HOLLOW MAN 

Hollow Man is a weak film. It is, however, entertaining and well-done from a technical standpoint. It's worth watching, but it's probably not a movie you'd watch twice or spend time discussing.

Kevin Bacon plays a brilliant scientist working for the US military to develop a method of inducing an animal to become invisible, as well as a method of bringing said animal back into a visible state, alive. He's got some personality problems, and as a result, some social problems. Basically, he's far too arrogant and unlikable, and sexually starved. These characteristics, especially the latter, are the root of the second half of the story. Kevin Bacon is a good actor, and his performance is convincing. 

To aid him in his task, he works with two other scientists, played by Elizabeth Shue and Josh Brolin. Neither seems much like a scientist, and Shue's character seems totally wrong. It's all fairly unconvincing! Think, "Beverly Hills Lab 90210" or "Seinfeld: The Particle Physics Years". The viewer is never given a reason to care about either character, but they are in fact the heroes of the movie. In addition to these two, there are several characters of little consequence peripherally involved in the project - fodder for the bloodbath to come.

The biggest problem with Hollow Man is that the story is not very interesting or involving. A lot could have been done with the psychotic invisible man plot element, but it was not utilized to anywhere near its full potential. The invisible man uses his invisibility to act out one or two of his sexual fantasies, uses it to kill a few people, and so on and so forth along those lines. He becomes an empty, shallow character, a monster.

The upside to this is that there's quite a lot of delightful female upper-body nudity, and that there are some spectacular action scenes. No part of the movie is actually frightening, but the special effects are extremely well done, and director Paul (Robocop, Starship Troopers, Total Recall) Verhoeven's tendency toward exaggerated violence is clearly influencing the proceedings. Hollow Man contains some of the most impressive special effects shots I have ever seen in a movie, and these, alone, very nearly justify the price of admission. The visibility/invisibility transitions, for example, are gorgeous, fascinating affairs. Also noteworthy is that Hollow Man contains the most fantastic flamethrower scene since Aliens. It's awesome, trust me. Pure Verhoeven ultraviolence.

• Read our review of Hollow Man on VCD