(2000)
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(2000) |
After an arrogant scientist turns invisible due to a formula he and his team developed, he gradually loses his mind, traps the team in their underground lab, and hunts them down one by one.
Subgenres: "mad" science, insanity
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Starring: Elisabeth Shue, Kevin Bacon
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In the DVD commentary track for Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Mike Myers talks about how he liked using unnecessary exposition to comic effect. And it worked; the first Austin Powers mocked movies that use inane dialogue to beat a point into the ground. Movies like, say, Hollow Man. This is a film that has no faith in its audience; if it wants us to know something, it tells us--directly--two or three times over. I'd feel a whole lot better if it instead gave us a little credit and let us judge the characters and situations by natural dialogue (or, God forbid, actions!) instead of words meant to press a point. Then again, the actions the characters take are pretty dumb, too. If I knew there was a potentially homicidal invisible man around, and I had thermal goggles that could allow me to see him, I'd wear them constantly. And talk in whispers, even if I didn't see him. What do these characters do? Use the goggles only when the invisible man can foil them (in an admittedly inventive sequence) and talk--in loud voices and in an echoey room (and sans goggles, of course) about how they're going to capture/kill him. Is he in the room, listening to them? What do you think? Furthermore, the main idea in the film--that invisibility is a form of absolute power, and therefore corrupts absolutely--is wasted on titty shots and other nonsense. The cast is game, the special effects are great, but this movie just winds up invoking its title far too well. (Jan 8, 2000) | ||||||
Kevin Bacon detailed his difficult experience filming Hollow Man in a two-part journal in Entertainment Weekly.
