Genres

Visitors Review

cainita 2012-05-25 21:34:46

Verhoeven can´t hold his own hollow

I really had thought that Paul Verhoeven could make an interesting movieabout the Invisible Man's legend, so it´s been a big deception to realizethat even the John Carpenter´s Memoirs of an Invisible Man is more originalthan this "oh, I´m like a Predator who likes the raping experience" movie.Claude Rains' performance keeps being the best, and Whale really knew aboutpower, insanity and cinema. P.D. I prefer the Robbie Williams way ofbecoming invisible

argento-4 2012-05-25 01:48:37

Most of these reviews are taking this movie TOO seriously!

This is a POPCORN movie. This is a HORROR movie. This is a PAUL VERHOEVENmovie. So, yes, there will be gaping plot logic holes, bad dialogue, andloads of politically incorrect situations. But the idea here is to sit backand be taken for a thrill ride, which I did, in spite of the many badreviews I read before I saw this. I had FUN! I didn't expect Citizen Kanebut maybe many of the reviewers here at IMDB did. And just to take a pointwith some of these reviews, the question of the animal testing is taken totask by Kim Dickens' character, the vet. And Sebastian, Kevin Bacon'scharacter, does morally reprehensible things because he's the VILLAIN! Nobody was complaining about Hannibal Lector in Silence of the Lambs for hisdeeds; he's seen as 'memorable'. So don't feel the need to jump on thenegativity bandwagon with this one, because it's seems to the popular thingto do, just take your expectations down a couple of notches andenjoy.By the way, the special effects are among the best I've seen this year!!

2012-05-25 12:45:39

Dumb Hollowood, Verhoeven Style

HG Wells must be rolling over in his grave. This is yet one more example of clever CGI and a talented crew being wasted on a really lousy script and lazy execution. Gary Scott Thompson (I) and Andrew W. Marlowe are credited for the incredibly poor story and penning. It is mystifying to me how even Marlowe and Thompson, whom we can thank for the awful End of Days and K-911, would be able to screw up the enduring fable of the Invisible Man. For all I know, these two might be capable of intelligent writing, but somehow, somewhere, the Hollywood Bonehead Machine gained a firm grip on this film and turned it stupid. Really stupid.The classic story of the Invisible Man involves a driven scientist who devises a method to make himself invisible. He tries out the treatment on himself, but there are two problems: 1) Invisibility makes him violently psychotic, and 2) he can't change back. Besides being a wonderful horror story, it is also rich metaphor for impermanence of self. When I first heard about the making of this film, I thought of how the title Hollow Man promised the exploration of this subject. I imagined reasonably complex characters and at least a nod to the timeless theme of humankind's struggle between id and ego. Instead, what I saw was a combined rip-off of low-rent slasher/Satan flicks, with startling CGI taking top billing over the storyline. The brutal and graphic killings do not energize the movie; they simply tire the audience. The `surprises' are so overused that none of it is surprising, and I am so done with cartoonish, implausible action scenes that I almost needed an antiemetic during this flick. Anyone out there ever survived a flash-fire in an elevator shaft? These characters survive, since the flames are only licking their feet, have no heat, and apparently produce breathable oxygen. This kind of super-action works as camp -- which Verhoeven is very good at (see RoboCop) -- but not as good science fiction, which is what this story deserves to be treated as. The old and boring slasher plot contrivances range from `We're hunting an invisible, psychotic monster, so let's spit up,' to `Gosh, he looks dead so it's probably safe to turn our backs!' C'mon, guys, Halloween was 22 years old when this film was released. This stuff is just not smart anymore. I am embarrassed for Paul Verhoeven and the cast. They are much, much better than this tripe.

