Hardcore Henry - movie review

Hardcore Henry

Plot: Henry is resurrected from death with no memory, and he must save his wife from a telekinetic warlord with a plan to bio-engineer soldiers.
Cast: Sharlto Copley, Tim Roth, Haley Bennett
Director: Ilya Naishuller
Rating: 18
Runtime: 1hr 36 mins
Release Date: Friday 8th April 2016

Insanity. That is the perfect word to completely sum up my experience of watching Hardcore Henry. Inspired by a short film from the same director, this film has been highly publicised as being the first motion picture to be entirely shot in a first person viewpoint. With that being the main selling point, what ensues is an hour and a half of adrenaline and non-stop action. This film had it all. Mayhem. Carnage. Violence. Destruction and craziness and it was terrific.


Due to the film being presented in a first person mode, judging the acting capabilities of Henry is practically impossible. He throws good punches and pulls off some amazing stunts but that's about it. It then falls to Sharlto Copley to carry the majority of the dialogue of the film and he does it effortlessly. Without giving away spoilers, there are various traits that Copley has to adopt in his plentitude of roles and all of them are ridiculous and bizarre yet fantastic. From his complex roles under the guidance of Neil Blomkamp, Copley isn't shy from portraying outlandish characters but some of these make his other performances look sane. He's a star in this and that's saying something considering Hardcore Henry never needed to have fantastic acting within it. All it needed to do to please me was for the acting to not be so bad that it detracted from the action. Haley Bennett also stars in a slightly less significant role than the trailers may depict. Playing the wife of the titular character who is kidnapped in the opening sequence, Bennett does play a good damsel in distress but that's really about it. She's not awful yet she doesn't over-impress to the point where I began questioning her involvement with this film. And as the antagonist of this absurdity we are treated to Danila Kozlovsky. Heard of him? I doubt you have and I seriously doubt you will after this. This guy is fantastic for all the wrong reasons. Kozlovsky is just plain awful as Akan which literally has no effect on liking this movie more or less. The guy plays a cartoon. This whole film is one big cartoon. His terrible line delivery and shockingly bad screen presence doesn't matter because it fits in with what the film is trying to be. Completing this amalgamation of a cast is Tim Roth who, and I kid you not, has no reason to be in this film. That isn't saying that he shouldn't be in the film because Tim Roth is a quality actor. I'm saying that Roth's character has no purpose in the film. He kneels down, gives Henry some advice and then that's it. So if you were expecting Tim Roth to steal the limelight, then you are going to be sorely disappointed. I must stress however, Hardcore Henry is a mindless, brainless, dumb action extravaganza and with the surprising exception of Sharlto Copley, the acting is just average, which is what the film needed to have. No more, no less. 

Much like the expectations for quality of acting, if you are thinking that Hardcore Henry will offer you a heartfelt, emotionally moving and award worthy story at its core, then you are unfathomably stupid. Everything is just so ludicrous and crazy that it will fulfill all your needs if this is the type of movie you enjoy. If you dislike mindless action and prefer deep character developments: WARNING!! AVOID THIS MOVIE! Fortunately for me, I was able to overlook the basic story and clichéd elements to watch Hardcore Henry the way it's meant to be. However, as much as it may seem that this film is just a great way to pass the time and shove popcorn into your face, Hardcore Henry surprised me by being the best video game movie we have yet to see. The genre of video game movies have been overwhelmingly disappointing and never has there been one that has cracked the transition. Hardcore Henry finally is the one that we can recognise as being the first successful adaptation. There's just one issue. Hardcore Henry was never a video game. But the layout of the story, pacing and the way it looks, cause one to believe that it could have easily been ripped from a console and placed into the cinema. When Sharlto Copley is informing Henry of where the next group of bad guys to attack is and the insanity of the stunts and action, this mistake is easily made.

I must of course mention my opinion on the effectiveness that the first person viewpoint was in this film. I'm not going to lie; at some points when the action becomes very intimate and much more intense, the rapid movements of the camera as Henry looks around can be very jarring. That being said, when the action is on a larger scale with a particular standout being a car chase sequence, the GoPro filming is incredibly inventive that it works in creating a great immersive experience. It felt as if I was stuck in a simulator that continued for an hour and a half. You may not necessarily believe that you are Henry but because you are seeing everything through his eyes (literally), you immediately want him to succeed as it would seem as if you are succeeding. My only worry now with the first person perspective is that other studios realise the success it made with Hardcore Henry and transform it into a gimmick with other action movies copying it. Moving onto the action, it's bonkers. It's unrelenting. It's mental and it really does not stop. For the total runtime, I would estimate that there is around 10 minutes where there isn't any action on screen. It's incredibly violent just like a video game is and even though they won't be allowed to see it, this is an eleven year old gamer's dream. That may seem over-the-top but here's what you have to understand; the entirety of Hardcore Henry is over-the-top.

This will not please everyone. It is a film that tries to break new ground in action and whilst it does that, it's at the sacrifice of a new story and high class performances. Thankfully, I went into Hardcore Henry expecting stupid and insane action and it delivered exactly that. I had an absolute blast watching this film and if this interests you, go and see it.

My Verdict: 8.5/10

What did you think of Hardcore Henry? What is the most insane action film you have ever seen? Post your comments below.

If you like what you've seen here, don't forget to share this post, comment below and check out my other reviews. Thanks for reading!