HOLLOW MAN wasn't one of Paul Verhoeven's best movies, so when I saw that this sequel had no returning cast or crew from the original, I thought it could work both ways. On one hand, a totally fresh start might have meant a breathe of originality for this film; on the other, this could have been a cheap and trashy rip-off that just goes to prove the 'law of diminishing returns'. Sadly, HOLLOW MAN II is for the most part the latter film, a boring B-movie with only a few individual scenes and moments to recommend it.
This time around, Christian Slater stars as the invisible man, and it's a rather odd choice, I have to say. Slater's better known for comedic or psychotically funny turns and he just doesn't cut it as a homicidal maniac, seeming too cute and cuddly for the role. He still stands head and shoulders against the rest of the cast, who are universally diabolical (Facinelli looks like a student rather than a detective, and don't get me started on the awfully wooden Laura Regan, who previously appeared in MY LITTLE EYE). Things do begin well here, with a stand-out murder scene in which a scientist is beaten and killed by Slater, jumping straight into the story. The blood sprays all over in this graphically nasty moment and it reminded me of how GHOST SHIP started with a similarly great opening before going downhill.
After that, there's a long and needlessly protracted set-piece in which Slater attacks a house and a SWAT team, which really tries the patience. The tacked-in scene in which he goes after a young, horny couple is only included to show the obligatory breasts, and I had to laugh at the ridiculousness of it (why does he keep running back and forth in front of the camera like that?). From here on in, there's a scene in a hospital that recalls TERMINATOR 2, a scene in an abandoned warehouse, and then the final scene in which two invisible men duke it out in the rain. Yeah, that last bit was quite fun in a cheesy way, although I'm so tired of these unstoppable killers who get up after falling from a first-floor window onto concrete and who shrug off a blow to the temple with a fire extinguisher as if it were a mere gnat bite. The special effects are adequate for this production, apart from the absolutely awful effects in the scene in which Regan is carried through a shopping mall, having conveniently stripped to her underwear beforehand (not something I wanted to see, I have to say). Let's just hope they don't bother with a HOLLOW MAN III...
This time around, Christian Slater stars as the invisible man, and it's a rather odd choice, I have to say. Slater's better known for comedic or psychotically funny turns and he just doesn't cut it as a homicidal maniac, seeming too cute and cuddly for the role. He still stands head and shoulders against the rest of the cast, who are universally diabolical (Facinelli looks like a student rather than a detective, and don't get me started on the awfully wooden Laura Regan, who previously appeared in MY LITTLE EYE). Things do begin well here, with a stand-out murder scene in which a scientist is beaten and killed by Slater, jumping straight into the story. The blood sprays all over in this graphically nasty moment and it reminded me of how GHOST SHIP started with a similarly great opening before going downhill.
After that, there's a long and needlessly protracted set-piece in which Slater attacks a house and a SWAT team, which really tries the patience. The tacked-in scene in which he goes after a young, horny couple is only included to show the obligatory breasts, and I had to laugh at the ridiculousness of it (why does he keep running back and forth in front of the camera like that?). From here on in, there's a scene in a hospital that recalls TERMINATOR 2, a scene in an abandoned warehouse, and then the final scene in which two invisible men duke it out in the rain. Yeah, that last bit was quite fun in a cheesy way, although I'm so tired of these unstoppable killers who get up after falling from a first-floor window onto concrete and who shrug off a blow to the temple with a fire extinguisher as if it were a mere gnat bite. The special effects are adequate for this production, apart from the absolutely awful effects in the scene in which Regan is carried through a shopping mall, having conveniently stripped to her underwear beforehand (not something I wanted to see, I have to say). Let's just hope they don't bother with a HOLLOW MAN III...