Review of Hardcore Henry (2015) by Brandon E — 17 Apr 2016

Ever played a videogame and wondered how it would look as a movie. I remember when Doom came out and many gamers like myself enjoyed the short fps sequence. With Harcore Henry it is exactly what many perceive it to be....a videogame, well FPS games to be exact.

Now the problem with some FPS is that they lack story and development. Think of a game like Call of Duty, no one really follows the story. The focus is on the gameplay, action, the guns and destruction. Hardcore follows the same structure of popular FPS games. No real story, or strong character development (then again this type of film wasn't going to promise that in the beginning given its focus on action). The villain looks like a video game villain with the long blonde hair and unexplained telekinesis. The story is progressed similar to a video game, after an action sequence Henry is briefed for his next mission via cellphone. Similar to how videogames will brief you on your next mission after you reached a checkpoint.

The action is great, that's obviously the benchmark of this film. I've got to give the filmmakers praise for utilizing this concept throughout the movie. Now I don't recommend watching in 4D or D-Box. Some people may get a bit nauseous (then again this movie should not be a problem for gamers). However a casual gamer like me had to look away for a second. A reason for that is due to the scene where Henry is doing parkour or rolling on the ground. I attest this to the fact that most FPS games have a static hud/reticle on screen to prevent motion sickness. Unfortunately our character doesn't have any augmented hud.

Overall it has a great concept, we can finally say that there is a movie out that strongly resembles a video game. Much like a video game it lacks story and character. On another note I have to appreciate the 90 min duration. So many movies feel as if they have to push the 2h30m mark.