Hardcore Henry
2015 · Directed by Ilya Naishuller
Original language: English
- action
- adventure
- science fiction
The story
Henry, a newly resurrected cyborg who must save his wife/creator from the clutches of a psychotic tyrant with telekinetic powers, AKAN, and his army of mercenaries. Fighting alongside Henry is Jimmy, who is Henry's only hope to make it through the day. Hardcore Henry takes place over the course of one day, in Moscow, Russia.
What it’s like
Frantic first-person chaos shot almost entirely through a helmet-mounted lens, so the image jolts, swings and spins with every movement, and the palette runs to washed-out grey Moscow concrete, rain-slicked streets, flat fluorescent corridors and hard orange fire. Sound is the loud, close kind: gunshots cracking off walls, heavy breathing, a pulsing electronic score that surges with each fight and drops to tinny silence between them. The vibe is feverish, adrenaline-soaked and absurd, a kinetic video-game rush with a dash of dark comedy, and it suits a late-night binge when you want to be jolted rather than soothed. The pace never lets up, with long brawls and chases stitched into a single day, and the emotional register stays playful and breathless rather than tender. Intensity is high: constant stylised violence, heavy gore, dismemberment, shootings and bloody hand-to-hand combat, with crude language and a few sexual jokes. Made for viewers who enjoy hyperkinetic action, gleeful brutality and point-of-view spectacle, and not for anyone wanting something gentle or calm.
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