ShootingShark 2012-05-24 20:50:00

Gruesome, Spine-Tingling, Invisible Man Gone Mad Flick

A Pentagon science team seem to have perfected a serum which causesinvisibility but when the lead boffin tries it out on himself he can'treverse the process. Frustrated and drunk with power, he turnspsychotic in the classic H.G. Wells tradition.This is a gleefully horrible Invisible Man story, delivered with relishby the ever-tasteful Verhoeven and Bacon as thegenius-turned-loonytoon-maniac. As with much of Verhoeven's work it hasa terrific unrestrained sense of Boy's-Own comic-book adventure (thesecret underground lab where the scientists work is just wonderful)combined with the most horrific and depraved visuals (women in theirunderwear being groped and attacked by an invisible fiend, animalsbeaten to death, literally gallons of blood and wholesale slaughter inthe last two reels). Whilst the story doesn't ring any new twists on anold idea, the CG special effects by Scott E. Anderson are eye-poppinglybrilliant as we see veins and arteries, cardiovascular systems,muscles, tissue, bones and flesh all literally appear out of nowhere.In particular, a sequence where the team bring a gorilla back from theinvisible state and the scene where Bacon drowns Devane in a swimmingpool, are absolutely breathtaking in the detail and artistic inventionof the effects. The film also has a great soundtrack by Jerry Goldsmithand classic horror-movie photography by Jost Vacano. The young cast arepretty much overshadowed by the movie's technical pedigree, but bothShue and Dickens are impressively out of their depth. This is a greatfun nasty movie.

doctor_ed 2012-05-20 22:16:23

Pretty awful, but awfully pretty.

To describe this film as garbage is unfair. At least rooting throughgarbagecan be an absorbing hobby. This flick was neither absorbing norentertaining.Kevin Bacon can act superbly given the chance, so no doubt had an IRS billto settle when he agreed to this dire screenplay. The mad scientist storyof'Hollow Man' has been told before, been told better, and been told withoutresorting to so many ludicrously expensive special effects.Most of those special effects seem to be built around the transparentanatomical dolls of men, women and dogs you could buy in the earlyseventies. In the UK they were marketed as 'The Transparent Man(/Woman/Dog)' which is maybe where they got the title for this film.Clever special effects, dire script, non-existent plot.

2012-05-20 04:14:34

Can you see this Hollow Man?

This review is from: Hollow Man (Special Edition) (DVD) Hollow Man is one of my favorite sci fi movies. The science, though not available yet, seems plausable and the acting on the part of Kevin Bacon is outstanding. My experience with Amazon.com , as always, was priced right and prompt. Way to go Amazon!!

Michael George 2012-05-16 13:54:03

I wasted money on this

I have seen better acting, plot development, and character development inaporno movie. This movie made howard the duck look like a good movie. Theaccting reminded me of very bad soap opera acting. The plot was ludicrousand rushed. All the character development non-existent. This was a poorexcuse to use special effects and Kevin Bacon's butt.

2012-05-15 20:43:04

Typical Invisible Man Movie.

This is a typical 'Invisible Man' movie. Just a summer movie you go to see to have fun. There's nothing really new here from other invisible man movies. The special effects are good, but nothing really new either. It's still fun, and I enjoyed watching it.

David 2012-05-13 04:09:46

Pointlessly sick and demented.

The first thirty minutes keeps your interest as dazzling special effectshighlight an intriguing new twist to a common premise. But, as soon asKevinBacon disappears, so does the interest. The movie quickly falls apart,transforming into a stinking heap of senseless and disturbing violence andall-too-predictable cat-and-mouse chases. My girlfriend and I left thetheater in shock; amazed at how easily our twelve dollars disappeared.

max_111 2012-05-12 12:07:58

Over all good movie..

i saw this movie like 4 years ago..but m commenting on it now.. themovie was very good there were some horrible scenes in the movie butover all its a very good movie...firstly the special effects are very good..seeing the hollow man youwill surely think that he is invisible..but obviously those are thespecial effects and use of several cameras..the story is good but could has been much better than that..the actingis good..and i liked Elizabeth shue very much..damn she has somemoves..lolits a old movie now like 6 years old but its a classic ever made.. ihave seen this movie several times..but get bore seeing it...yeah the plot is not very real but still than the movie captures theaudience's attention..i would surely recommend you this movie..

