Film Review: ‘Invisible Man’ is a cunning if empty remake

Unraveling the dusted bandages of H.G. Wells’ classic 1897 science-fiction novel, writer-director Leigh Whannell has refashioned “The Invisible Man” as a bracingly modern #MeToo allegory that, despite its brutal craft, rings hollow. Instead, this “Invisible Man” has shifted its focus from Wells’ optics scientist to a woman, Cecilia, running from him and fleeing a toxic relationship. But there’s also a sense, from early on, that “The Invisible Man” is more interested in utilizing a clever and timely conceit for jump scares and muscular, half-visible action sequences than for any genuine exploration of Cecilia’s psychology. But as Whannell turns toward the third act, the once promising set-up disintegrates and “The Invisible Man” gets lost in a familiar torrent of bullets and blood, as well as a few implausible twists that pull the movie further away from Moss’s Cecilia.