Hollow Man 2 [DVD] [2006]

I thought I would give this a go, after spotting an advert for it in a well-known UK film magazine. I knew Hollow Man 2 was in production, and as a fan of the first movie I was a little non-plussed to find the sequel getting a Direct-to-DVD release.

So I wasn't really expecting much...

I was pleasantly surprised therefore to find an engaging little movie - very much in the spirit of the first (no brain, no logic, full speed ahead with cardboard characters and a plot straight from the back of a 40-year-old comic). It has many faults - Christian Slater just ain't up to the job any more (but seems to be enjoying himself), a long and overly-talky middle act, some extremely ropey visual effects (though it has to be said that there are many good ones despite the obviously low budget), a blatant re-use of a scene from the original Hollow Man not-very-well-disguised, and a conclusion that felt very rushed - dare I suggest the budget ran out?

On the plus side however the 2-dimensional characters are engaging, there are one or two great jump-out-of-seat moments, tips of the hat to not only the original movie but also HG Wells' novel "The Invisible Man", effective use of music (which is all new - not a rehash of Goldsmiths original) and an overall sense of fun (That's Executive Producer Paul Verhoeven shining through, I think) - despite the nasty moments!

To the people that are slating this saying "It's not as good as the first, really disappointed" etc etc, I simply have to wonder exactly what they were expecting! Shakespeare this ain't...

But to the people who are open-minded enough to give this an honest go, you will get out exactly what you put into it. It's not Shakespeare, but it certainly is Hollow Man.

If this is the future for the Hollow Man franchise (there is the obligatory - but well executed - set-up for a Hollow Man 3), it could be an awful, awful lot worse.

Bring 'em on!!

Christian Slater takes over from Kevin Bacon in the lead role in the sequel to Hollowman, not that you'd notice that it was him particularly, as he remains invisible for most of it (although you have to give a Hollywood actor credit for doing that).

I enjoyed Hollowman, but still felt it lacked a bit of edge. This sequel was blander and somewhat repetitive. There's only so much you can get out of repeatedly watching scenes where surprised people are tripped up, beaten, or groped by someone they can't see. Some nice make-up made up for some dullish acting and a script that's a bit rambling and unsure of itself.

The original Hollow Man starring Kevin Bacon was reasonably enjoyable without being a great film. The sequel (as is often the case) is an inferior version of the original. One of the main problems for me was that the Hollow Man (Christian Slater) is only visible for about 5 minutes of the entire film. It's almost an hour in before you actually see how he became invisible and by that time I was already a bit bored, partly due to the lack of any recognisable actors. HM2 has obviously been rushed together with a very limited budget. In that respect the director has done reasonably well in making it all look pretty good, and it does entertain in places, ultimately though this is best rented when there's not much else to choose in your local video store. If I had purchased it I would have been a bit miffed. It's okay, but it ain't great.