In a top secret underground laboratory a team of young scientists search for the key to invisibility for the US military. The team is lead by the self absorbed Sebastian Caine (Kevin Bacon). They have already figured out how to turn animals invisible but struggle to create a serum to make them visible again. Once Caine discovers the right chemical compound to reverse the invisibility process the team tests it on an invisible gorilla. In one of the more spectacular scenes in the movie, we watch as the gorilla slowly becomes visible from the inside out. Because of his giant ego Caine wants to continue the project by making himself the first person to become invisible and then visible again. He goes ahead with the experiment without letting his bosses at the Pentagon know about it. The team of scientists is able to make Caine become invisible but for some reason the serum to bring him back doesn’t work.   To give Caine a solid form his fellow scientists create a latex mask that makes him look alien rather then human. While the other scientists continue working on a serum, Caine’s voyeuristic and evil side comes out. He begins journeying outside of the lab at night. Caine uses his invisibility to take advantage of a voluptuous neighbor that he has been peeping on. Later he spies on his fellow scientist and ex-girlfriend Linda McKay (Elizabeth Shue). He happens to catch her making love to another member of their team, Mathew Kensington (Josh Brolin). Somehow, the sight of the two lovers together and Caine’s new found power of invisibility transform him. He goes from eccentric, egotistic scientist to psychopathic killer. The rest of the film pits the killer Caine against the rest of the team of scientists.

      The scenes of the transformation to invisibility and visibility are breathtaking. Some of the scenes where you get to see a glimpse of Caine while he is invisible are fun to watch and cleverly conceived. It has been a long time since movie audiences have been treated to an invisible man movie. Hollow Man does add a lot to the genre with it’s use of new special effects. It is unfortunate that the plot turns into a “us vs. the monster” movie (like Aliens or The Thing) which has been done so many times before. There is never any explanation given as too how the invisibility serum works. The audience is just left to assume it is some kind of scientific breakthrough. It doesn’t help that the acting is mediocre at best. Bacon does make Caine a creepy character but his transformation into a killer is unrealistic. Elizabeth Shue leaves a lot to be desired as she plays the  role of scientist and compassionate ex-girlfriend. Josh Brolin is unconvincing as the hero of the film who is trying to stop Caine. The rest of the cast is just window dressing to help move the story along. William Devane does do a good job in his small role in the film. Both the acting and the plot could have been helped out with a better script from screenwriter Andrew W. Marlowe. Missing from the film is any witty dialog that is commonly found in Verhoeven’s films.

      With its plot flaws and lame acting Hollow Man is still entertaining. Director Paul Verhoeven does what he does best towards the end of the film. The last scenes are filled with enough action and suspense to keep the viewer interested. If more attention were paid to the plot and casting this could have been a truly great film. 

      Verhoeven has a reputation for being over top. Some of his other sci-fi movies are filled with lots of action, special effects and bloodshed. These include Robocop, Total Recall and Starship Trooper. Hollow Man is another film to add to that list. Whether or not it will be as successful as those films remains to be seen. Despite some truly great special effects, Hollow Man’s typical ending and unconvincing acting makes the film live up to its name.

RATING 1/2

Reviewed by Eugene Accardo