With Goldsmith's incredibly prolific output, it
is to be expected that there will be occasional misfires, and unfortunately,
Hollow Man is just one of those misfires. It is disappointing since the
opening main theme is quite good, yet the score just run by-the-numbers the
rest of the way through.
Of course, it's not that the film gave much in
way of inspiration. It's a rather tepid thriller about Kevin Bacon's
character who goes criminally insane after being trapped in invisibility for
an extended period of time. While the special effects were terribly cool,
the movie degenerates after the first two-thirds into the thriller type
who-will-be-the-last-man (or woman)-left-standing- at-the-end?
This is a nice release from Varese, at nearly an
hour's worth of music. Still, most of the music seems to come from that
latter portion of the film and mostly consists of the suspenseful electronic
effects and string melodies. In fact, much as in Herrmann's Psycho,
Goldsmith uses a lot of strings in this score, with several passages being homage
to that famous score. Next to the string sections, Goldsmith uses his
standard synth accompaniment, although it basically sounds like alternate
material from Star Trek: Insurrection.
There are a few terrific moments that work exceptionally well during the
suspense cues, but for the most part they are quite boring and seem to go on
forever. This holds true even for the quieter moments that comprise the
first third of the disc. The main theme is referenced only a scant few times
and it's really never played around with, which is quite a shame as it is a
really good theme for this musical genre.
Overall, this is a rather tepid Goldsmith
score that, unless you just loved the music in the film or you simply must
have it for your collection, you'd probably be better off giving it a pass. **1/2
