Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Elisabeth Moss, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Harriet Dyer, Aldis Hodge, Storm Reid, Michael Dorman, Benedict Hardie, Renee Lim, Brian Meegan, Nick Kici, Vivienne Greer, Nicholas Hope, Cleave Williams, Cardwell Lynch, Sam Smith.

Alongside The War Of The Worlds, The Invisible Man is perhaps H.G Wells’ most adapted piece of literature, and like its literary predecessor it has suffered under the enormous weight of thought that has gone into the writing to ever truly ever be captured perfectly on more that one occasion.

Whereas The War Of The Worlds has Jeff Wayne’s phenomenal musical adaption to give relish to the audience of being remembered in a visual or aural capacity, The Invisible Man has to rely on the sparkling 1933 James Whale picture staring the effervescent Claude Rains in the title role, and whilst Chevy Chase’s 1992 film Memoirs of an Invisible Man managed to convey it in an off-hand humorous way, the novel itself has never truly been bettered.

It is an enigma that continues, other writers from the late Victorian era to Edwardian period who delved into the macabre and shadow worlds of our existence, notably Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Bram Stoker, M. R. James, and even back to opening years of the century and to the godmother of them all in Mary Shelly who sensationally, and rightly, beat the then male stronghold on the idea of gothic futurism with her extraordinary novel Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus, that they would have seen their creations enjoy just as much, or even more success, than they could have imagined, H.G. Wells, even as the leading light in futurism, has been sadly let down by cinema and television alike. 

Leigh Whannell screenplay of H.G. Wells’ classic tale gives a good account of itself as Oliver Jackson-Cohen takes on the titular role as the scientist who develops the power of invisibility through the use optic refraction and reflection, and the idea of transplanting the setting and narrative to that of modern America and the damage that comes from being in a relationship with a narcissistic sociopath could be seen as staying faithful to Wells’ vision, however and even with the incomparable Elisabeth Moss performing cinematic miracles as the psychologically abused Cecilia Kass, the film itself seems limp in comparison to what it may have offered in the imagination of the viewer.

There are some truly splendid touches woven into the film, and it is to these that the picture excels, the idea of the stalked woman dealing with a house intruder plays out perfectly in terms of suspense, the allusion to the Victorian narrative insistence of the mad woman in the attic given the film its dramatic effect; however, there is a lot of posturing to which the supplemental characters become stilted by the lack of development on offer.

The Invisible Man does its best to live up to the Wells’ ideal, and it is arguably unfair to try to compare the piece when its only obvious superior is a film that is pre-World War Two, but the enigma of Wells’ continues into the 21^st Century; a writer without equal in his own chosen craft and time, and yet unable to be translated to modern audiences with as much insight as he afforded his readers.

Ian D. Hall