2012-05-11 14:27:18

Amazing special effects try to mask lack of script

Being an ardent fan of science fiction, I had hoped that Hollow Man would be decent. In its special effects, I was not disappointed. The art of computer generated images [CGI] is advancing rapidly. The line between what is real and what is a computer graphic is becoming quite blurred, and I am in awe of this technology. Some things in life remain the same, however, and the need for a good, coherent storyline is one of them. Hollow Man lacks this, and, as a result, the movie is just so-so. Much of the movie takes place in a secret government lab deep below the surface of Washington, DC. There, a team of scientists, led by Sebastian Caine [Kevin Bacon] has almost perfected a process which renders people and other mammals invisible. Caine convinces two other workers, Linda and Matthew [Elizabeth Shue and Josh Brolin], to proceed with a test on a human being, namely Caine himself. The Pentagon doesn't know about this, but the trio doesn't tell this to the rest of the crew. The experiment proceeds. Caine becomes invisible, but the antidote fails. The group must then figure out what went wrong so that they can make Caine visible again. As time drags on, Caine, a volatile, egocentric guy even before the experoment, becomes increasingly unstable. Very bad things begin to occur.The people who made Hollow Man do not seem to have the imagination to explore the subject of becoming invisible very far. That's a shame, because the possibilities are virtually endless. What's worse, they don't have much feel for either drama or comedy. It's always dangerous when filmmakers take shallow ideas and get serious about them. In this case, Caine was once Linda's lover, but she wisely dumped him. Now Matthew is her lover, but she doesn't want Caine to find out, even though the three spend about eighteen hours a day working together. How interesting or original is that for a plot idea? In a place where some mammals are invisible and others aren't, there are lots of setups for comedy. Hollow Man makes use of none of them. So short on ideas were director Paul Verhoeven and his crew that the movie turns into a slasher flick for no good reason other than that Caine seems to be having a bad week. The CGI effects truly are wondrous, and they make the movie worth watching, at least for technophiles. The ways in which we see Caine are ingenious. The scene in which he turns invisible is amazing. One area of the movie's script truly annoyed me. Every main character is either a scientist or a doctor, hand picked for their genius and intelligence. Just consider the scope of their project. Yet most of them are rarely able to utter a complete sentence. Much worse, none of them can say more than a dozen words without using a four-letter word. As an ardent supporter of freedom of speech, I do not note this out of any moral sense. I note it because it is utterly implausible that such bright and educated people could express themselves only in vulgar and unoriginal ways. Is this the only way Hollywood can find to let teenagers, who are the bulk of the audience today, relate to such characters? If so, the intelligence of young people is being vastly underrated.

movieguy1021 2012-05-11 08:54:50

Hollow Man: 5/10

As you can see from the very clever tagline, Hollow Man is about thinkingyou're alone. But you should think again. Evidentally, all the words I'veused so far are more advanced than the scriptwriters' vocabulary.Kevin Bacon plays Sebastian Caine, an egotistical but brilliant scientist.The script makes us know that he's an egomanic early on, but when Bacon isinvisible, they seem to make us forget that. In fact, he's soself-orientedthat he names all of his medicines after himself. OK, we get it! Anyway,heand his team are working on making objects invisible. Why not? So afternotgetting approval from the government, Sebastian goes ahead and tests itouton himself.But, alas, that wouldn't be much of a movie. Sebastian's team, whichincludes Linda (Elisabeth Shue) who is Sebastian's former lover, Matthew(Josh Brolin), Linda's secret lover, and Sarah (Kim Dickens), who happenstobe a vet, can't turn him back to his visible form. And, of course,Sebastiangoes mad.Special effects are the film's saving grace. We see all of Bacon'stransformations into visible beings and invisible beings, and, despitebeingsomewhat gruesome, were very intense and actually looked real (except Idon't really know what everything in the body look like). When Bacon hadhisfacemask on, I totally believed that it was Bacon who was invisible. Thescript didn't do that. The special FX did.On the other hand, the script, as I've said before, isn't exactly on aShakespearean level. It's not even on a Sesame Street level. It'ssomethingthat director Paul Verhoeven realized that he needed to have in order tomake a movie so called it together at the last minute. You can tell howdeepit is when all the dialogue is what's happening. "It's coming down!" "Keepclimbing!" And the script had a lot of medical/scientific mumbo-jumbo.Don'texpect us to know what you're talking about. Round to the lowest commondemonator.You could call this a "popcorn movie", except there isn't a lot of actionorexciting scenes it it. In fact, I wasn't thrilled at all. I wasentertained,but not tense. The only action was at the tacked-on end that seemed tooabrupt. If there had been a steady amount of action all throughout, itwouldhave been easier to swallow.The movie didn't know where to go. It didn't hold onto one plot. HollowMantried to appeal to many demographs: thrill-seekers, action afficondos,romantics, 30-year-old dateless men. It, however, didn't really let usexplore on those. And the characters, although we know some aboutSebastian,we know diddly-squat about the other half-dozen supporting characters, whojust seem to be there when the "script" called for it.Well, there you go. Hollow Man is an entertaining but thrill-less moviewithspecial effects out the wazoo but nothing underneath the surface (hencethename Hollow Man?)My rating: 5/10Rated R for strong violence, gore, insides of bodies, language and somenudity.

