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Mini Reviews (May, June 2006)

Hollow Man II, The Road to Guantanamo

Hollow Man II (May 22/06)

Following a viewing of Hollow Man II, one can't help but appreciate the subtlety and nuance of Paul Verhoeven's comparatively masterful predecessor. The movie, which hardly even feels like a sequel, follows a grizzled police officer (Peter Facinelli) and a research scientist (Laura Regan) as they attempt to put a stop to the murderous rampage of soldier-turned-invisible-man Michael Griffin (Christian Slater). The majority of Hollow Man II plays out like a typical straight-to-video cop thriller - a bad straight-to-video cop thriller, at that - with the whole invisibility thing essentially left as an afterthought. The film's lack of budget couldn't possibly be more obvious, particularly in terms of the special effects - which are uniformly atrocious and thoroughly laughable. Slater, who receives third billing, has a grand total of about two-and-a-half minutes worth of screentime, with the majority of his performance limited to emotionless voice-over (there's never the impression that Slater was ever actually on the set apart from his two on-camera sequences). The extraordinarily tired storyline is exacerbated by Joel Soisson's cliched dialogue, and although Facinelli and Regan attempt to bring some life to their scarcely-drawn characters, even the most seasoned pro would have a tough time elevating this material. There's exactly one interesting sequence in all of Hollow Man II - involving Slater's encounter with a deaf woman - but really, this is about as needless and pointless a sequel as they come.

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The Road to Guantanamo (June 20/06)

Though Michael Winterbottom is undeniably one of the most prolific filmmakers of his generation - The Road to Guantanamo marks his seventh effort in six years - his output is generally as uneven as it is plentiful. And while the director has never quite made a flat-out bad movie, his filmography is chock full of maddeningly erratic works such as The Claim and Code 46. With The Road to Guantanamo, Winterbottom - working for the first time with a co-director - delivers a disturbing, often unpleasant film that certainly succeeds in provoking an emotional response from the viewer. Based on a true story, The Road to Guantanamo follows four British friends as they travel to Pakistan to attend the wedding of one of their own. While there, they inexplicably decide to take a day trip into neighboring Afghanistan and arrive just as the United States has begun bombing the country. After being rounded up as suspected Taliban fighters by the Northern Alliance, the three survivors (the fourth disappears and is never seen again) are taken into custody by American soldiers and shipped off to Guantanamo - where they are systematically tortured and beaten for over two years. Co-directors Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross employ the same sort of cinema verite, shot-on-digital vibe that was prevalent in Winterbottom's In This World, though The Road to Guantanamo instantly establishes itself as a far more urgent and engaging piece of work. This is despite the fact that none of the characters are developed beyond their most superficial attributes, as Winterbottom and Whitecross waste little time in thrusting the four hapless victims right into the thick of their perilous situation. That a good portion of the dialogue is rendered intelligible due to some seriously heavy accents certainly doesn't help matters, nor does the confusion surrounding several early plot points (ie why are the guys even in Afghanistan?) That being said, there's no denying the effectiveness of Winterbottom and Whitecross' harsh portrayal of life within the Gitmo prison camp. The methods employed by the trio's captors certainly fall under the category of cruel and unusual punishment, as the prisoners are forced to endure various forms of torture (ie they're chained to the floor of a tiny room while death metal blares). The Road to Guantanamo is far from an easy watch - the movie is often depressing and thoroughly unpleasant - but one suspects that that is precisely the point.

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© David Nusair