Review of Hardcore Henry (2015) by Danielnites — 07 Apr 2016

Maybe with all of the advancement in VR tech, it's a good idea to make a film that satisfies one's deepest desires not achievable in AAA titles. Or...maybe not. "Hardcore Henry" is an action-packed (emphasis on the "packed") 90-minute 1st person thrill ride that puts audience members in a visceral and nauseating position. The endless barrage of action sequences stacked on Cloverfield-approved camerawork may have you regretting not picking up a couple of aspirins before the opening trailers.

The early 2000s game plotline opens on a lab setting where synthetic goodies are being stitched to the protagonist/director/audience's body by an increasing gorgeous Estelle (Haley Bennett) who claims to be the wife of said character Henry. Just before our hero's voice can be activated, the lab is raided by heavy-armed men at the command of telekinetic albino antagonist Akan (Danila Kozlovsky) whose B-button weapon is the death of story originality. Next, there's the first of many struggles, complete with an impossible dive from the airship housing the lab and the inevitable kidnapping (inciting incident) of Henry's wife.

A classic run'n'gun-inspired button tutorial follows as Henry makes his way through Moscow until he encounters an alley named Jimmy (Sharlto Copley) who feeds him mini-missions which ultimately lead him to the final boss who wants to take...over the world? Gripping.

"Henry" is a free-for-all of the most epic moments in video game history adapted into live-action form. No matter how impossible, no matter how grotesque, it check off every gamer's to-do list without breaking a sweat or breathing for that matter. At times, it feels more like the creator's personal quest to produce the world's first action trope encyclopedia than a Friday night flick.

The excessive stuffing of crude excitement eventually becomes the film's undoing as we are left with little personal involvement aside from Copley's comedic antics. If doused in paint thinner, it would be unfortunately reduced to a VFX YouTube playlist, modern stereotypes and a thinning plot.

Still, newcomer Ilya Naishuller's technical direction reflects a struggle for true innovation in the action genre and whose efforts closely align with those undertaken decades ago by a young George Lucas with a breakthrough experiment called THX 1138. While innovation may be present, cinematic merit is awarded to quality, not quantity much of which is absent from the film's foundation.

The muted superpowered hero and the creative annihilation of the interchangeable NPCs may speak to the Millennials whose ideas of entertainment are built around the freedom of Grand Theft Auto and the immersive nature of Battlefield, but ultimately the film's incapability of delivering user control, the most alluring feature of such an experiment, denies itself submission to the list of great modern action films.

There has always been a thin line between gimmick and game-changer but taking a half-hearted step forward is only two steps back.