‘It’s amazing what you can do when you don’t have to look at yourself in the mirror any more...’
Paul Verhoeven made a bunch of subversive, satirical classics in the 90s and then decided he wanted a hit so he took on Hollow Man – a modern update on the various iterations of The Invisible Man. Needless to say, it wasn’t a hit and Verhoeven has since disowned the film saying “I can defend Showgirls, but not Hollow Man“. He is mostly correct in this assessment…
A group of scientists led by Sebastian Craine (Kevin Bacon) are working on technology for the American military that can turn someone invisible. Craine decides that he is the best person to act as a guinea pig but as soon as he turns invisible he starts sexually assaulting everyone and just generally being an ass hat. Elisabeth Shue and a miscast Josh Brolin provide support.
I will begin by saying that the special effects here are absolutely fucking incredible. The scene in which Bacon is turned invisible still looks amazing and for my money, it rivals the iconic transformation scene from An American Werewolf in London. Whether we needed to see Bacon’s cock and balls so accurately portrayed is another matter but now I’ve seen them in glorious technicolour and I’ll probably think about that once a week until I’m dead.
Unfortunately, the rest of the film doesn’t live up to the effects. None of the characters are likeable or particularly interesting and Verhoeven injects none of his usual impish satire to add a bit of class to what eventually devolves into a third-rate slasher film by the final act.
Hollow Man is not terrible but it’s also disappointingly bland, especially from a director who is usually so interesting – probably Verhoeven’s worst film.
