Hollow Man 2000 Film Starring Kevin Bacon

A Scientist Becomes the First Peron to Become Invisible

Sep 23, 2009

Sebastian Caine becomes the first man in history to become invisible, but slowly starts to go insane as he becomes drunk with the power of it.

Scientists are working on a serum that can make a person invisible and a second serum that can make them visible again. The serums have worked on animals, but when one of the scientist’s takes the serum he slowly goes mad as he delves into the power of being invisible.

Dr Sebastian Caine (Kevin Bacon) is a brilliant but megalomaniacal molecular biologist who is the leading a team that is working on invisibility for the US Military. He and his team are working on making a gorilla (that they have already made invisible) visible again. It turns out that making something invisible is easy; it is bringing them back that is hard. Sebastian works on the serum with his team including two scientists, one being his ex-girlfriend Linda McKay (Elisabeth Shue), and the other Matt Kensington (Josh Brolin). Due to their work involving animals his team has a pair of vets, Sarah Kennedy (Kim Dickens) and Carter Abbey (Greg Grunberg) along with two technicians named Frank Chase (Joey Slotnick) and Janice Walton (Mary Randle).

Unbeknown to the military, the team successfully manage to make the gorilla Isabelle invisible and visible again. Sebastian chooses not to tell his bosses that they have succeeded so that he can become the first person to be turned invisible.

Linda and Matt know that they don’t have authorisation to continue into human trials, but they are won over by Sebastian’s arguments. The rest of the team are unaware that they do not have clearance to continue the experiment on a person.

Sebastian is given the serum and becomes invisible, over the next few days he has some fun with his invisibility, and the rest of the team prepare to change him back. However, the second serum doesn’t work and Sebastian returns to being invisible. As the realisation that he may be trapped like this for the rest of his life starts to sink in, Sebastian grows increasingly unstable, eventually descending into madness.

Dazzling Special Effects

In this movie, the acting really takes a back seat to the phenomenal special effects. Kevin Bacon’s character is seen to disappear a layer at a time, his heart is seen beating in his chest and his internal organs seem to be functioning. He is made visible several times when he is glimpsed through smoke or when he is water, each time he is only there for a fleeting moment.

Paul Verhoeven has directed some classics in his time including Basic Instinct and Starship Troopers, so he knows exactly what he wants from his cast. The story is inspired by the H.G Wells' Invisible Man and is one of the ideas (like Jekyll & Hyde and Dracula) that is timeless and is continually being updated and retold for a new generation.

The special effects are magnificent and the audience can really believe that they are watching an invisible man. Caine is sitting in a chair with something on his head or clothes on, and the only thing the audience can see are the clothes - not the man inside them.

Sebastian Caine is a megalomaniac who makes jokes about being god. Even so, he is essentially a decent guy who has his issues but is seen to be basically harmless. After realising that people trust what they see, and if he cannot be seen then he can effectively do whatever he wants, he slowly becomes drunk with the power of being invisible. He also realizes that the only way he can ever be free is to eliminate everyone who knows what he is.

Bacon’s performance is exceptional and he allows the audience to see the real possibilities of being invisible. The supporting cast go the distance from being excited about being unseen to being terrorised by the invisible man.

The tension between Linda and Sebastian is one of the focal points for his anger as he realises that she is involved with Matt. He seems to have something of an obsession with her, and it is implied that she left him because he was so involved with his work. He does seem to have some bitterness about the fact that she has moved on and started a new relationship whilst he is still trapped by his work.

Some of the characters are unlikable and the audience may wind up cheering for the invisible man.

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