THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
It seems clear to me that corruption is easy to manufacture and if you don't think so, look at Hollow Man.
PLOT
The 2000 film follows scientist Sebastian Caine working on a military experiment that can make subjects invisible. His team includes: laboratory technicians Frank Chase (Joey Slotnick) & Janice Walton (Mary Randle), emergency technician Carter Abbey (Greg Gunberg), veterinarian Sarah Kennedy and his ex-girlfriend Linda McKay who is now having an affair with co-worker Matt Kensington unbeknownst to him. After successfully reverting a gorilla back to being visible, Sebastian is intrigued on wanting to start human trials. He doesn't tell his mentor Howard Kramer (William DeVane) of his breakthrough because he wants to ensure he is the first to do it. So he volunteers on being the first of his kind to be a subject with Linda & Matt being the only ones on the know that they're not yet approved by the military. The process does become successful when Sebastian becomes invisible, but he quickly takes his free will too far when sexually harassing Sarah, sucking on her breast while sleeping which she mistakes to be a dream. Janice at one point suspects him to follow her to the bathroom, but doesn't catch him. The first attempt in reverting him back to being visible backfires as it almost kills him. So, the team decides to quarantine him in the lab and have him wear a latex mask to keep track of him. With the isolation getting to him, he leaves the lab to visit his apartment. However, he takes the advantage of his invisibility too far by raping his female neighbor he's been watching across the street from his apartment. He then discovers Linda's relationship with Matt and scares them both by smashing her bedroom window before they could have sex and later returns to the lab killing a lab dog in a fit of rage. The group quickly suspects him to be the culprit due to finding he looped a video feed to cover his tracks. With no choice, Linda & Matt go to Howard to confess on going behind his back, accepting their consequences being fired. Little did they know Sebastian followed them and drowns his mentor before he can alert the army. He then waits for his whole to be in the lab together for him to disable their phones and elevator codes to kill them all as they try to stop him. He seems to succeed one by one until choosing to trap Linda & Matt in a freezer. As Linda is able to break free by using a defibrillator to construct an electromagnet that opens the door, he uses chemicals and centrifuge to make a makeshift bomb that'll destroy everything in the lab. Once Linda & Matt are free, she assembles her own flamethrower to defend herself and despite being an effective weapon, Sebastian survives the burns and tries avoiding her until she sets off the indoor sprinklers. She detects him with the water flowing onto him, but he is able to get he best of her until Matt intervenes with a crowbar. Sebastian tries again in killing him, but gets himself electrocuted when hitting a circuit box that makes him partially invisible. Linda & Matt then climb a ladder in the elevator shaft to evade the explosion, but the invisible man pursues them one last time when pulling Linda from her ankle. When he kisses her, she disconnects the cables and hangs onto the ladder whereas the man she once loved falls to his death. The film ends with Linda & Matt being taken away in an ambulance after emerging from the now destroyed lab.
THOUGHTS
Paul Verhoeven is no stranger to directing sci fi nor erotic thrillers, since that defined his career in the 90s. Little did anybody expect him to bring what felt like the best of both worlds going into the 21st century. After being blown away on the Oscar nominated visual effects to show a distinctive look on the human anatomy (as well as a gorilla's), we're witnessing a different spin on unchecked power and the consequences of it all unraveling in voyeuristic fashion, which makes this thriller all the more shocking as you sit through it. Actor Kevin Bacon showed Sebastian to be an ambitious man who wanted to make a difference and be respected for it the way Jack Griffin wanted in HG Wells' The Invisible Man. The problem though was that his experimentation on himself unleashed infinite narcissism he had deep down believing he can get away with anything and not deal with repercussions. You just know you can't redeem yourself when choosing to rape a stranger or anyone for that matter and that's before the murders gets committed. You want to say you can't blame him for growing irritated of the isolation, but that can't excuse the decisions that would follow and once the jealousy of Linda moving on factored him into being riled up with anger, it was only gonna keep getting worse before it can get any better. The thought of being invisible can be an interesting concept, but it should never lead to becoming irrational should it be possible. That makes it all the more ironic when his team had more common sense than him when it came to thinking about the experience. Frank, Janice & Carter are cool people because they chose to not overthink what they'd do if they had the same opportunity as Sebastian. Kim Dickens was also great as Sarah because she was the most vocal on being against Sebastian's methods since he never showed respect towards their lab pets before killing the dog. She and the former three are just as much as victims as Howard and the woman that got raped because they never asked for any of the insanity to unfold. Thankfully, we got a hero out of Linda who put the mayhem to an end. Elizabeth Shue is awesome as her for being the most assured. She chose to trust Sebastian in going behind Howard's back because she respects his intentions and wants to continue being part of a revolutionary breakthrough. She was still smart enough to know the guy needed to be put in check because even before turning invisible, she's seen how cocky he can get. Add this with being a workaholic, it made sense why she chose to break up with him. And she ended up figuring things out with Matt because as Josh Brolin portrays him, he matches her seriousness in terms of reality. That alone has them on the same page throughout, which is what helped them survive & overcome Sebastian's wrath. With that problem being dealt with, you can only hope they can be set for a better tomorrow. This movie delivers in all the suspense you'd expect, but then there were some moments that didn't make sense to me. For example, I don't think Matt should've went alone for the gorilla Isabelle. Just because it's in a cage does not mean it's contained, which was proven when it bites him and breaks free temporarily. And honestly, Linda should not have been surprised of the late reaction it took for Sebastian to turn invisible since it likely a similar timeframe for their lab pets. She also should've changed his passcode to keep him from leaving. If she didn't want to do that, I don't see why a tracker wasn't thought of either. Also, why didn't Frank & Sarah have some coffee to stay awake and watch over Sebastian in their shifts? Had they done that, he would've pulled off such shocking schemes. We know Sebastian makes a lot of mistakes, but it would be so illogical of him to follow Janice if he knew she had a thermal google on her to spot him. That is definitely asking to get caught. Other than that, this movie still works for what it is. In short, Hollow Man is a daring thriller that knew exactly how to get under your skin. If those are the kind of movies you're into, see this now.
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