Hardcore Henry, by first-time film director Ilya Naishuller, is not a great movie, but one definitely worth watching. After waking up in a medical lab — which, we quickly find out is inside a blimp high above a Russian city — Henry discovers that his left arm, and leg, have been cybernetically enhanced by Estelle (Haley Bennett), who (as she reveals) is his wife. He has increased strength, stamina, and seems to be lacking any need for sleep or food; sadly, he has lost the ability to talk, and has no memory of who he was before he woke up. After a brief familiarization of his skills and new body, Estelle and Henry are attacked by Akan (Danila Kozlovsky), a villainous blonde with telekinetic abilities.. that are never explained. Estelle and Henry escape, she is kidnapped by Akan’s men, and Henry is off to get her back.
This is the basic premise, and little that occurs in the film deviates from the standard “get the girl” mission. As expected, this film has the feel, look, and kinetic energy of the better FPS’s (first-person-shooters, ya noob) out there, with about as much of the depth and development. First-person full-length feature films are rare (Lady In The Lake, and Enter The Void are the two easily remembered features to come immediately to mind, and only the former is a genre film). The difficulties in utilizing this style stem from developing a character sufficiently for the audience to care for them, as well as unveiling a plot without expounding too much expository dialogue, which slows down the pace. Enter The Void avoided both problems by having a non-linear structure that jumped around in time–as well as killing off the protagonist, who then wanders around in spirit–giving a much wider range of perspective for the plot to unfold (this, despite the film meandering excessively).
Here, Hardcore Henry doesn’t worry with trying to break free of the problems of this style, and instead just trots along. Sharlto Copely (Elysium, Powers) plays multiple roles in this film, as a character who points Henry in the right direction; this gives him hints to finding Estelle, acting as a brother-in-arms, and constantly acting as cannon fodder (which is actually one of the few ingenious plot points in the film, and a running joke). The explanation behind his multiple appearances — a coked-up punk, a World War II-era British soldier, etc. — is rather novel, and he gives the film a much-needed heart. It’s also apparent he’s having a blast in the role(s), and his manic energy suits this type of film perfectly.
As it is, Hardcore Henry moves at such a frantic pace, there is no time for anything subtle or nuance, and feels like a series of “…and THEN…” scenes one after the other. Every scene has the feel and layout of a video game level: Enter here. Talk to this person. Get information to get to there. Enemies arrive. Dispatch enemies. Move on. Hell, there’s even a scene (the one that got the film funded, by the by) where Henry and multiple Jimmy’s have to protect a defenseless target from enemies (man…the N64 GoldenEye flashbacks are creeping up now…). The final fight between Akan and Henry is likewise structured as a boss fight: Akan exhibits heightened abilities we didn’t realize he had, he uses the full extent of his telekinesis, and Henry uses the environment itself as a weapon. But don’t be misled: the action is incredibly well done.
The aforementioned “protect the asset” scene is an incredible bit of fun, wherein Jimmy and Henry cover one another and fight their way from the top floor of a building down to the lobby, working together to mow down armored goons. However, earlier in the film two other standouts take place: 1.) A foot-chase through a park and over a bridge, highlighting the incredible orchestration and staging of the action–to say nothing of the various stunt performers who take turns playing Henry, 2.) Jimmy arrives in a sidecar motorcycle (hinted at in the commercials), and together they engage several vans full of goons. The bike drives behind, and then through, the van, as Henry then jumps out, into the van, and then atop, fighting along the way. While having some alternative angles would have been great in providing some spatial relation between characters, seeing action unfold like this is incredibly refreshing and unique.
The level of choreography, staging, and editing (both visual and audio) is massively impressive, and, on a purely technical level, Hardcore Henry is one of the best action films of the past few years (ONE of the best action films, on a PURELY TECHNICAL LEVEL). It’s beyond impressive, and a major credit to see stunt performers in the forefront: here, they’re the actors, stunt performers, camera operators, directors of photography, and co-directors. Where’s their Oscar category?!
That being said, the film wasn’t very suspenseful or engaging on any other than a surface level. Without outside perspective, we don’t truly get to understand other character’s personalities, goals, or even the plot. And since there are no scenes that don’t feature Henry (who, again, doesn’t talk, and doesn’t know what’s going on around him), the dialogue is mostly expository. Just parse information, and then move on, or get killed. If this were anything other than a genre film, and if it were not so swiftly moving and with such a short running time, it would have been headache-inducing and non-engaging; but the stunt work is worth watching. This movie is the answer for people who think films like Shoot ‘Em Up and Crank are too slow and boring.
Just don’t ask for too much more than roving GoPro action footage.
STX’s Hardcore Henry is in theatres now.
@uncledarryl37
HUNTERS
The Syfy Network has been around long enough now to call it a legitimate network. They’ve had some great shows (Continiuum, Being Human, Battletstar Galactica) and some not so great ones (if they weren’t worth remembering why list them). Their newest show Hunters debuted this week and brought out the signature SyFy Network style of just-what-the-hell-is-this?!
From Natalie Chaidez (12 Monkeys) and sci-fi badass producer Gale Anne Hurd (T2 and The Walking Dead) comes a top-secret government organization called the ETU (Exo-Terrorism Unit), which specializes in taking down “hunters” a.k.a. a maniacal bunch of aliens that are living on Earth BUT… look like humans! New concept, right?! The ETU learns of an FBI Agent named Flynn (The Bridge’s Nathan Phillips) whose wife is kidnapped by the hunters. So, they just ask him to join their group in tracking the psycho ET’s because, yeah, when you’re a super covert agency you just have whoever join your ranks!
The leader of the ETU Truss Jackson (Pitch Black’s Lewis Fitz-Gerald) explains how “the ETU deals with the kinds of terrorists that other agencies aren’t equipped to handle.” (#smh emoji). We later learn that Flynn’s wife is being held up in a cage by a hunter regional leader, McCarthy (Fantastic Four’s Julian McMahon), who looks like that band DJ from Mad Max: Fury Road. He instantly loses all villain credibility once he snarls and groans through his teeth like he’s trying to push out a kidney stone. Lastly, Flynn is paired up in the ETU with Regan (The Flash’s Britne Oldford), who — you guessed it! — has superhuman powers similar to the hunters. Damn, is Earth ever in trouble.
Point blank: The looming big baddie (“Brother Number Four”) is near laughable, and the protagonists are no less than stereotypically mundane. It’s hard to root for the good guys to win when they’re nothing more than a cliché strike force of “hardened soldiers.” The one guy who has any unique personality is the bad-joke-making tech, Jules (Gareth Davies). Plus, the hunters need a higher precedence than the whole take-over-the-world thing. Where did they come from? Why the hell are they even here? Hey–I’m all for making a show about humans saving the Earth from invaders, but it has to be a world I care about that gets saved first.
You can catch these Hunters every Monday at 10/9c, only on SyFy.