Hollow Man or Superman?

Hollow Man Dir: Paul Verhoeven Starring Elisabeth Shue Kevin Bacon Josh Brolin 2000 R, 112 m RATING: 5 out of 10

EMPTY EFFORTS: Kevin Bacon turns see-thru in Paul Verhoeven's crude, bad mix of sci-fi and slasher genres in Hollow Man.

Paul Verhoven's Hollow Man is nothing but eye-candy, albeit tasty eye0candy. The invisible man is visible while draped in rain, wrapped in smoke, or immersed in water, showing off the very elaborate, flash special effects.  In the most memorable scene, a gorilla is seen disappear and reappear, right down to the pumping organs and veins.  The multi-million dollar special effects are in top-form here, so why on Earth couldn't a few more dollars have been spent to rework a better script? Hollow Man lives up to its name in more ways than one: Kevin Bacon's character is hollow, and so is the plot.  A brilliant but slightly egocentric scientist finds a forumla for invisibility; there's a tacked-on affair, and paper-thin characters who are nothing more than blood containers ready to be spilled.  "Let's crank up the visuals and f*** the story" seems to be the general consensus of the crew, and it fails miserably. The first half of the film is well-done, showing the basic invisiblity premise and Bacon's initial reactions.  The second half, however, turns into your standard slasher flick, with Bacon hunting down each member of his team in a small, enclosed space.  The gore is not the problem at all' in fact, the most chilling scene is a dog getting smashed against a cage violently.  But the story - what's that? Friday the 13th? Sleepaway Camp?  That's right, the story is right along with that dreck. And just as if the fashion of such slasher flicks, the killer is damn-near invincible: Bacon is beat up, burned, electrocued, and cracked on the head with a crowbar, yet gets up in a matter of seconds, raring to go.  What on Earth's going on?  Did the serum not only make him a Hollow Man, but a Superman, too? If you don't mind an unimaginative storyline reminiscient of such cheap horror fodder, then you'll no doubt love seeing Kevin Bacon killing all in his path.  Seekers of a heady, smart thriller might want to try Verhoven's earlier offerings.

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