HOLLOW MAN

Kevin Bacon 

HOLLOW MAN (2000). Director: Paul Verhoeven. 

Brilliant scientist Sebastian Caine (Kevin Bacon) leads a team working on developing invisibility for military purposes. Caine takes the plunge and decides to inject himself with the formula, but a man who was already a bit of a conscienceless egomaniac turns into a dangerous and violent megalomaniac when attempts to make him visible again fail. In a nod to H. G. Wells' classic novel The Invisible Man, Caine goes on a reign of terror, trapping the other scientists in their underground bunker and taking after them one by one. Will anyone be left alive when the dust clears?

Elisabeth Shue

Hollow Man received some criticism because it follows a tried and true path instead of treading new territory in its treatment of invisibility. But on its own terms the movie works beautifully as a modern retelling of Wells' tale and as a thriller with many exciting scenes --especially a breathless climax in an elevator shaft -- along with superb special effects showing animals and humans disappearing as muscles, organs and bones, the covering flesh vanishing, are gradually revealed. The movie has a fast pace and nary a dull moment. 

Dickens, Brolin, Shue, Grunberg, Slotnick

Bacon gives an excellent and energetic performance, and is matched by a feisty Elisabeth Shue as a co-worker who used to be his lover. Josh Brolin, Kim Dickens, Greg Grunberg, Joey Slotnick and Mary Randle are also good as the other members of the team, and William Devane scores in a small role as another scientist overseeing the project from afar. Some of the characters are a bit cold-blooded and there are questionable scenes regarding some of Sebastian's sleazy actions. However, this is a very entertaining  and well-made picture with stunning and Oscar-nominated FX work, Nice score by Jerry Goldsmith, too. The 2020 film The Invisible Man was another notable Wells-influenced thriller. 

Verdict: Visibly exciting thriller. ***. 

FAIR NEW MOVIE -- AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR

 Robert Downey Jr and Benedict Cumberbatch  

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (2018). Directors: Anthony and Joe Russo.

A dangerous cosmic entity known as Thanos (Josh Brolin, in a computer-generated performance) wants possession of several powerful rings so that he can remake the universe the way he wants to, and eliminate half of the population -- and although he is opposed by a great many heroes, including the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy, he essentially succeeds (until the sequel, of course). Aside from a few dull stretches, Avengers: Infinity War is not boring and mercifully moves at a fast pace, although I can't imagine how people who are not "Marvel fans" and have not seen all of the Marvel movies might get into this. As others have noted, not a single character is ever actually introduced to the viewer. (Fortunately, being a long-time comics fan, I knew who most of these people were, or were supposed to be.) The movie is a noisy amalgamation of cute quips uttered by characters (ostensibly so they can keep up their courage), serious moments that are touching for twelve-year-olds, and lots of explosions and flying bodies. The film has been widely overpraised by people who, I suspect, read nothing but comic books and only see comic book movies, having no other frame of reference. As noted, I am a big super-hero fan, and know that comics are not always juvenile and mindless, but I don't confuse them with Shakespeare or Citizen Kane, either. That being said, AIW has some great art direction and striking cinematography, and action scenes that often seem more cluttered and busy than especially effective. The "human" drama in this -- if you can call it that -- has to do with the love story of the Vision and the Scarlet Witch, as well as the love-hate relationship between Thanos and his "daughter," Gamora (Zoe Saldana, giving a very good performance). One could add that Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) has trouble turning into the CGI Hulk, although there seems little point to this (aside from Ruffalo perhaps wanting his actual face to be seen more in the movie). There are interesting things in the picture, but this notion that it is the "culmination" of every other Marvel super-hero movie is ridiculous. Personally, I have never found Thanos to be a very interesting villain, even in this, and have always thought he was just a pale imitation of Jack Kirby's Darkseid, who should be showing up in a DC Universe movie any year now. With the exception of X-Men: Apocalypse and Logan, I think Marvel's X-Men films are much better than the Avengers series.

Verdict: A lot of sound and fury signifying very little, but some fun for the inner geek. **1/4. 

OLDBOY

Elizabeth Olsen and Josh Brolin

OLDBOY (2013). Director: Spike Lee.

Joe Doucett (Josh Brolin) is a self-destructive, hard-drinking douche bag of a man who has little to do with his ex-wife and baby daughter. One night he wakes up in what seems to be a hotel room -- and spends the next twenty years there as the world goes by, "missing" such events as 9/11 and the New Orleans hurricane. He learns through the TV that his ex-wife has been raped and murdered. When Joe gets out, he makes up his mind to find out who imprisoned him and why. Oldboy is a remake of a 2003 Korean film, and while it certainly has a fascinating premise, its execution is problematic; one wishes Lee hadn't tried so hard to emulate Quentin Tarantino. At one point, Joe takes on a half dozen nasty hoods all by himself a la Captain America; such scenes as this push the film right up to the edges of camp. Once you accept that the movie has become increasingly far-fetched and even ridiculous, you can get caught up in the suspense of wondering what exactly is going on, although some viewers may not care. The movie has a twisted ending which may have fooled some people into thinking this is better than it really is, but you may be asking yourself if it really adds up to anything. Brolin [American Gangster] gives an excellent performance, and there is nice work from Samuel L Jackson [Twisted], Elizabeth Olsen, Sharlto Copley, Michael Imperiolo, and James Ransone [Sinister 2]  as a doctor, among others. The lead character is definitely an asshole but he probably doesn't deserve all that happens to him. There is no attempt to actually make Brolin or other characters look twenty years older; in the early scenes a 45-year-old Brolin is playing 25.

Verdict: Arresting at times, but there's less here than meets the eye. **1/2.

AMERICAN GANGSTER

AMERICAN GANGSTER (2007). Director: Ridley Scott.

Detective Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe), an honest cop, is assigned to head a new narcotics squad that will leave the street punks and small-timers to others and concentrate only on major deals and big arrests. Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) is a drug dealer who's started a pipeline from Vietnam, where thousands of soldiers are getting hooked on junk. Naturally these two come into conflict, although a confrontation never really materializes (the scene when they face each other across a table in jail is kind of flat). The action scenes are standard, and the characterizations, especially Lucas', are thin, even if this was inspired by true events.

Washington seems miscast; Crowe is better, and looks like crap. Some familiar faces bolster the proceedings with flavorful performances: Armand Assante as an Italian gangster; Cuba Gooding Jr. as a drug dealer; Ted Levine as an associate of Crowe's; Josh Brolin as a dirty cop; Ruby Dee as Lucas' mama -- even Clarence Williams III of the Mod Squad (he's actually been pretty busy, if low profile, ever since) shows up briefly as Lucas' mentor.

Verdict: Not enough meat for its length. **.