Hollow Man II (2006) Reviews

• It entertains, but it's missable

  mjw23052007-01-13

  Christian Slater takes the lead in this follow up to Hollow Man, this time the invisible man is a rogue soldier in the hunt for a serum, to prevent him from dying a slow and painful death. For a low budget movie that went straight to DVD it's actually pretty entertaining, the effects are used sparingly to keep the cost down, but they are effective enough when required. The cast is reasonable and there is enough action to make it enjoyable, even it is inferior to the original in every way. If you liked the original, then this shouldn't disappoint you too much, but part of me does still think - What was the point? 5/10

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• It's a let down

  vampyrecowboy2006-10-19

  6 years after the original came out, this appears. It misses the mark as a suspense, action, mystery, comedy. It's a let down...it doesn't suck to extremes, just bad enough to make you want to wish there was only the first made. Had this come out a year or so after the one with Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth Shue, it may have had more impact and been more intense and exciting. The special effects were poor. The casting was ALL wrong. The story was also poor. The chase scenes were dull. Who would think that this 20 year old looking kid would be a DETECTIVE? Why were store security guards carrying guns? What power do they have to use a gun? This movie was filmed in and around Vancouver...so it should be called Vancouver - NOT Seattle...there were just too many giveaways that it was NOT Seattle. There was little intensity and for the most part it was really dragging. The dialog was very bad - especially near the end. The direction poor...it was a mess, that if it had been made immediately after the previous, would make much more sense and be much more interesting. This is television viewing...to be made for a Saturday night movie special..not for a feature. This just doesn't cut the line to be feature material. It had less of a budget, which meant casting unknowns, working with unknown director and using shots which would make this film seem poorly done - which it was. A smaller budget meant cutting back the extras - which made the original far superior...and who could replace Kevin Bacon? He plays a bad guy great... If you're tired and drunk and this comes on television, it might be of interest, but it's mid-grade. Don't hope for great expectations.

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• Surprisingly Effective.....

  Greg11382006-10-05

  I thought I would give this a go, after spotting an advert for it in a well-known UK film magazine. I knew Hollow Man 2 was in production, and as a fan of the first movie I was a little non-plussed to find the sequel getting a Direct-to-DVD release. So I wasn't really expecting much... I was pleasantly surprised therefore to find an engaging little movie - very much in the spirit of the first (no brain, no logic, full speed ahead with cardboard characters and a plot straight from the back of a 40-year-old comic). It has many faults - Christian Slater just ain't up to the job any more (but seems to be enjoying himself), a long and overly-talky middle act, some extremely ropey visual effects (though it has to be said that there are many good ones despite the obviously low budget), a blatant re-use of a scene from the original Hollow Man not-very-well-disguised, and a conclusion that felt very rushed - dare I suggest the budget ran out? On the plus side however the 2-dimensional characters are engaging, there are one or two great jump-out-of-seat moments, tips of the hat to not only the original movie but also HG Wells' novel "The Invisible Man", effective use of music (which is all new - not a rehash of Goldsmiths original) and an overall sense of fun (That's Executive Producer Paul Verhoeven shining through, I think) - despite the nasty moments! To the people that are slating this saying "It's not as good as the first, really disappointed" etc etc, I simply have to wonder exactly what they were expecting! Shakespeare this ain't... But to the people who are open-minded enough to give this an honest go, you will get out exactly what you put into it. It's not Shakespeare, but it certainly is Hollow Man. If this is the future for the Hollow Man franchise (there is the obligatory - but well executed - set-up for a Hollow Man 3), it could be an awful, awful lot worse. Bring 'em on!!

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• Unworthy sequel

  zep-112006-09-23

  Hollow Man was a very interesting movie, and well shot. The story and plot of this sequel is so bad that it shouldn't have been made. I like Christian Slater, but I don't like this waste-of-time-movie. The story is so banal and the plot is so thin, that it seems like an insult. I can't get it through my brain why they would make this movie, without a good plot?! It must have cost millions of dollars, because it's well shot, and there's nice acting, but the end result is so lame. Shame on you producers, you could have made a great sequel! My message to the audience is: watch it if you like, no harm there, but don't expect the same experience as in Hollow Man 1

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• Unnecessary Sequel that disappoints.

  med_19782008-12-29

  Just watched this film last night, a waste of time really. The film was highly predictable, not too much action in the middle and poorly acted and directed. It felt like a rushed cash in on the original, yet came out six years later ! Peter Facinelli is not a movie star and should remain on TV, none of the other actors made an impression either and Christian Slater was there just for the paycheck. It had some reasonable moments but they were few and far between. I would have thought they would have put more effort into coming up with a better script and cast. Unless you are a really die hard fan of the original and feel it is your duty to sit though this, then I recommend you choose something else to watch as this will be a waste of your time.

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