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The Movie:  Many have said that special effects, no matter how amazing, can not substitute for a story. They're right, and "Hollow Man" is a perfect example. The film's effects are stunning and even revolutionary at times, but as the film went on, I found myself not invested in the story - and as a result, the effects didn't interest me, either. It's not that the film doesn't start out promisingly, which made the final half all the more dissapointing. Kevin Bacon stars as Sebastian Caine, a smirky, egotistical jerk of a scientist who has stumbled onto a way to make living creatures invisible with the rest of his crew. Linda(Elisabeth Shue) is his co-worker and ex-girlfriend; Matt(the terrible Josh Brolin) is Lisa's new boyfriend. There are a few other assistants, but their characters aren't even one-dimensional, which causes major problems with the second half of the film. Sebastian is eager to be the first human to try out the invisibility potion, and at first, the results seem to have worked. But when the crew can't figure out how to reverse the process with a human, things begin to go downhill. Sebastian escapes a couple of times, but these scenes are rather short and don't go too far from the main labratory, where nearly the entire movie seems to take place. How about a movie that does something interesting with the ideas displayed here? Attempts at a decent story completely and utterly fall apart in the second half of the film, which becomes an almost unbearable pile of sub-standard horror sequences as Sebastian goes a bit crazy. Sort of an "I Know What You Did When You Were Invisible Last Summer". This part of the film also reveals that these characters are not only unlikable, but pretty stupid at times, as well. They're chased, whatever - the audience is not given a reason to care about any of them. As with any Paul Verhoven("Starship Troopers") movie, there's violence here, as well. Only here, it's unnecessary and takes the audience out of the movie; it's intended for empty shocks and nothing else. The script is not the sole fault here; some of the acting is fairly bad. Shue and Bacon("Stir Of Echoes") aren't too bad, actually. But some supporting actors like Brolin don't even attempt to do anything with what little they have. I'll bring this review around full-circle to the begining. The effects in this film are remarkable, and quite stunning. When things are gradually turned invisible, the effects are seamless and well-done. But as I got more and more bored with the story, the structure of the film reveals itself; it's just a string of effects sequences hung on a plot that's as thin as hollow air. |