Universal had been trying to jump-start its classic monster movies into a new ‘cinematic universe’ (hey, it worked for the Marvel Superhero movies, right?) for a while now, starting with a new version of Dracula that was pretty forgettable, and ending with a new version of the Mummy that was so bad--as well as being a big bomb at the box office--that it abruptly ended Universal’s attempt to create its ’Dark Universe.’ I thought this was a shame, because the Classic Universal Monsters--Frankenstein, the Wolfman, the Mummy (in a better film), and the Invisible Man--really deserve to have a comeback.
So I was very happy when Universal released a new version of The Invisible Man, written and directed by Leigh Whannell, a highly creative actor/writer/director who has given us the Saw films, as well as the Insidious series (he made his directing debut on the third Insidious film). The Invisible Man was also produced by Jason Blum, whose Blumhouse studio was responsible for a lot of horror films that aimed high and managed to hit their marks: Get Out, Us, the enjoyable 2018 Halloween sequel--as well as Betaal, the funky, but fun ‘zombies in India’ TV horror series on Netflix.
The last big reboot of the Invisible Man was Paul Verhoven’s The Hollow Man, featuring Kevin Bacon as the title character, a creep who became even creepier once he becomes invisible. Verhoven--who, along with Flesh + Blood and Robocop, also gave us the cinematic shit-fests that are Showgirls and Starship Troopers--takes a very lewd approach with the Hollow Man, his movie suggesting that the power of invisibility corrupts the person who is invisible, all while gleefully rubbing our noses in the awful behavior of the title character.
In sharp contrast, the invisible man of Leigh Whannell’s masterful new take is already a monster who abuses his wife, Cecilia. Unlike Verhoven’s Hollow Man, which pulls the audience uncomfortably along to witness the lead character’s shenanigans (and making them feel complicit), Whannell keeps us largely on the side of Cecilia by having us experience everything through her point of view. And when it slowly begins to dawn on Cecilia what she is really dealing with, she--as well as the viewer--faces the true horror of the situation: that this already bad situation with a murderous stalker who is obsessed with her is made even worse by the mind-numbing realization that he is invisible.
The 2020 Invisible Man is a far superior version of the classic tale. Making the invisibility aspect possible because of a special suit that uses a multitude of mini cameras that reflects light away from the wearer, the new Invisible Man eschews the hoary old trope of the invisible man needing to be nude--another aspect that The Hollow Man crudely took to new lows. The special suit also does away with the ‘affliction’ aspect of the invisibility. The story is no longer centered on finding a medical cure; instead we deal solely with the marvelous cat and mouse game that Cecilia is forced to play with her ex-husband when no one else will believe her story.
Elizabeth Moss is outstanding as Cecilia. She easily portrays her character’s vulnerability, as well as her growing strength, once Cecilia realizes that she can only depend on herself to survive. The Invisible Man is a fresh, intelligent turn that wisely updates the source material for a new age. And if The Invisible Man is truly the new spark of another cinematic universe, then I really hope that it catches fire, heralding in a smarter, more sophisticated universe that gives the Classic Universal Monsters the respect they so richly deserve. --SF
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