Hollow Man 2ups the ante established by Paul Verhoeven's 2000 science fiction thriller by involving not one but two invisible men in this direct-to-home-video sequel. Christian Slater is top billed as a former Army assassin who volunteers to undergo the same invisibility experiments endured by Kevin Bacon in the original film. Like before, Slater is rendered transparent but also dangerously unstable, and detectives Peter Facinelli and Laura Regan are called in to stop his killing spree. Scripter Joel Soisson has had a hand in most of the recent horror/thriller franchise sequels (Hellraiser,Dracula,Mimic, and others), so he understands what's required to draw in genre fans (violence, special effects, nudity); what he's less capable at producing is an un-cliched script, which essentially strands Swiss director Claudio Fah and the cast (who are much better than the material). Undiscerning horror enthusiasts might check this out hoping for a quick thrill--and they'll find it here, but not much else.-- Paul Gaita
Not Too Bad The first Hollow Man was sort of an invisible man meets alien film with the title character going nuts in an underground installation. This one is more like the original Claude Raines movies. Two cops get drawn into a murder case and are immediately superceded by the military. But when one of them dies protecting someone related to the case, the lead detective, who tries so hard to be Tom Cruise, goes on a vengeance campaign to find out why his partner had to die.
There is an invisible man (unimaginatively named Griffin) who seems to be killing people. He needs a buffer that was designed by the woman being protected by the cop. A cat and mouse game follows with complications added by the military. Finally, desperate measures are called for and the film reaches its climax.
Christian Slater is the invisible man in this one but his part is quite small and his biggest scene is a flashback. The movie starts very quickly as a character is attacked at a formal function. Things continue to move quickly all the way to the end with only a few pauses to catch a breath. The only real problem I had was that there is no real reason to care about the characters. We know so little about them it is almost as if they are lab rats, just people to have things happen to. Still it is a pretty fun movie
Cubaah Hollow Man 2 is an excellent movie. If you saw Hollow Man indeed you need to see how Christian Slater did a great job. The special effects are great!!!Not as intense as the original ... Directed by Claudio Faeh and executive produced by Paul Verhoeven, "Hollow Man 2" picks up several years after the events of "Hollow Man" in which a team of molecular biologists cracked the code for human invisibility. "Hollow Man 2" deals with the Pentagon secretly reopening the "Hollow Man" test experiments in order to use the serum to create invisible human soldiers as the ultimate weapon.
But just like in the original movie, there is a flaw in the serum which causes insanity. "Hollow Man 2" offers a reasonable explanation for why the serum drives its subjects insane. It seems that while producing tissue invisibility, a nasty side effect allows the radiation from the sun to penetrate the cells in the body thus killing them and the subject slowly.
Through a flashback we learn that Doctor Maggie Dalton, (Laura Regan) has managed to create a "buffer agent" which allows the invisible subject to stave off the effects of radiation poisoning. Unfortunatley, the military is trying to keep their invisible chief assassin now turned rogue agent, Michael Griffin, (Christian Slater) from being given the buffer.
Together, Maggie and homicide detective Frank Turner, (Peter Facinelli) are on the run from the military and attempting to find out the reason why they want their own agent dead, as well as trying to stay one step ahead of the murderous Griffin who is also after them.
For a straight to video release, I was surprised to find myself pretty much engaged in "Hollow Man 2." Make no mistake about it, this is a science fiction "B" thriller all the way. For being the most recognized name in the cast, I was surprised Christian Slater wasnt given a larger role, which despite not being able to always have him on screen as invisible due to the lower budget, could have been accomplished through the flashback sequence giving him more screen time before he took the serum.
Though the special effects are sparse for a lower budgeted film, the director for the most part managed to create an involving and well acted drama. When the situation called for the use of special effects they were well done though minimal. Unfortunately, when one makes a movie about invisibility, there needs to be more than just a handful of scenes involving invisibility. Fortunatley as I previously stated, the story kept me involved and when the action did occur, it was fast, violent and somewhat gory. If I had anything negative to say about "Hollow Man 2" it would be not enough special effects action.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment releases "Hollow Man 2" in its orginal aspect ratio of 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. Colors were strong while contrast was somewhat dark even in the daylight scenes. While blacks were deep, the overall contrast somewhat hindered shadow delineation. No edge ehancement was noticed, while some lite grain was evident during the night time scenes. The print was free from dust and dirt particles. Overall, the transfer was an acceptable presentation still managing to surpass broadcast quality images. Audio is delivered via 5.1 Dolby surround and in some scenes the rear channels were nicely aggressive. All channels delivered a clean and crisp sound field with dialogue being clear and free from distortion.
Since "Hollow Man 2" is a direct to video presentation, the special features section was quite minimal though interesting. First up is the featurette, Inside Hollow Man 2. The director brought to light the difficulties shooting a science fiction thriller with minimal visual effects, and how the challenge was to use practical "in camera" effects as often as possible as opposed to CGI. Also included is a visual effects featurette which shows side by side comparisons of green screen usage and the finished product. Rounding out the disc is a storyboard to scene featurette along with a storyboard gallery.
Though not as intense, exciting and effects laden as the original "Hollow Man," this follow up was a decent attempt to further the story on a lower budget as well as leaving the ending to "Hollow Man 2" definately open for a possible sequel. If you liked the original Hollow Man or you're just a fan of movies dealing with invisibilty, "Hollow Man 2" may be worth checking out as a rental.
