Christian Slater is a genius.

If Hollow Man 2 had a subtitle, it would have been "Christian Slater makes an ass-load of money for 5 minutes worth of work".

Not since No Retreat. No Surrender. have I seen such blatant exploitation of an actor's marketability (i know that is a stretch for both Slater and Van Damme) for a minimal amount of screen time. Slater appears in Hollow Man 2 for little more than 5 minutes of this film, in two separate scenes. After that the rest of the movie is his voiceover. Even on the making of Hollow Man 2 (yes I sat threw the special features... Bad Movie Knight Note: The 'Making Of's" or "Bonus Materials" on some of these gems are even funnier than the shitty movie themselves. Is there anything better than listening to a group of untalented assholes talk about how they made a horribly unwatchable piece of crap film? Certainly not!) there is a guy wrapped up in typical Invisible Man garb (face wrapped, sunglasses, gloves) with Slater's voiceover. I don't think he even spent the time to sit through the special edition, so he voiced it in! How great is that. Again. Slater = genius.

Hollow Man 2, attemptes to take off from where the original left off, which is to say, the main character is invisible, and typical of all transparent man, he's an asshole. No origins or genesis set-ups in the sequel however as we jump right into the action and see (or dont see rather) Christian Slater's character, Michael Griffin attacking an intoxicated man at a black tie affair. The attack is the bench mark for special effects in this film as we see a guy essentially throw himself around a room ala Bruce Campbell in the Evil Dead (which was top notch for the record). Griffin carries the man into a bathroom and attempts to glean information from him through force. The intelligence he is attempting to gather is how to obtain a medication that keeps our invisible friend from dying. Griffin learns that he can obtain the formula from Dr. Maggie Dalton, and quickly dispatches the drunk by slashing his throat with a cell phone chip... huh?

The police act rapidly to stop Griffin, by sending a capable pair of officers to the residence of Dr. Dalton to protect her from Griffin. Detective Frank Turner (played by Peter Facinelli... I've seen this dude around before, he kinda looks like a cross between Tom Cruise and that dork turned bad-ass driver in Christine) and his partner (her name is irrelevant, as I have no idea who she is, and more importantly dies 3 minutes into this gem) are on a stakeout / mission to serve and protect. Griffin shows up, and is unsuccessful in his bid to capture the doctor, but doesn't leave her home without killing the female detective. Her death turns into the standard plot point that drives all of these shitty bad movies.

"He killed my partner. It's personal now!"

Insert the plot from Terminator here. The remainder of Hollow Man 2 is Griffin hunting down Turner and Dr. Dalton. I shit you not. After several failed attempts, Griffin finally captures the doctor and forces her to recreate the medication he needs to survive. Unbeknownst to him Detective Turner got a hold of the invisibility formula and decides to use it on himself to battle Griffin. THis for the record is the dumbest part of the movie. How does turning invisible help you fight a guy who is invisible? You still can't see him jackass. That's like firefighters showing up to a four alarm call with flame throwers.

In any case, Turner and Griffin do battle in an action packed finale. Griffin is tricked by the good Doctor however, and rather than receiving his medication was dosed with rat poison (available in most medical laboratories by the way).... and in case you didn't know.... rat poison makes you visible. Yes! We finally get to see Slater! He actually is in this film (he did appear briefly in the beginning of the film, when they showed him receiving the iinital injection to become invisible. Turner's invisiblity final proves worth something, and after exchanging blows, he cuts off his head with a shovel.... the only way to kill an invisible man.

Hollow Man 2 is a bad movie, but not as bad as I would have hoped. It's somewhat entertaining, and as much as his career has fallen apart, Slater can still act. Everyone else in this movie... not so much. The 'Making of Hollow Man 2' in the special features section is outstanding however, and is a must see. Get it see?! See! Invisible? I'm here all week!

Hamlin Grade: 4


Timothy Dalton is the one true James Bond,
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