H.G Wells The Invisible Man Is An Exciting And Thrilling Remake That Modernizes Its Classic Story For A New Generation

      Very few horror films receive the kind of prestige and legendary stature that the classic set of Universal horror films have endured. Over the course of the last 90 years, numerous filmmakers have placed their stamp on timeless horror stories such as Dracula, The Mummy, Frankenstein, Wolfman, The Creature From The Black Lagoon, etc. The story of The Invisible Man has seen acclaimed filmmakers such as Halloween's John Carpenter and Robocop's Paul Verhoeven deliver their own upgrades of the classic tale with Carpenter's 1992 Memoirs Of The Invisible Man starring Chevy Chase and Verhoeven's 2000 cult classic Hollow Man with Kevin Bacon. In the case of the classic dark universe, the first attempt at rebooting the iconic horror universe came with 2017's The Mummy which starred Tom Cruise. The film ultimately proved to be both a critical and financial disappointment, that instantly halted Universal Studio's plans to bring the dark universe roaring back into theaters with a fresh new batch of modern retellings of the classic stories. Fast-Forward three years later with the release of The Invisible Man, the dark universe feels as if it's getting a second chance of getting off the ground as Universal aims to make up for The Mummy's shortcomings. Luckily for the studio, that appears to be the case as the film surprises in terms of being a highly effective horror thriller, that succeeds in taking its classic story and modernizing it for today's generation.

      The plot for The Invisible Man is a loose retelling of the H.G. Wells classic story with the reboot centering around an abusive and violent man named Adrian (Played by Oliver Jackson-Cohen), tormenting his ex-girlfriend Cecilia (Played by Elisabeth Moss) after escaping his clutches, leading him to commit suicide as his final act-or did he. Convinced that he faked his death and is now stalking her while invisible, she attempts to make the authorities believe her story with much to little effect. The best way to describe the new Invisible Man story is that it's both creative and brilliant. The new version of the story has found its way to differentiate itself from the original one, while maintaining the same concept and spirit of its previous works. This version of The Invisible Man's story is smart, fresh, intense, and creepy to where it provides enough solid jump scares for the audience, that rightfully keeps them at the edge of their seat. The films greatest trait lies within its ability to surprise audiences not just with its scares, but how strong of an effort the makers behind The Invisible Man churned out. This movie essentially feels like the proper beginning of the dark universe being reborn as it's wonderfully crafted, extremely well-acted, brilliantly written, and effectively directed with impressive CGI for the shots that reveal the invisible man in the story (A subplot that comes with a clever twist explaining how such a phenomenon is able to take place in the story). For everything that Tom Cruise's The Mummy gets wrong, The Invisible Man gets right while managing to course-correct the early mistakes of the dark universe. The film is not just a testimony of how to make a proper horror movie that's effective with strong characters, it also provides hope for movie fans that there is still room for taking classic material and properly revitalizing them into reboots that can actually work.

      The acting by the films main cast is not only convincing but ends up being one of the strongest elements of the film, that makes its story work in terms of being believable. Elisabeth Moss turns in a strong performance as the films main lead Cecilia, making the audience empathize with her character as she comes across as being both vulnerable and strong. She not only does very well with bringing her character to life on the screen, but also manages to carry the film with the strength of her character. She perfectly conveys her characters paranoia and mental suffering to a T. In the role of the invisible man, Oliver Jackson-Cohen does well with his part as Cecilias ex-boyfriend Adrian Griffin, though the role leaves much to the audiences imagination in regards to the mystery of the character such as his history of being abusive to Cecilia prior to the films opening sequence. As far as the characters aggressive and sinister nature goes, Cohen nails the part down pretty well making his character both disturbing and creepy to the audience. Aldis Hodge impresses in the role of James Lanier, Cecelia's childhood friend and San Francisco police detective who helps her get away from her aggressive boyfriend at first then struggles to make sense of her characters actions when she is stalked by the invisible man. Hodge does well with conveying his characters skepticism and lack of belief in his friends claims while slowly putting the pieces together. Storm Reid shines in the role of James daughter Sydney with Harriet Dyer also being effective as Cecelia's friend as well as James ex'wife and Sydney's mother Emily. Michael Dorman delivers a notable performance as Adrian's brother and lawyer Tom Griffin with his character being effective in regards to the audience questioning his motives or whether he's in on terrorizing Cecilia in an effort to help Adrian. The cast as a whole has much to do with why this film turned out to be as good as it ultimately ends up being with the performances from the ensemble here not disappointing. Each actor and actress feels just right for their parts and brings much-needed life to them as well with each giving the film a shot of adrenaline, that makes the whole experience not only more exciting but compelling.

