Hardcore Henry

[GeneChing]

[GeneChing]

FEB 11, 2016 @ 12:50 PM 6,754 VIEWS
'Hardcore Henry' Is A First-Person-Shooter Movie, And It Looks Awesome

Erik Kain CONTRIBUTOR I write about the intersection of entertainment and technology.
Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.


Credit: STX Entertainment

Hardcore Henry is an action film shot entirely in first-person point-of-view. Not only that, it’s a film shot as though it were a first-person-shooter, replete with grenade tossing, melee combat, and a silent protagonist—the titular Henry. It’s probably the most video gamey movie ever made, and holy hell it looks so stupid and wonderful I honestly can’t wait to see it in theaters.

The film was directed by Russian filmmaker Ilya Naishuller, who wrote the script with help from Will Stewart. It stars Haley Bennett (The Equalizer) and Sharlto Copley (District 9) and while he’s not listed on the IMDB credits, that’s definitely Tim Roth in the trailer. You and me—the audience—will play the titular role of Henry.

Hardcore Henry began life on Indiegogo, where it raised over $250,000 back in December of 2014. After a high-profile showing at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2015, STX Entertainment picked up the worldwide rights to the film for $10 million.

Haley Bennett stars in “Hardcore Henry” (Credit: STX)

At the time, the film was simply called “Hardcore” but was renamed “Hardcore Henry” after STX became involved.

The really good news right now for viewers who’ve always wanted—or at least wondered about—a first-person-shooter movie? It’s pulling down an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes at the moment. That’s not half bad for a movie that looks this bombastic and silly.

Hardcore Henry lands in theaters on April 8th, 2016.

Hmph. No fight choreographer listed on IMDB. Nevertheless, I'd review a screener if offered. It looks Parkour-esque.

[GeneChing]

I finally saw this because it just came up on Netflix. Talk about your trip down the rabbit hole, a super sanguineous uber ultravi trip. Shot from the protagonist’s point of view like a 1st person shooter video game, the action is relentless and the stunts are astounding. It’s a lot of jiggly cam but here it works, adds to the freneticness and covers the scene stitches. Some of the chase scenes were ridiculous cinematography and first-person-view parkour and I had to do some serious double tales to figure out how they might have been shot. Lots of hairpin turns with the plot, always super violent. Huge chunks of the story don’t make sense and seem intentionally unexplained but who gives af? The action pays out - some really imaginative and visionary scenes - outright mindblowing. You just gotta experience it and not think about the plot too hard.