Film

Hollow Man (2000)

Director: Paul Verhoeven

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

Verhoeven's basic revamp of The Invisible Man begins entertainingly enough in cartoon medical sci-fi territory. Particle 'reversion' experiments proceed in a secret underground laboratory masterminded by egomanic Dr Sebastian Caine (Bacon), under the loose auspices of the Pentagon. Following some tentative success with a lab gorilla, Caine volunteers his own body to the cause of biological transparency. But has he really cracked reversion, or will it crack him? The director doesn't exploit the political angle, preferring to attend to some decidedly hammy sexual triangulation between Caine, his ex Linda McKay (Shue), and her secret new lover (Brolin). Once invisible, Caine's licentiousness grows steadily nastier - the problem being that since the doctor's conscience was clearly only ever skin deep, his degeneration offers little suspense and even less of a moral. Cue basement action and slasher movie tropes entirely in service to the special effects.

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