Hardcore Henry (2015)

A few years ago a smaller, spottier, more ambitious version of myself thought aloud "I'm going to make a movie entirely in first person!" Then Hardcore Henry came out, crushing my dreams. But, dreams crushed, I saw the movie anyway, and learnt two things. It's an incredible concept, not such a great movie.

Director Ilya Naishuller (say that 5 times fast) has done a pretty good job of making Hardcore Henry a 1 hour 40 odd minute film entertaining. And you'd think that a first person, action thriller (supernatural?) sci-fi adventure romp would be entertaining as is. But really it's not. It's intrigue and entertainment are delivered by two separate things. Concept and a bloke called Sharlto Copley. (District 9)

Visually, this film is a bit iffy. I don't mean the stunts, explosions, almost game-like cinematography. No, I mean the fact it was shot on two low-resolution GoPros attached to the cameraman's head by a strap. The film often looks out of focus and low quality, and while I have to commend them for even managing to pull this off, it still looks sort of rubbish. And it's ultimately distracting, it takes away from the amazing stunts when suddenly pixels start to become noticeable, or they're in a dark room and everything looks out of focus. But what about those incredible stunts I bang on about. Well, they're there, they're plentiful, probably mostly practical, and impressive on multiple viewings. It's probably the only reason I came back for a second time (that and the promise of snacks of course.) Seeing the cameraman scale buildings, knock guys off their feet and duck in and out of cover is exhilarating stuff and gets better and better as the film goes on. And Mr Naishuller manages to make it fun even when Henry himself is just stood around chatting. He can't speak for whatever plot point or other, so he gestures with his hands, or shakes his camera covered head. And it's funny, the first and twentieth time.

Because this film excels in comedy to! This is mainly due to supporting act Sharlto Copley playing the multifaceted Jimmy. He's as brilliant on screen as ever, stealing the show every scene he's in. He has some pretty funny lines here and there, but most of the comedy is situational. And really this is the beating heart pumping the action filled blood around what is really a pretty shallow body.

Because Hardcore Henry is a concept movie through and through, and once you've seen it there isn't much substance there for a second viewing. It's cool seeing it all unfold before your eyes as you and your mate ask "Woah! How did they do that?" or "Is that real? Is that actually him climbing that" (based on real experiences), but once that magic is gone Hardcore Henry is pretty basic. It's story is that of a man off on a mission to save his wife, who brought him back to life and made him a robot. It's sort of remenicent of the movie Crank (Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, 2006) as Henry rushes around to find various things to inject in his body to keep him alive (much like Statham's need for adrenaline to keep him alive.) And I got a similar vibe from this movie as I did that one too (they both even share the first person perspective idea!) They're both movies that are all about being fast paced, nonsense action flicks, only Hardcore Henry wanted to do it all in first person.

And while the first person differentiates itself from the slew of other terrible action movies (Crank not included) frankly it's not enough to make it a great film. Perhaps with a better story, or a more meaningful use of the first person, this film could have been great. But aside from its "wow" factor, this film has very little to offer, which is a shame really. Watch this film to experience the sheer effort that went into its production, but don't expect a deep and meaningful plot or much substance at all.

6/10