In Hardcore Henry, Henry awakens after being brutally murdered. His life jumpstarted by a beautiful woman named Estelle (Haley Bennett), who proceeds to upgrade him with cybernetic parts. She claims to be his wife, but Henry can't recall due to memory loss from his death. It doesn't take long before a wicked looking albino named Akan (Danila Kozlovsky) storms Estelle's lab, kidnapping her and having his goons taser poor Henry right off a bridge. With the help of a mysterious man named Jimmy (Sharlto Copley), Henry is going to go after Akan, rescue his wife, and reclaim his life.
Hardcore Henry lived up to my worst fears and greatest expectations. It is a live-action videogame movie, filled with testosterone and it follows a typical Mario Bros.-esque plot (Save the princess, or in this case, your wife). It's loud, dumb, violent, bloody, brutal, surreal, insane and tons of fun. Danila Kozlovsky makes for a cool villain, and Sharlto Copley nails his many roles perfectly (His Jimmy keeps coming back to life in a different form every time he dies, I won't explain why or how. Jimmy also has a very fun and goofy musical dance number set to I've Got You Under My Skin). Indeed, his budding bro-mance with Henry is one of the stronger aspects of this film. I'd say this is my 2nd favorite role of Copley's.
The first person perspective is an inventive, original way to tell this story while putting us directly in Henry's shoes. The result is thrilling and dizzying (I don't normally get queasy in these types of film, but I did here a few times. Wasn't anything I couldn't shake off though). The action is almost non-stop, with very little breathing room in-between set pieces (very impressive stunt work). The only downside to the first person perspective is that it can feel like you are watching someone else play a video game at times (Please, just give me the damned controller). I was surprised at how well the you-are-Henry effect worked at times.
So, what are this film's issues? As I said before, the plot is fairly threadbare, dumb, and typical territory for a video game (but still cool). The script is bad in an action, B-Movie, 80's-esque, guy flick type of way. The villain lacks motivation (and his nifty telekinetic powers are never explained). The film also ends way too abruptly. In other words, it's bad in exactly the ways you'd expect it to be.
If you are an action movie junkie or a fan of video games, there's a chance you may enjoy Hardcore Henry. However, if you want your action film to have a plot, a decent script, character development, and a satisfying conclusion, maybe you'd do best to look somewhere else. For myself, I had an absolute, surreal blast with Hardcore Henry. It may not be a great film, but it's an awesome, unique experience (Kind of like Project X).
3.5 STARS
EDIT: I can only imagine how much crazier, immersive, and nauseating this film would be if viewed on the Oculus Rift.
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