Hey folks, Harry here with a look at Guy Incognito's take on how THE HOLLOW MAN script is. Before we get too into it, let me warn you that his take is EXTREMELY HEAVY ON THE SPOILERS, and you may very well want to avoid it. He likes the script but does have some issues with how it plays out at the end... I do know, however, that the script has been touched up quite a bit since the draft that is currently circulating the fan-underground. Also... while some may feel that the 'lab' environment may be... limiting and a bit boring... They have not seen the lab yet. When Moriarty and I were recently on the SONY lot while running around trying to find out about Chris Lee's SUPERMEGA MEDIA company... We stumbled about the stage with the HOLLOW MAN set, and it was anything but boring looking. It's not 'STAR TREK' clean... nor is it 'Translvania Shiek' either... Instead it looks like an old 1950's military facility that was recently updated with some modern equipment. And it looked used. This isn't the sets for... say... DEEP BLUE SEA or WATERWORLD. And to address one more of Guy's 'issues' that he brings up in his critique... Wanting to see the Invisible Man attempt to rule the world, but never getting the idea he could do it.... WELL... you see... that's a typical and common flaw with meglomania. You scream at the top of your lungs that you will rule the world. You kill everyone that says you can't do it... you trust noone... and... as a result... YOU DON'T RULE THE WORLD. To rule the world... it's all about connections... knowing people, darling. And soon... we will rule the world... Muhahahahaha.... Now we interupt this ego trip of mine, for some news.... WARNING SPOILERS LAY AHEAD....
Harry, Guy Incognito here with a script review of Paul Verhoeven's soon-to-be-released 'The Hollow Man'. Haven't heard much about this film since filming was halted a while back when Elizabeth Shue was injured on set. I've been excited about this film ever since I heard Verhoeven was attatched. You see, I've been big fan of the crazy Dutchman since I saw RoboCop over a decade ago. I tell ya, I STILL can't get the images of Murphy's brutal execution scene out of my head. Though his subsequent films certainly weren't masterpieces, I dig the guy's work for what it is: unapologetic, shameless, in-yer-face, junk-food entertainment. It's often impossible to tell whether he's taking himself seriously or. He claims to have pictured 'Showgirls' as a dramatic expose on the life of Las Vegas dancers, yet the satire in RoboCop was so...perfect. This guy's either an utter genius, or a clueless moron and that's what I absolutely LOVE about him. That and his love for over-the-top sex and violence. In a society that's becoming neutered by 'Political Correctness', it's comforting to know that Paul Verhoeven's out there fighting for his right to film whatever the fuck he wants. He's our Messiah, liberating us from a world of good taste.
Now that I've had my rant, on to 'The Hollow Man' written by Andrew W. Marlowe. Through my brilliant use of disguse and voice trickery, I managed to take a looksee at the script. The premise is yet another take on an old concept. Kevin Bacon's stars as Dr. Sebastian Caine, a young research scientist hired by the military to devlop a way to "phase-shift a human out of quantum-sync with the visible universe". In other words, to make a person invisible to the human eye and return them to normal with no harm done. It seems that making test animals invisible is the easy part, it's returning them to visible universe without liquefying them that's tough. After returning a test animal safetly, Caine decides that it's time to test the serum on a human subject: himself. Caine and his co-workers Linda (Elizabeth Shue) and Matt (Josh Brolin) decide their findings secret for the time being, until they more fully understand the process. In a VERY cool, shocking sequence, Caine is sucessfully rendered invisible and is subjected to a slew of tests. Because the serum was never tested on humans, returning him to normal proves difficult and he must be confined to the underground lab while his co-workers look on a solution. At first, his invisibility pranks seem harmless enough (the old floating pop can trick, for instance) but as time goes on, Sebastian starts to develop a sinister, more twisted side. This behaviour is most evident when Sebastian escapes the lab one night and rapes his neighbour just to see if he can get away with it. He does, for a while, until his co-workers begin to suspect that he's been secretly leaving the compound to commit these heinous acts. The power to do absolutely anything corrupts Sebastian's mind and he gradually turns to murder to protect his secret.
Though derivitive and often unoriginal, the script has some excellent scenes, especially the one where Sebastian turns invisible and a subsequent scene where Linda and Matt try and return him to normal. The invisibility process here is an excrutiatingly painful and violent one with the person dissolving away layer by layer from the outside in, screaming all the while. It's as if acid is being poured on someone's body. First their skin dissolves, then their circulatory system, muscles, organs, etc. The final shot has Sebastian's screaming skeleton trying to break free from it's restraints before it too is dissolved away. I can't wait to see how these scenes play out with FX from Sony Imageworks. They could be incredibly disturbing and memorable or they could be shite depending on how they're handled. They really set the tone for the rest of the movie so I hope they're as shocking as they are in the script. The script got my interest right from the beginning but it really loses steam in the second half, mainly because it's not very fresh or original. Most of the movie takes place in the underground lab but I really would have liked to get a taste what Sebastian would be capable of on a grand scheme if he got loose. The characters seem to think Sebastian would be the most powerful person on earth if he escaped but you just honestly don't get a sense of this from the script. Is he just going to walk around killing and raping people for the rest of his life? Anyways, instead of letting him wreak havoc on an unsuspecting population, the big climax takes place in the lab where Sebastian goes around offing the rest of the scientists one by one. With all the coolness the first few scenes inspired, it's sad to see it degrade into an 'Aliens' ripoff where the scientists run around the lab with infrared goggles trying to find Sebastian. The characters, too, are pretty derivitive and I can't say I really care for any of them. The only interesting one is Sebastian, but he's the bad and we can't really root for him, can we, especially after what he's done. There are a lot of wasted possibilities here and I feel the story needs a major overhaul to get it to the "cool" point. The 'Invisible Man' idea has been rehashed enough so you'd think they'd go after a more inventive take on the tale. I mean, the beginnings of something great is there, they just need to be punched up and reworked into something more original. With Verhoeven at the helm, top-notch FX from Sony, a great score from Jerry Goldsmith, a decent cast, all this flick needs is a killer script and it would be SO awesome. As it stands, it feels like a good starting point for something much better.
Hopefully, this'll be one of those times that Verhoeven makes it work. It's more of a straight horror film than anything he's done to date so I hope it doesn't look as bright and cheery as Starship Troopers. His longtime cinematographer Jost Vacano has a way of making everything he shoots look like a shitty set. The guy must keep adding fill-lights until every hint of shadow has been completely obliterated. I just hope he doesn't make this film look like a friggin' cartoon, it totally wouldn't fit the tone of the film. Paul, I know you're buddies with this guy, but you should get a new DP, man. Darius Khondji (Se7en) or Bill Pope (Matrix) would be right up yer alley. Though I have a lot of respect for everyone involved, except for the DP, it's really hard to say how 'The Hollow Man' is gonna turn out. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on this one, Verhoeven needs a hit.
Guy Incognito
