Rated R (non-stop bloody brutal violence and mayhem, language throughout, sexual content/nudity, and drug use)
Starring:
Sharlto Copley as Jimmy
Danila Kozlovsky as Akan
Haley Bennett as Estelle
Tim Roth as Henry's Father
IMDb synopsis: A first-person action film from the eyes of Henry, who's resurrected from death with no memory. He must discover his identity and save his wife from a warlord with a plan to bio-engineer soldiers.
My rating: 7/10
Word of advice, don't eat anything while watching, or before you see this movie. It's not a fun time.
I. The Characters
Now, I know what you're probably thinking, 'it's not supposed to have good character development, because it's a ridiculously fun, over the top movie'. Well, for me it matters. The characters in Hardcore Henry were pretty hollow, you don't care about the villain (who literally has telekinesis, movie doesn't explain how or why), but you do care about the relationship between Henry and Estelle, who are husband and wife. By far, the character that steals the show, is Sharlto Copley as Jimmy. Seriously, Copley does an amazing/ hilarious job with the role he's given.
II. The Action
The action, as seen in the trailer, is over the top, ridiculous, and super fun. There is something weirdly satisfying, about seeing Henry literally kicking the shit out of like 100+ mindless soldiers; and that is all due to the camera work for the first person effect.
III. The Camera Work
Hardcore Henry is the first film in a while that has had the full 96 minute run time be totally filmed in first person mode (if you don't know what that is, it's what everyone experiences every single moment of every single waking day) and it can be a bit much at times, at least for me. I had popcorn when I watched this, and I felt sick throughout it and unfortunately it did detract from the movie a bit.
IV. The Story
The story in Hardcore Henry is extremely simplistic, but since the film is essentially a video game, I'll describe the plot as every single Mario game that has come out. Princess gets kidnapped by bad guy, hero goes through a million bad guys to save princess. The story was lacking in some area's though, there are a couple of character's that could have been taken out of the film entirely, the plot would be no different.
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So in closing, if you enjoy the Call of Duty's and first person shooters, I would go and see Hardcore Henry. I was hoping for a better story than the one we got, but the action was ridiculously amazing, and Sharlto Copley was amazing in the movie
