HOLLOW MAN II

A scientist who had worked on a government project is mysteriously killed by an invisible being; from that moment, Maggie Dalton, the second scientist involved in the project, is provided with an escort by the federal agents, composed of detectives Frank Turner and Lisa Martinez. One night, while on guard outside Dr. Dalton's house, Detective Martinez is killed by the invisible man. Turner and Dr. Dalton flee, pursued by the mysterious invisible man who absolutely wants to recover a sample serum of which only the doctor knows the formula, but at the same time they are hunted by the army that, on the other hand, does not want the invisible man to recover the formula. It arrives directly on the shelves of video stores "The Shadow Man 2", sequel of the successful film directed by Paul Verhoeven in 2000: a rather weak and quite useless sequel, although, all in all, not bad. With the original, there is a rather significant difference because, apart from the evident poverty of realization if compared to the first film, in this sequel there is a considerable shift towards the fanta-political thriller rather than remaining on the happily fanta-horror standards of Verhoeven's film. Therefore, setting aside the "R" given by the MPAA, the American censorship commission, in "The Shadow Man 2" there will be very little presence of blood and the total absence of the suspense that the first film prided itself on, especially in the scenes where the invisible man acted undisturbed. Naturally, being a product for home video, the cast is also notably downgraded to TV pickup stars, like the not very expressive Peter Facinelli ("Supernova") in the role of Detective Turner and Sarah Deakins ("Alone in the dark") in the role of Detective Martinez. In the role of Dr. Dalton appears Laura Regan ("My little eye"; "They"), while the invisible man is this time "interpreted" by one of the most decadent Hollywood actors of recent years: Christian Slater ("In the Mind of a Serial Killer"; "Alone in the dark"), who fortunately allows us the luxury of admiring his inexpressive face for only a few moments. All these names, compared to the all-star cast of the first film, reveal all its home video nature. As mentioned previously, a noticeable poverty of means is given by the low use of special effects that limit themselves to making objects held by the invisible man levitate and a suggestive (although too brief) fight in the rain; a wise choice, because it is better not to show if you do not have the means, rather than daring too much and falling into ridicule, as many current low-budget genre films with delusions of grandeur often do. Having clarified this and given a scolding to the horror expert screenwriter Joel Soisson ("Death at 33 RPM"; "Dracula's legacy"; "Hellraiser: Hellword") who often puts too much meat on the fire, generating confusion at times, the film nevertheless presents itself as an acceptable B-movie, very engaging and rather honest in its intentions and final rendering, directed by an unknown Claudio Fah, who simply completes a commissioned work without adding any personal touch. With "The Shadow Man 2", we are, therefore, very far from Verhoeven's good film, but we still have to deal with an honest commissioned product, superior to many other home video titles, but certainly smooth and entertaining. Passable.