That is .. until now.

Paul Verhoeven ('True Lies', 'Starship Troopers'), a director whose name has now become famously synonymous with 'computer generated images' for special effects, conjured a masterpiece in 'Hollow Man'. Using not only state of the art computers but a host of visual, graphics, physics and even medical experts, this 'Invisible Man' story promises to be the most convincing and accurate to date, visually.

The story starts quite innocently with a team of scientists lead by Dr. Sebastian Caine (Kevin Bacon), a genius and maestro in the art of science frontiers, trying to achieve and solve the secrets of invisibility under a top secret government agenda. But within his small and dedicated team there are other complications worsened by a 'love triangle' between Sebastian, his ex-girlfriend and second in command Linda McKay (Elisabeth Shue) and Matthew Kensington (Josh Brolin), Linda's new boyfriend and Project Manager.

Unwilling to release his latest data and risk losing control of this project, Sebastian lies to the council about his ground-breaking results to start 'Phase Three' on his own: 'Human Testing'. Using himself as the 'guinea-pig', Sebastian lies to the rest of his team that 'Phase 3' had been approved and injects himself with the irradiated invisibility serum.

But things take a turn for the worse when the 'Reversal' fails. Unable to return to his visible self, Sebastian slowly spirals into insanity while the rest of the team frantically search for answers and a new serum structure stable enough to work. In the mean time, Sebastian uses his newfound ability to escape the facility and wreak havoc in the city in his own funny, comical and demented ways.

From the very start you just know that 'Hollow Man' is like none other before it. A laboratory mouse innocently crawls into a cage in search of food. It suddenly gets 'picked up' by an invisible hand, with the grooves of each finger pressing against the body of the mouse, then a sudden splash of blood as it is bitten in two it's blood tainting and revealing the shape of a large animals' teeth and mouth.

The following sequences become even more exhilarating, as they 'reverse' the process of invisibility of their test subject: a 400 pound gorilla. As the reversal takes place, the organs affected by the reversal serum reappear in logical sequence, allowing an eerie look of the insides of the gorilla to the audience. As it writhes in pain, more and more of the animal re-appears until invisibility at an end, is fully reversed.

The story could have done with a bit more polishing but seriously it is pretty well thought up with very few loose ends. However, with all the 'eye candy' and 'jaw-dropping' scenes, some expect the plot to live up to the visuals. Something almost impossible to live up to or equal.

However, please take note. For the weak hearted, some scenes get pretty gory and violent with multiple human and animal killings. But fret not, the producers assure us that no 'real' animals were hurt or killed in the making of this movie. With Paul Verhoeven at the helm, I'd say this is believable.

Worried about the actor's performances? You have to watch it to believe it, but with this movie you're at the edge of your seat so much, you're the least worried about their acting. Not that it's bad in any way. Quite the opposite. Kevin Bacon puts in a great performance only you don't see him much, because well, he's invisible. Miss Shue and Mr. Brolin, both veterans in their career don't tend to let you down either. Tit for Tat, Acting for Visuals sad to say the special effects win the day, and all else seem less important.

This movie certainly is not for the faint of heart but if you're up to it, watch it for the visual extravaganza that it is.