The Invisible Man

The Universals Monsters universe is a unique area in movies I'm unfamiliar with but have heard about. Featuring famous monsters such as Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, etc. These features had their start in the 1920s with a run that lasted to the 1950s before remakes attempted to jumpstart life into them starting with the 1970s to 2010s. The most recent attempt to launch a modern cinematic franchise came with the Tom Cruise starring The Mummy, which failed hard financially and with critics. This brings us to a new standalone project adapting one of these famous figures in a low budget suspense thriller, The Invisible Man. It was directed by Leigh Whannell (Upgrade, Insidious Chapter 3) and was produced by Blumhouse Productions, which means the filmmakers have creative freedom with a lower budget to work with (allowing for some big financial gains if its a big hit and not much of a loss if something doesn't click that well). I haven't seen the older Invisible Man film from 1933 but Leigh Whannell's involvement got me excited (after watching his recent work with Upgrade), despite the bad marketing campaign this project was given. I went in ready to see how it was going to turn out and left the auditorium very happy with its surprising quality.

What's it about? Taking place after the reported death of a wealthy significant other (unclear if boyfriend or husband), the story follows a domestic abuse survivor finding herself haunted by an unseen force she believes is her ex. There are opportunities the story takes that are mostly executed pretty well for this type of premise. The camera work in a number of scenes adds to an anxiety of uncertainty of whether or not if someone is actually in the same room as the protagonist or not. The realism concerning an abuse victim attempting to get their life on track adds emotional weight based on how characters approach her in a supportive manner. There are some unexpected twists not given away in the marketing that elevate the conflict at hand that can catch blind audiences off guard (it did to me). It's simple with layers that can be inspected upon additional viewings to look at the events that take place for better context.

For all that it gets rights, there are issues with the logic it plays with that might cause some issues. The one that sticks out is a moment where an opportunity could have gone in a certain direction (an attic scene) that needs closer inspection for plot reasons.

How are the actors? In regards to story importance, the actors to focus on are Elizabeth Moss and Oliver Jackson-Cohen. Elizabeth gives a strong leading performance that allows the audience to empathize with her as she displays struggles in recovering from torment while being terrified as her efforts to move forward are heavily thwarted. Despite how limited his screen time is for his role, Oliver gives solid portrayal that's slightly difficult to talk about without spoiling but the direction for what he's given is fascinating to watch play out. It would have been great to have had one more scene to show the dynamic between those two of them but it's probably better to not have seen that torment. Honorable mentions go to Aldis Hodge, Michael Dorman, and Storm Reid for being welcome additions for their respective supporting roles that they don't take for granted. Dishonorable mention goes to Harriet Dyer for being the weakest actor who is putting half-hearted acting effort, which is disappointing considering the weight of her part.

Overall Consensus: The Invisible Man is a solid suspense film that's bolstered by mostly great performances, good cinematography, and well executed twists but is held back a bit by some logic issues. ⭑⭑⭑⭑🍿* Runtime: 2 hours 4 minutes R
*If the coronavirus pandemic wasn't still ongoing during the time of this review was published, I would have given it the theater recommendation (great with a crowd).

Reasons to watch it: You are a fan of the aforementioned actors and/or director Leigh Whannell. You enjoy low-budget suspense thrillers that rely on creativity. You like rooting for a lead protagonist who underwent a realistic mistreatment they want to move on from.

Reasons to avoid it: You aren't a fan of the aforementioned actors and/or director Leigh Whannell. You dislike low-budget suspense thrillers and can get distracted by logic issues found in them.