This all must baffle Ilya Naishuller, a Russian whose Moscow-based, English-language debut feature is an extension of two wickedly clever music videos he directed for his band, Biting Elbows. (His clip for “Bad Motherfucker” is essential viewing.) Like those YouTube sensations, Hardcore Henry was shot by attaching a GoPro camera to a stuntman’s headgear — his visual perspective becomes our perspective, from the opening frame to the last. If Henry falls face first to the ground, we see the ground rushing up, just as he does. Throw in a bad-guy army who send Henry on a foot/motorcycle/helicopter chase wild enough to wear down Mad Max, and you have a movie with everything it needs save one crucial element: emotion.
At the start, Henry wakes from a coma to find he’s been turned into a cyborg — part man, part machine, with no memory, no voice and a missing leg and arm. Luckily, the beauty across the room is not only his wife, Estelle (Haley
Things happen. Estelle and Henry escape, but Askan’s mercenaries quickly capture Estelle and take her away. Trying to save his wife, Henry has the first of umpteen gunfights, which typically result in the bad guys aiming wildly while Henry lands kill shots that make his target’s head explode. Blood is forever spurting into Henry’s face and eyes, which, don't forget, are our eyes too. The wise will experience Hardcore Henry from the back row of the movie theater — away from the whirly-twirly camera work and arterial spray.
Henry is given a ride by Jimmy (Sharlto Copley), who is shot dead right after showing Henry how to recharge his robotic battery pack. Minutes later, Jimmy’s back, but
In the end, there is indeed one true Jimmy, and there is a reason Askan wants to nab Henry and his wife, but it might take a few whiskey shots before I could explain it all coherently. I saw Hardcore Henry twice in three days (long story) and people walked out early both times, but those who stayed kept giggling, which suggests two things: The film critic in me needs to lighten up, and Hardcore Henry is going to end up where it began — as a beloved midnight movie.