are astounding. One of the neatest parts of the film is when they are turning Isabelle, the gorilla, visible again. We get to see them inject the chemical into it's invisible arm. The chemical goes through it's veins, making them visible, and to it's pumping heart, making that visible. The audience basically gets to see every layer and every organ of the monkey. The same thing happens when they do it to Caine. It's very cool, and it raises the standard in special effects.
The film is a lot of fun and it is basically an action movie. It could have been a great film had it not been so impatient and had a better script. I wish it would have delved further into the power of being invisible. Being invisible can really question the ethics of man. If someone was a good person, morally, and then all of a sudden they are invisible, they can get away with doing anything, well would that change them? If someone could get away with doing something and never get caught, would they do it? Being invisible raises a lot of questions, these questions are never answered in Hollow Man.
God bless Verhoeven though. He's never been one for the faint of heart. There are a lot of interesting gory deaths in the film. One of my favorite scenes in the film involves Caine's invisible hand fondling one of the scientists breasts. It's a very cool boob shot. For you ladies, as usual you get to see Kevin Bacon's penis.
Kevin Bacon is pretty hard core in the film. You'll be rooting for the bad guy in this one. Shue is pretty good, but showing none of the acting abilities she had in Leaving Las Vegas. Brolin is utterly dull.
With good action scenes and it's neat special effects, Hollow Man shouldn't be missed by fans of Verhoeven. I just hope Paul Verhoeven keeps making these risky films. He's already going to hell, he might as well go out in a blaze of fury. Keep making this wonderful pure sleaze Paul!
The DVD
The DVD is pretty cool. It's a special edition that has a lot of neat features. It has three deleted scenes. Including the rape scene with Paul Verhoeven telling us why he cut it. There is a commentary with Paul Verhoeven, Kevin Bacon and Andrew Marlowe. Also a isolated music score with Jerry Goldsmith. There is a whole bunch of behind-the-scenes featurettes. VFX picture-in-picture comparisons, and theatrical trailers.
Very well done.
After years of experimentation, Dr. Sebastian Caine (Kevin Bacon), a brilliant, but arrogant and egotistical scientist working for the Defense Departm...More at Buy.com
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