Day 54: Hollow Man

Paul (Robocop, Starship Troopers) Verhoeven directed this 2000 take on the invisible man starring Kevin Bacon as a mad scientist who turns himself invisible. This is one of those movies CGI was created for. It still looks pretty neat (Bacon douses himself in a synthetic skin to appear visible but the eye sockets are still hollow). The procedure of turning invisible, of course, makes Bacon mad with power. Hijinks ensue.

I remember this movie being labeled as misogynistic because Bacon almost immediately stalks and rapes a woman once he realizes he can't be seen. This struck me as an odd complaint against the movie as it is sci-fi/horror and the dude is evil, what else is he going to do with invisibility? Play pranks? Perhaps it was the exploitative manner in which the scenes were filmed (which I think had more to do with answering: can we make it look like someone is pinching a nipple when we can't see the fingers? than eroticism). Anyway, don't watch this with your kids or parents.

I feel like this was one of the last great Elizabeth Shue movies when she used to be so good in so many. She is the protagonist here, trying to find a way to stop the evil schemes of Kevin Bacon. She is easy to root for when the villain is an amoral maniac.