After waking up with amnesia, a resurrected cyborg partners with an eccentric genius and pursues the warlord who captured his wife
ACTION/SCI-FI
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Hardcore Henry (2016)Written and Directed by Ilya Naishuller
Starring Sharlto Copley, Danila Kozlovsky, Haley Bennett, Tim Roth, Andrei Dementiev |
Hardcore Henry may be the weirdest film I have ever seen, and I'm not just talking about the fact that it's filmed entirely with a Go-Pro camera. Beyond that, it's an action flick about a cyborg who partners up with a paralyzed genius who walks around Avatar-style to kill a telekinetic warlord with a plot to rule the world with genetically engineered soldiers. It sounds like the either the best video game ever or the worst video game ever. It may not shine in the story department or have many memorable characters beyond Sharlto Copley's wildly entertaining Jimmy, but as far as balls to the wall action goes, Hardcore Henry has it and them some.
The film is quite innovative with its use of Go-Pro cameras. You never see Henry's face, leaving him up to interpretation. It makes the action scenes about ten times more insane, bringing a whole new definition to the term "in your face" violence. It's got all the elements of a Jason Statham flick, without Big Stath himself, which is unfortunate because he would've done a much better job as a memorable villain. Akan, the telekinetic (for some reason) sociopath who gets the whole cyborg ball rolling, is annoying as hell. He feels like a reject from a bad MTV cartoon. Thankfully, the cast is redeemed by Sharlto Copley, who delivers a number of fantastic performances as the difference facets of paralyzed genius Jimmy's personality. There's Scientist Jimmy, Soldier Jimmy, Hippie Jimmy, Punk Jimmy, even Cokehead Jimmy, and all of them are completely different. I was beyond impressed at Copley's ability to make them all stand out. Hardcore Henry manages to impress with its unique filming style and crazy action sequences. It's got a decent plot twist that may be predictable to some, but still pays off due to Henry's inevitable reaction. I enjoyed the film much more than I thought I would. It dares to try to be its own thing, which I respect. I'm just glad it wasn't terrible, even though it seems like it wants to be. It's the only case I can think of a film attempting to be "so bad, it's good," but just ending up being good on its own. |