Remember that first-person action scene from DOOM in 2006? For that matter, does anyone remember DOOM? Anyway, there was the big sequence in the final act where the mediocre sci-fi action film decided to pay homage to the video game on which it was supposed to have been based where the camera assumes a first-person perspective where the audience sees through the eyes of the hero for a short killing spree. If you ever watched that scene in DOOM and thought to yourself "Why not do the entire movie like that?" then HARDCORE HENRY might just be for you. It's shot through the eyes of our silent protagonist Henry as he slaughters his way through ninety minutes of action. After an admittedly cool series of opening credits, we enter the film as Henry awakens in a laboratory with a beautiful scientist, who claims to be his wife Estelle (Haley Bennett), reassembling him with bionic limbs and explaining that there's been some sort of incident but, cool news, he's a cyborg now. Before he can have his voice unit activated (conveniently to allow the viewer to imagine themselves in the role
just like a video game), the lab is attacked by the film's main villain Akan (Danila Kozlovsky), a pale-skinned psychopath with the power of telekinesis. Akan wants Henry for his own personal army and takes Estelle as collateral until Henry submits; what follows is an extensive series of chases and beatdowns as Henry races to confront Akan and rescue his wife.
The whole gimmick of telling an entire film from the first-person perspective is a challenging prospect, though I'm honestly surprised the popularity of first-person shooter video games hadn't brought one on sooner. Because the film wants to put you in Henry's shoes, he has no dialogue of his own and all exposition and story elements are introduced by supporting characters who proceed to explain the situation to our amnesiac hero as the movie goes forward. To put it simply, we learn everything we need to know through the movie in the cut scenes between battles. Most of it comes from Sharlto Copley as a scientist who carries a grudge against Akan and hopes to use our super-soldier to achieve his own vengeance. Copley is, as he seems to be in pretty much any movie he's in, one of the highlights. His character, Jimmy, comes in many forms. Having been crippled by Akan as punishment during the development of the super-soldier program, Jimmy utilizes a collection of personal clones (of varying colorful personalities) to handle his work in the field. I admit I thought it went a little over the top when his clones burst out into a song and dance number about halfway through the film, but I'll forgive it because Copley is just so charismatic. But seeing as how our hero has no memory of anything before awakening in the lab, we're left to wonder if Jimmy, or anyone, can be trusted until the final act where all's revealed.
No spoilers but the big reveal and its accompanying explanation don't make a lot of sense to me. When Akan's big plan was revealed, I just sat bewildered wondering why he went through something so complex and wasteful that I'm sure could've been handled with a hundred or so less casualties. I thought it was pretty stupid but, then again, I'm pretty sure no one is watching HARDCORE HENRY for the plot. It's all about the brutal, bloody violence and the I dunno wish fulfillment that comes from witnessing it through the hero's eyes. Again, like a video game. I can't stress enough that watching HARDCORE HENRY is like watching a friend play a video game for 95 minutes. Right down to the mission assignments coming through over the phone ("Get to X and acquire the Y!") and the obligatory final boss battle. It's a real cool gimmick and the novelty didn't get old until about halfway through the movie when my attention started to wander. You can only get so much out of it. They ran the full gamut here: parkour, martial arts, loads of gunplay, vehicular combat, and graphic finishing moves. It's a fun movie to watch once, maybe twice if you want to introduce a friend to it. I have to imagine people with sensitive motion sickness might not take to it so well because the movie is nonstop shaky-cam, so keep that in mind. Otherwise, action nuts will find something to enjoy here and it's worth checking out for the unique style.
The whole gimmick of telling an entire film from the first-person perspective is a challenging prospect, though I'm honestly surprised the popularity of first-person shooter video games hadn't brought one on sooner. Because the film wants to put you in Henry's shoes, he has no dialogue of his own and all exposition and story elements are introduced by supporting characters who proceed to explain the situation to our amnesiac hero as the movie goes forward. To put it simply, we learn everything we need to know through the movie in the cut scenes between battles. Most of it comes from Sharlto Copley as a scientist who carries a grudge against Akan and hopes to use our super-soldier to achieve his own vengeance. Copley is, as he seems to be in pretty much any movie he's in, one of the highlights. His character, Jimmy, comes in many forms. Having been crippled by Akan as punishment during the development of the super-soldier program, Jimmy utilizes a collection of personal clones (of varying colorful personalities) to handle his work in the field. I admit I thought it went a little over the top when his clones burst out into a song and dance number about halfway through the film, but I'll forgive it because Copley is just so charismatic. But seeing as how our hero has no memory of anything before awakening in the lab, we're left to wonder if Jimmy, or anyone, can be trusted until the final act where all's revealed.
No spoilers but the big reveal and its accompanying explanation don't make a lot of sense to me. When Akan's big plan was revealed, I just sat bewildered wondering why he went through something so complex and wasteful that I'm sure could've been handled with a hundred or so less casualties. I thought it was pretty stupid but, then again, I'm pretty sure no one is watching HARDCORE HENRY for the plot. It's all about the brutal, bloody violence and the I dunno wish fulfillment that comes from witnessing it through the hero's eyes. Again, like a video game. I can't stress enough that watching HARDCORE HENRY is like watching a friend play a video game for 95 minutes. Right down to the mission assignments coming through over the phone ("Get to X and acquire the Y!") and the obligatory final boss battle. It's a real cool gimmick and the novelty didn't get old until about halfway through the movie when my attention started to wander. You can only get so much out of it. They ran the full gamut here: parkour, martial arts, loads of gunplay, vehicular combat, and graphic finishing moves. It's a fun movie to watch once, maybe twice if you want to introduce a friend to it. I have to imagine people with sensitive motion sickness might not take to it so well because the movie is nonstop shaky-cam, so keep that in mind. Otherwise, action nuts will find something to enjoy here and it's worth checking out for the unique style.