kklimpel-2 2012-05-05 17:16:29

Special effects extravaganza

"Hollow Man" has spectacular special effects. That's it. The story islame,the acting is lame, and it's not even scary.The effects are amazing, though. This is definitely a "wait for cable"movie.

ron reach 2012-05-05 09:33:02

Don't waste your time or money

PLEASE do not waste your time seeing this dog at the theatres; it is UTTERTRIPE! A neat premise and cool special effects pull you in the first 1/2hour of this film, but then it quickly deteriorates into a weak plot,undeveloped and unlikable characters, and a thoroughly laughable ending,which manages to utilize every film cliche known to man. The only thrillscome during the first portion of the film, but I was too busy laughing andshaking my head to really enjoy the ridiculous 'climax.' Please, rentthisone at the video store, just for a laugh when there is nothing else torent.....at home, at least you can MST3K this film to your heartscontent.

whtrose 2012-05-05 10:20:42

Entertaining, but still need help.

On the whole this movie is entertaining. I would recommend it for amatinee.However, the plot line needs a little help. What happens to the lady in herapartment? Let's hope her fate isn't on the cutting room floor. Why isn'tsecurity in the lab better, especially for a government installation?There are good things about the movie. The special digital effects arefascinating, watching the ape reappear, and Sebastian Caine (Kevin Bacon)disappear. The women are more powerful than would have been thought aboutin1933. But, that has come with time. Still, Linda Foster (Elizabeth Shue) isa character to watch closely. All poor Flora Cranley (Gloria Stuart) coulddo was cry and whine.Yes, this is a remake of The Invisible Man, rewritten for 2000 of course.Many remakes are better than the original, mostly because of theadvancementof photography and digital effects. The story lines have advanced too. TheMummy is one example. But, comparing these two movies they are about even.Each movie has equal strengths and weaknesses. Each movie is worthseeing.

2012-05-05 01:33:16

A bit disappointing.

I have to say that I've really wanted to see this film for some time now. I rented the dvd and watched the movie, and I was mostly disappointed. I knew the movie would have great special effects, so I was interested to see those. But after watching it, I have to say that I was pretty much only interested in the special effects. The story got pretty pointless in the last third of the film or so. And then ending was terrible. No explanations, no tying up loose ends. It just sort of... ends. The acting was barely decent. I've seen Kevin Bacon give much better performances. Apollo 13, for example. The violence in the film is only there for cheap thrills. It's somewhat gratuitous one might say. And the sex and nudity doesn't add much to the story either. One might also say that this is a film for guilty pleasure. A substantial amount of bloody violence, with the sideorder of T&A to go with it. If I was to rate the film on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest, I would give it a 6.

Infofreak 2012-05-02 00:52:25

What a disappointment! Lame sell out from the used-to-be-great Paul Verhoeven.

This was one movie I was really psyched about before I watched it. Paul'RoboCop' Verhoeven takes on The Invisible Man! This should have been akiller movie! Verhoeven made a string of brilliant movies back in the1980s('Spetters', 'The Fourth Man', 'Flesh & Blood', 'RoboCop'), and afterlosinghis way slightly since working in Hollywood, his 'Starship Troopers' was abit of a return to form, and things were really looking good. Now I don'tknow what happened, but 'Hollow Man' ended up being a major let down. Thecast was good - Kevin Bacon, Elizabeth Shue, the underrated cutie KimDickens ('Zero Effect', 'Truth Or Consequences, NM'), even William Devane,an old favourite of mine (check out 'Rolling Thunder' sometime!) - thespecial effects were generally pretty impressive (scientificallyillogical,but who cares), but the script! By the guy who gave us 'End Of Days', oneofthe dumbest of all dumb movies in recent years. The script stinks! Bacontries his hardest, but compared to Claude Rains back in the 1930s, whoderailed trains(!) and planned to rule the world, his Invisible Man isjusta third rate heavy. Verhoeven in the past has really pushed the boundarieswith sex, violence and black humour, so I really expected a LOT more fromthis, but it's difficult not to regard it as a lame sell out. And thesillyclimax, which is drawn out WAY too much, becomes totally ludicrous whenBacon's Invisible Man somehow starts looking like The Indestructable Man!It's so stupid that any drop of good feeling you had about what precededitgoes straight down the drain. This is a crappy movie made by a guy whousedto be BRILLIANT! What went wrong I don't know, but along with Tim Burton's'Planet Of The Apes' it's difficult to think of a more disappointing moviereleased this decade. 'Hollow Man' is a hollow movie, and to beavoided.

