The Invisible Man is a surprisingly well done update to a classic horror icon and a step in the right direction for Universal’s planned monster reboots and Elisabeth Moss is perfect in the lead and almost solely carries a film.
The Invisible Man
(2020)
Genre(s): Horror, Thriller
Universal Pictures | R – 124 min. – $44.98 | May 26, 2020
Date Published: 06/07/2020 | Author: The Movieman
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Universal Pictures Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 3.75/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: After staging his own suicide, a crazed scientist (OLIVER JACKSON-COHEN) uses his power to become invisible to stalk and terrorize his ex-girlfriend (ELISABETH MOSS). When the police refuse to believe her story, she decides to take matters into her own hands and fight back. Review: With the critical failure and middling box office receipts, 2017’s The Mummy put a halt to Universal’s “Dark Universe” connective line and, like Warner/DC before, decided to make their monster remakes self contained. The first of these is The Invisible Man, a horror-thriller produced by Jason Blum with a conservative $7 million production budget film that went on to take in $410 million worldwide, and was a success amongst critics and audiences alike. I myself, when seeing the trailers, wasn’t entirely impressed but upon now watching, this is a solid little thriller, and save for the violence and, of course, visual effects, does have a plot that is a somewhat throwback to the 1930s and 40s, which is not at all a bad thing. The Invisible Man is filled with some great suspense directed by Leigh Whannell, the filmmaker behind the scripts for Saw I-III and helmer of Insidious: Chapter 3 and Upgrade, both smaller budget films that were successful, and in the case of Upgrade, pretty entertaining. It’s rather impressive for a two-hour movie with an INVISIBLE villain can be so suspenseful coupled with a convincing performance from Elisabeth Moss who continues to impress including her run on The Handmaid’s Tale; there’s no phoning it in here, carrying this entirely on her shoulders and makes for a likeable heroine. The film isn’t without its flaws, for one it is a bit lengthy, that’s not to say I was ever bored however, and the finale was on the predictable side, albeit still a satisfying ending. Also appreciate they didn’t get bogged down in the scientific aspects of the invisibility tech, just enough to make it believable within the story. The Invisible Man is one of those simple but solidly entertaining film that I think had plenty of replay value, thanks in large part to Elisabeth Moss’s engaging performance mostly all on her own. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 3.0/5 |
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This release comes with a glossy, slightly title-embossed, slip cover. Inside is a code for the Digital HD copy. All features are available on both discs, and in 4K on the UHD disc. Audio Commentary — Writer/Director Leigh Whannell sits down on this track discussing how he became involved with the project, his love for horror and specific elements on the filmmaking process. If you’ve ever listened to him on other releases, he is quite interesting to listen to. Even being solo, he manages to keep the energy up for the nearly two hour duration. Deleted Scenes (13:24) — There are nine scenes that were cut down or excised. Many of these didn’t add anything to the story, though there are a couple character moments. Moss Manifested (3:54) — Interview with star Elisabeth Moss and her character. Director’s Journey with Leigh Whannell (10:51) is on the filmmakers approach to the story and has on-location footage and interviews. The Players (5:24) — The actors discuss the story and characters. Timeless Terror (3:04) is on adapting the classic Invisible Man in today’s environment and putting the focus on his victim. |
4K VIDEO – 4.75/5, BD VIDEO – 4.5/5 |
| Universal releases The Invisible Man onto 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray where it’s presented with a 2.39 widescreen aspect ratio in 2160p and 1080p high-definition transfers, respectively. Despite the movie being fairly dark, or taking place at night, the detail here was impressive and black levels stark and well balanced, showing no signs of artifacts or pixilation. Skin tones had a natural appearance and the picture was sharp and properly defined. |
AUDIO – 5.0/5 |
| Both formats come with a Dolby Atmos track. This was very impressive and effective as the horror and thriller elements make full usage of every channel. Dialogue does come through with good clarity but where this does come to life is during the thrill-centric scenes give off great depth aided by the score from Benjamin Wallfisch, the man behind Blade Runner 2049 (along with Hans Zimmer), Shazam and the two IT movies. |
OVERALL – 4.25/5 |
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The Invisible Man is a surprisingly well done update to a classic horror icon and a step in the right direction for Universal’s planned monster reboots, particularly following the financial and critical failures of The Mummy. Elisabeth Moss is perfect in the lead and almost solely carries a film where your antagonist is mostly unseen. |