      The films directing by Leigh Whannell can best be described as being inspired and full of creativity. This is a director whose energetic about retelling the classic story and does so in a fashion that feels both grand, and like a great deal of thought went into making this film work. Whannell sets up an atmosphere that feels dark and mysterious with the tension steadily being built up throughout the course of the film. This is where he proves most effective as being the films director, while managing to get good performances out of his cast. The films visual effects sequences are well done but limited with the ones shown leaving an impression on the viewer as it adds to the mystical element of Adrian's character being invisible. The moments where the invisible Man is revealed are perfect and provide solid jump scares for the audience. One watching the sequences with the invisible man stalking Cecilia with glimpses of his true form being revealed generate flashbacks to both Carpenter's film as well as Verhoeven's Hollow Man. The visual effects work here is both cleverly and impressively done with it being further complimented by the films strong cinematography. The score by Benjamin Wallfisch is solid and helps to give the film an Alfred Hitchcock style feel to it in a vein similar to Psycho (An approach that Whannell looks like he models the film to take as it often gives off a Hitchcock style vibe to it. There's even a shower scene involving the main character in the film, which was added to imply that Cecilia was being terrorized by Adrian in his invisible form), with the music being exciting and full of suspense. The films editing and pacing feels just perfect for the story with the wheels continuously moving in regards to the film never losing the momentum it builds beginning with its thrilling opening sequence. Whannell made a terrific choice with the films opening sequence as it sets the tone of the film up immediately while creating a great deal of mystery for the audience. The best thing that can be said about the film is how it wastes no time in getting directly to the point with drawing its audience into the story with the bizarre scenario it presents. As a film that's meant to both entertain as well as thrill and scare, Leigh Whannell ultimately proves to be the ideal choice for the film as he gives the audience relatable characters while surrounding them with Hitchcock style suspense, that's reinforced by the films solid and effective mood.

     The screenplay also by Whannell, feels just right in terms of setting up the films story and characters with enough mystery behind them being left without going into excessive elaboration. The film never feels as if too little exploration of the characters is presented with the screenplay having the appropriate balance of character development mixed with a masterful buildup of suspense and paranoia. Right from the start, audiences immediately connect with Cecilia's character given her plight in the beginning while wondering about the dangers of Adrian's character. Adrian's character is presented as being mysterious and threatening with no backstory shown revolving around his character other than what the audience is told about him, as well as Cecilia's desperation to get away from him. Whereas some audiences may complain about the lack of development with Adrian's character and see it as a fault with the film, it actually manages to work in it's favor with creating an antagonist that the audience doesn't know much about background wise, but are ultimately intimidated as well as terrified by him. The rest of the films characters receive reasonable character development with them all feeling like they fit their proper places within the story. One can tell that a great deal of thought went into the script in regards to bringing the concept to a modern era along with giving the audience characters and twists, that manage to keep the audience glued to the screen. The Invisible Man succeeds in taking the original story and modernizing it for today's audiences, while giving them a thrill ride that's full of suspense and excitement. The films key moments that make it work are the moments when Cecilia suspects that her ex is near, or unknowingly steps away from the camera with the audience witnessing something in the background occur. Those scenes are highly effective in giving the audience the impression without showing much of anything that the invisible man is near. To some, not showing much of him in the film can make it less scary or suspenseful. However, if classic horror movies like Halloween and Alien taught moviegoers anything, it's that showing less can have a far greater impact on audiences rather than showing too much of something. The Invisible Man's script has a healthy balance of leaving much to the audiences imagination in regards to the character, while keeping the central focus of the film on Cecilia's character with the film being shown through her perspective. The films climactic scene and end twist is both shocking and clever with audiences being taken aback by it, though nonetheless appreciating the twist and turns the film delivers up to that point. It's good to see that with todays horror movies becoming more reliant on gore to keep audience in suspense, The Invisible Man relies on old school build up of suspense and characters to make everything work (A job that the film does very well).

      Audiences at this point should consider this film to be the official launching pad for the new era of dark universe films as the film manages to do what Tom Cruise's The Mummy couldn't for fans (In retrospect, that film wasn't as bad as what both critics and audiences made it out to be, it suffered from living in the shadow of the Stephen Sommer and Brendan Fraser films). For those who were profoundly disappointed with that movie, The Invisible Man reassures horror fans that it's possible to bring these classic concepts back, and make them work effectively in today's realm of filmmaking. The Invisible Man is one of the years most impressive films, as well as being an extremely well put together tale that rightfully serves as being both dark and creepy. The film is extremely well-executed, well-written and directed with top notch effects and cinematography accompanying its strong storytelling. It's not what's on the screen that terrorizes audiences, it's what's not present or shown that leaves a far greater impact on them, even after the credits roll. As writer and director Leigh Whannell shows, there's still tricks that filmmakers hoping to retell or reimagine classic horror concepts can pull to breathe new life into their stories, while showing that the game isn't entirely over for Hollywood in terms of creativity. Those craving for the proper restarting of the dark universe or those looking for a solid horror thriller should look no further as they will not be left disappointed.

Final Verdict: For those looking for a strong horror movie as well as a solid retelling of a classic dark universe tale, The Invisible Man is worth watching and will leave many surprised, particularly those going expecting it to be weak.