The tag-line for Andrew Marlowe's Hollow Man was "what would you do when no-one can see you" which led me to expect a different film than the one on view.
I was wanting something a bit more substantial on voyeurism and messing with people's minds - areas that are only touched on in the film.
But forget about the film I wanted to see, what about the film that was made? Basically it's Predator meets Alien. It wastes the opportunity to create the definitive version of the centuries-old invisible-man tale to give us just another monster movie.
The problem is that by now we know the formula of the monster movie so the audience can predict the order of deaths and who gets left alive at the end. I would rather be given surprises than given predictable sensations.
The film raises an interesting point about characters. All the characters in the film are known archetypes we've seen before. On the one hand that means Marlowe can go straight to the action with little setting up needed. On the other hand, it means the action is boring because you don't care enough about the characters. It's a difficult balancing act, I admit, but Hollow Man fails.
It's an OK entertainment with great special effects but it's - and I can't resist saying it any longer - a bit hollow.
I was wanting something a bit more substantial on voyeurism and messing with people's minds - areas that are only touched on in the film.
But forget about the film I wanted to see, what about the film that was made? Basically it's Predator meets Alien. It wastes the opportunity to create the definitive version of the centuries-old invisible-man tale to give us just another monster movie.
The problem is that by now we know the formula of the monster movie so the audience can predict the order of deaths and who gets left alive at the end. I would rather be given surprises than given predictable sensations.
The film raises an interesting point about characters. All the characters in the film are known archetypes we've seen before. On the one hand that means Marlowe can go straight to the action with little setting up needed. On the other hand, it means the action is boring because you don't care enough about the characters. It's a difficult balancing act, I admit, but Hollow Man fails.
It's an OK entertainment with great special effects but it's - and I can't resist saying it any longer - a bit hollow.