By Robert Scucci
| Published
Seeking out a much-needed break from horror comedy, I took it upon myself to run a search query for the “most chaotic movie on streaming,” and one of the top results was a sci-fi action film called Hardcore Henry. Going into my viewing experience completely blind, I think I found my new favorite action movie because not only is it chock full of mindless violence that would give the John Wick franchise an inferiority complex, but it’s so relentless in its pacing that you can watch it several times, as you’ll miss some pretty intense sequences if you just so happen to blink too much.
With barely any semblance of a plot, Hardcore Henry’s delivery reminds me of Mad Max: Fury Road in the sense that it’s essentially a 96-minute chase sequence that never lets up, and just when you think it can’t get any more intense or over-the-top, it continues to push the envelope further than you could ever possibly imagine. What sets Hardcore Henry apart from its contemporaries, however, is the fact that it’s shot entirely from a first-person perspective, placing the viewer in the titular protagonist’s shoes for the duration of the film.
No Plot? No Problem!
Hardcore Henry boasts a bare-bones plot, but is such a bombastic sequence of events that you may not even realize how little story is being told until you’re halfway through the movie. Okay, to say that there’s no plot is a bit of an overstatement, but there’s really not much to it, which is by design.
We’re first introduced to Henry when he wakes up from a coma, and his wife, Estelle (Haley Bennett), gives him the rundown on what happened to him (kind of). Strapped to a lab table, Henry is informed that his body was wrecked in an accident as Estelle affixes prosthetic limbs with superhuman strength to his body. Henry has no recollection of anything before waking up, and is essentially a blank slate who will do whatever he’s told if given the proper commands.
After its opening scene rundown, Hardcore Henry’s villain, Akan (Danila Kozlovsky), breaks into the lab and all hell breaks loose. Akan has psychokinetic powers, and can execute his subjects with a flick of the wrist from a safe distance. Seeing everything that Henry sees, it’s up to the audience watching everything play out from his perspective to figure out what’s actually at stake before we hit the ground running at breakneck speeds, but only before jumping off of buildings, wrecking cars, and evading danger every step of the way.
Not Alone Because He’s Followed By Clones
Blasting his way through city streets and various mercenary compounds with whatever weapons he can find, Henry has recurring run-ins with a man named Jimmy (Sharlto Copley), who educates him on his new body whenever they see each other in passing, while also leading him to various charging stations that allow him to stay alive. Each “Jimmy” has a very blunt personality but entirely different appearance (a homeless man, a stoner, a drug addicted brothel patron, and a mercenary who’s armed to the teeth, to name a few), and they more often than not get brutally executed by Akan’s henchmen throughout the film. With each Jimmy our hero meets in Hardcore Henry, we learn a little more about Akan’s operation, and Jimmy’s origin.
Hardcore Henry Has No Right Being This Funny
While Hardcore Henry plays it straight like your typical action movie, its sense of comedic timing is palpable. My favorite laugh-inducing exchange between Henry and Jimmy, of which there are plenty of other instances, involves Jimmy prompting Henry to wipe off his feet on a welcome mat before entering his lab after they both narrowly escape death about 50 times across a couple minutes of run time. This kind of witty rapport is strategically placed throughout Hardcore Henry, and never wears out its welcome because it’s used with a level of economy that keeps the film on pace.
Streaming Hardcore Henry on Freevee
Hardcore Henry is equal parts style and substance, and one of those films that you’ll keep coming back to in order to figure out how it had a production budget of only $2 million, which is what impressed me the most. I can’t even begin to fathom what Hardcore Henry’s actual body count is, and the idea of even attempting to tally the number myself makes my brain shut down. One thing I do know, however, is how intense the role of Henry was to act out, as several actors (Sergey Valyaev, Andrei Dementiev, Ilya Naishuller, and David Malic, among others) all wore the same GoPro helmet to bring the character to life, but had to tap out because they all suffered from severe neck pain while performing their stunts.
As of this writing, you can stream Hardcore Henry for free on Freevee. Just make sure you have access to Dramamine becuase you’ll probably need it for motion sickness.
