IIya Naishuller's Hardcore Henry is a film that is best described as an amusement park ride, an unapologetic, ultra-violent action film told entirely from the first-person point of view of Henry. The story itself centered around Henry, a character who awakens in a medical facility with no knowledge or memory of how he got there. Resurrected from the dead, Henry is half man, half machine, and from there the proverbial shit hits the fan, as Henry is thrown into a world of chaos, fighting through an army of mercenaries led by the diabolical Akan, a powerful warlord who plans to breed more bio-engineered soldiers for the sake of world domination. In this film, the viewer sees everything directly through the eyes of Henry, as the filmmakers deliver up a chaotic action experience that is certainly unique, but ultimately lacking in the screenplay and story departments. From the grotesque credit sequence, where slow motion acts of violence are played over the title credits, Hardcore Henry makes its affinity for extreme violence very clear, managing to bring a surprisingly playful tone to its violent debauchery. Hardcore Henry could be described as a first person shooter style videogame but I prefer the amusement park ride analogy, as the film provides very little exposition, story, or substance, with the filmmakers intentions solely set on delivering an exhilarating experience. One cannot deny that what the filmmakers have created with Hardcore Henry is a truly unique cinematic experience, but I'd argue that first-person perspective does grow quite tiresome, being far too abrasive to the viewer at times, making it hard to follow the action choreography, which is definitely one of the film's best attributes. For fans of action, Hardcore Henry demands to be seen on the largest theater screen possible just for the visceral quality of the filmmaking, which features some of the best action choreography and stunt work I've seen in awhile. Hardcore Henry is playful, very violent, and surprisingly funny, due largely to another scene stealing performance by Sharlto Copley as Henry's mysterious contact who wants to help him. It is big, dumb, and silly, but in the end Hardcore Henry is a film that I have a hard time judging too harshly due to the filmmakers attempt to do something different.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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