marie_baie_des_anges 2012-05-01 12:43:14

literal torture...the worst kind

I do not know where to begin on this movie. It was a mess, it was aninsult, it was utterly painful and I did not recover from such pain for awhile. How one could direct or even worse, write this movie is beyond me.This movie had many bad components but the script was the ultimate worse.Ifelt very compelled to write a review for this movie like never beforebecause I do not want others to suffer the same pain I and everyone aroundme did. But I am surprised, no I am shocked that some people found thismovie remotely entertaining, I was insulted. I was upset that I actuallypaid to watch this in a movie theater and did not leave when I wanted to.Ok, enough of that, here is the actual review of the movie.*SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERSThe minute this poor excuse of a movie began, the very second the mousewaseaten by an invisible force, I know there was no salvation. When theoutsetof a film begins so violently, it basically shows that the director istrying to grab your attention, but does not know how to do the mostimportant thing-hold it. After that, we see that here are manyintelligentscientists working on a clandestine project for the government, yet theyalltalk and act like morons. The acting was laughable (maybe I would havelaughed if I had not paid) with the exception of Kevin Bacon who could notsave this film and I do not know what he was thinking when he starred init.Elizabeth Shue astounded me how badly she was acting. But I did notentirely blame her, for how can she act accordingly when the script waswritten by a bunch of lab monkeys mocking all the cliches the human worldcould possibly display. Everything was injected with cheesy cliches, likeBacon attacking Shue (his ex and coworker) and saying, "I always knew youwere a b****." Why oh why did they do that? That comment stands out inmymind the most, because it sums up the movie all on itsown.All in all, the movie was boring, the outstanding special effects it hadonly lasted about five minutes, the script was pure cheese, the movie wasstricken with a cliche epidemic, and the only horror about it is that amovie this bad was produced.

2012-04-30 09:20:51

Very cool film!

Movie- Dr.Sebastian Caine(Kevin Bacon)and his fellow scientists(including Elisabeth Shue and Josh Brolin) have sucessfully turned animals invisible and brought them back to their original form. But that wasnt enough for Sebastian he wanted to achieve the ultimate by making the first human being invisible. And so by volunteering to be the first he does just that. But as days go by his team of fellow scientists cant bring him back.And more and more Sebastian starts to get out of control by the days and soon he starts doing horrible things no one could ever imagine. Hollow Man directed by Paul Verhoeven(Total Recall,Starship troopers) and written by Andrew Matlowe (Air Force One)is filled with great characters, a good story, and simply spectacular effects. Ok ok so its not perfect. But who cares. Its a FUN MOVIE to watch and thats really all thats important when watching a movie, how fun and entertaining it is and boy did this movie deliver!! Give it a shot, you might be pleasantly surprised by what you see or what you dont see. ( I know i was)DVD- The DVD of Hollow Man is excellent as well. It contains a very entertaining and informative comentary track with Paul Verhoeven and Kevin Bacon and Andrew Marlowe, a very cool Making of feature with all kinds of behind the scenes footage and interviews with the stars. Also included are 3 deleted scenes that are just OK. As well as 15(!) small behind- the-scenes featurettes on different parts on the making of the movie (most are special effects). Also on this Special edition are the theatrical trailers(for other films as well),some cool VFX picture in picture comparisons, an Isolated music score with Jerry goldsmith commentary, talent files and production notes.

RevRuin 2012-04-30 00:43:22

Clichéd Thriller

I liked the first and second acts, despite some stiff, laughable dialogue.By the time the third act rolls around, though, it turns into a typical1980s slasher movie. It falls right into those repeatedoh-no-who-is-going-to-be-murdered-next and oh-no-he-is-not-quite-dead-yetmoments, which killed any tension it might have built by that point.Prettysad, really, considering the different directions it could have beentaken,storywise. Verhoeven certainly doesn't skimp on the eye-candythough.