6/21/2023 0 Comments Hollow man 2020While the abuse story at The Invisible Man's center is captivating, it isn't wholly original. It is her continued ability to sink into these difficult and harrowed roles that make her one of my absolute faves. She's no noob to tough roles, after seasons upon seasons of hardship on The Handmaid's Tale, nuclear-age sexism on Mad Men, and devious doppelgangers in Us. Moss is refreshingly raw, bearing dark circles, red capillaries, and unbrushed hair in an age of snatched waists and deep fakes. With a foe we can't see, the emotional weight of the abuse and torment weighs entirely on Moss, whose Cecilia is quite literally dragged kicking and screaming through her abuser's sinister plot. The Invisible Mancan't be captured by the audience's eye, but the creeping camera knows he's there. The camera wanders in quiet scenes, warning audiences a second ‘entity' has entered, lingers, or waits. Invisible Man or none, Whannell captures that presence perfectly, giving screen time and attention to the empty hallways, corners, and chairs that occupy Cecilia's mind. She becomes trapped in her freedom, Adrian lingering in the periphery of every action making breakfast, showering, putting clothes away. Whether a manifestation of the suffering she endured, or something altogether more sinister, Cecilia begins experiencing a harrowing presence in her life. The pain inflicted can haunt you forever. It isn't something that can be quickly erased and wiped clean. Free from the clutches of Adrian's abuse. She's able to financially support her friends, scores a job interview at an architecture firm, and is starting to get her life on track. Things are finally looking up for Cecilia. His final wishes? Leaving Cecilia with his vast sciencey-garnered fortune clutched in the fists of his weasely little lawyer brother, Tom (Michael Dorman). While Cecilia hides out with best daddy-daughter duo ever James (Aldis Hodge) and Sydney ( Storm Reid), Adrian jumps ship from the train called ‘Life' and commits suicide. Cecilia (Elisabeth Moss, Us) very narrowly escapes the concrete castle of her abusive boyfriend Adrian (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), a wealthy scientist who goes from having it all weird lab in the basement, sad girlfriend and dog trapped upstairs, house on the water - to being drugged and dumped, all in a single night. Written and directed by Leigh Whannell ( Upgrade, 2018), The Invisible Man is a film about escape. But when you can't be seen, the whole world becomes cloaked in darkness.Ī cold, chrome, and suspenseful Where's Waldo? for two hours and five minutes. Foes normally need to lurk in the shadows. Their movie? A cold, chrome, and suspenseful Where's Waldo? for two hours and five minutes. No grand finale setups, after credit sequences, or universe building. With the bed still warm and aching, Blumhouse was able to nip a monster property right out from under those scathing reviews - and they had an entirely new take. invisible.Īfter a lackluster audience and critical response to the Dark Universe's inaugural The Mummy (2017), the rebirth of the Universal Monsters was all but dead in the swamp water. He isn't made on a full moon, he need not drink the blood of his victims, and he doesn't live in the black lagoon. (Yes, that's kind of an ironic statement, but it's true.) One that hasn't been tainted by thousands of iterations and reboots (save for 2000's Hollow Man), interpretations and rule establishments. It's very confronting to think about what this archetype is so close to being, and I think maybe that's kind of the point of this whole thing.The Invisible Man is an iconic image. And this archetype is almost always beloved! "Sure he's a bit cheeky, but that's why he's such a great character". His role is seen almost identically across any number of movies for decades before Hollow Man was released, and one that we honestly still see today. The thing is, he starts this movie a pretty archetypal protagonist. To become the type of prick he always could have been, if only had the power to be so. Assuredly, by the end of the movie, it is very clear who our villain is, but given that he starts out such a dick anyway, the intriguing thing is not so much that he necessarily changes, but the idea that his character is maybe just "revealed". I don't feel like it's fair to even say that it's a villain's journey. Some pretty impressive effects for the era, and a pretty cool (if not original) core concept, but what's most intriguing about Hollow Man is the hero's journey, or more accurately, the absence of it.
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