El Hombre Sin Sombra (Hollow Man)

Starring:Elisabeth Shue, Kevin Bacon, Josh Brolin, Kim Dickens, Greg Grunberg, Joey Slotnick, Mary Randle, William Devane, Rhona Mitra, Pablo Espinosa, Margot Rose, Jimmie F. Skaggs, Jeffrey Scaperrotta, Sarah Bowles, Kelli Scott, Steve Altes, J. Patrick McCormack, Darius A. Sultan, Tom Woodruff Jr., David Vogt
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Studio: Sony Pictures
Product Type: DVD

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In Paul Verhoeven's appropriately shallow Hollow Man, Kevin Bacon plays a bad-boy egotistical scientist who heads up a double-secret government team experimenting with turning life-forms invisible. How do we know he's a bad boy? Because he (a) wears a leather overcoat, (b) compares himself to God, (c) drives a sports car, and (d) spies on his comely next-door neighbor while eating Twinkies. Sadly, this is the most character development anyone gets in this undernourished action/sci-fi thriller, which boasts some amazing special effects and some amazingly ridiculous plot twists. After experimenting rather ruthlessly on a menagerie of lab animals, Bacon finally cracks the code that will turn the invisible gorillas, dogs, and so on, back into their visible forms. Does it work on humans? Faster than you can say "six degrees," Mr. Bacon appoints himself human guinea pig, strapping down for an injection of fluorescent-colored serum. Thanks to some phenomenal, seamless and Oscar-worthy computer effects, Bacon is indeed rendered invisible, organ by organ, vein by vein. And what's the first thing you'd do if you were invisible? Why, spy on your female coworkers in the bathroom and molest your comely next-door neighbor, of course! Soon, Bacon is thoroughly psychotic, and it's up to Elisabeth Shue (Bacon's coworker and ex-girlfriend) and hunky Josh Brolin (her current snuggle bunny) to defeat the invisible man, who's picking off the science team one by one. You'd think this would be a prime opportunity for copious amounts of cheesy sex and aggressive violence--which Verhoeven served up so well and so exuberantly in Starship Troopers and Basic Instinct--but if anything, the director seems to tone down the proceedings, and really, who wants a muted Paul Verhoeven movie? Shue (who got top billing and a bad haircut to boot) and Brolin (who, yes, does take off his shirt at least once) generate little heat, and while Bacon does give an effective, primarily voice-oriented performance, his character is so underdeveloped that, well, you can see right through him. --Mark Englehart

Customer Reviews:

watchable.......2007-01-23

The plot is predictable and lackluster. The writing is medicore and the characters are generally unlikeable. Kevin Bacon's performance is good, which is the only reason to watch this film. If you want scary, you won't find it here. If you want a smart movie, you won't find it here. And if you want a good movie, you won't find it here. Kevin Bacon has been in a lot of movies; this is not one of his best.

What you don't see, can hurt you............2006-08-27

"It's amazing what you can do, when you don't have to look at yourself in the mirror any more". Yeah, it's amazing alright and very scary too. This movie was pretty good. The plot is pretty simple, Kevin Bacon plays a scienctist named Sebastin Cane. Who is working on a formula for invisibility. When he does succeed, he decides to take things, to the next level. By trying the formula on himself. Everything seems to be fine at first. But, he can't reverse it. Then things go horrible wrong and Cane goes slowely in the mad. His other co-workers must race to find a way to cure him. Before, it's too late. It's a new twist on a old movie.

Violent Horror.......2006-08-24

Hollow Man is a very violent horror film. The story is about a genius researcher named Sebastian (Kevin Bacon) who is working on a top-secret project on invisibility for the Pentagon. A young, exceedingly large-egoed individual, Sebastian has his research team cowed and under his thumb. The team lets him bend - or break - the rules because they genuinely admire his genius and believe in his ability. This blind faith proves to be their undoing. Sebastian tests the invisibility serum on himself. He disappears, all right, but the problem lies in making himself visible again. Although the procedure worked on primates, it won't work on him.

The increased time of being invisible also plays on his mind and makes him paranoid and aggressive. Hollow Man has tons of gratuitous female nudity and sexual assaults, not to mention very disturbing animal abuse. A screaming rat is tortured and mangled, a gentle lab dog is smashed against a cage, a female gorilla is subjected to immense pain during an experiment.

Yes, the special effects are amazing - but although Hollow Man has an interesting premise and main character, the violence is shocking and horrific, and reveals an underlying core of something like masochism against women.

Good special effects, but disturbing!.......2006-08-20

I have to admit, the concept of not just an invisible man, but the observation of a man GOING invisible is original and creative. For this I score the two stars for this movie. Seeing skin evaporate to human organs to nothing is quite a sight which is done expertly by the special effects masters behind this movie.
However, I tend to agree with most viewers is that while Kevin Bacon (who even though is invisible for much of this movie, still brings across one of his best performances-he brings that wispy, whispering voice to top notch evil heights) does great and Elizabeth Shue, Josh Brolin, and the other actors give their all, Bacon's character is so one sided. Never before have I watched a movie where I was genuinely angry in wanting to see the bad guy get his in the end. When Elizabeth Shue finally gets him in the end and is telling him where to go, I was saying it right along with her!
And assaulting women, killing dogs, spiraling out of control into the final movie chapter which was reminiscent of gory splatter slasher flicks of the 80's, I'm deciding right now whether I can actually watch this movie again or whether I want to take it to the Good Will!
Apologies for the harsh review to the director of this movie-great idea, but disturbing and dark which almost surpasses the positive of the movie-great special effects.

A journey without return .......2006-05-01

This fascinating fiction entertainment deals about a curious experiment the overall search of the biogenetic sequence. Since a smart scientist has made certain experiments without concrete advances, the top authorities who command such project treat him with retire the financial budget in case not obtain more solid results.

The main twist concerns when he decides by himself, to make the journey. But the rest runs for you. A delirious exploration of the human nature faced with nature forces. A breathtaking movie that made us remind that famous film of Ken Russell : "Altered states". Bloody story with the accustomed violence and overwhelming special effects.

Perhaps the anecdote literally could not avoid a major and devastating reflection around the unthinkable facts that eventually might derivate from certain arrogant attitudes without taking into account the final goal.

But the film is above the average.

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