Movie - Hardcore Henry

Note:  May be minor spoilers for the movie, but will keep them as limited as possible.

     I went into this movie with some pretty low expectations, just due to the nature of the movie and how unique of a movie it is in premise alone, and I can say that I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome.  It's a pretty frantic, all over the place movie, and I think that is what makes it more unique than even the POV style of the film.  Just based on the title of the movie alone, the action scenes needed to deliver, and I felt that, except for a few weak points, the action in the movie was very well done and felt different than most other movies just based on the fact that you are watching everything from a first person perspective.
     For those that don't know, the premise to the movie is that the entire movie is told from the first person perspective of the protagonist, Henry.  He wakes up and his wife is attaching parts to his body, and we find out that most of Henry's body has been replaced by robotic parts.  We don't really get much explanation as to what happened, and we get little tidbits of that as the movie plays on, and I think that adds to the intrigue of the film.  Considering this premise, I felt that it would be hard to keep any sort of narrative rolling, but something as simple as not explaining just what happened to Henry before waking up was enough to keep things interesting for a bit, while filling in the empty spots with a bunch of action scenes.
     In the opening bit, we get to see the main antagonist, Akan, who is very over-the-top right from the outset, as he breaks in to the facility where Henry is being set up with his new robotic body parts.  Things go wrong quickly, as we learn that Akan is trying to create an army of "engineered" robots similar to what Henry has now become, and Henry and his wife are able to escape the facility, if only briefly.  Henry's wife gets taken, and Henry is saved by a man named Jimmy, played by Sharlto Copley.  As the only bigger named actor in the film, Sharlto Copley does most of the heavy lifting throughout the film (especially since we never see Henry), and he does a fantastic job with what he is given.  He is the comic relief, the main device to keep the plot rolling, and he even plays multiple roles (which I won't fully get into, as I think it would take away from the movie).
     If the above explanation seems a bit strange, or doesn't make a lot of sense, than I think you are starting to get an idea of what this movie is really all about.  It's not a conventional movie, and I think that is what makes it good.  The storyline is pretty basic, although there are a few twists that are well done, but overall, the story isn't what the movie is all about.  They went all in on the first person perspective aspect, and tried to make the movie revolve around that, and for the most part, it is well done.  There are a handful of moments where the shaky camera work doesn't really show what is going on, but I felt that most of the time, it felt like it was supposed to feel.  You are supposed to be Henry in the movie, and it's supposed to make it more immersive, similar to a video game even.  While I don't think it fully accomplishes that goal, it does accomplish being something different than everything else that is being released, and I applaud the filmmakers for at least attempting it.  There are not a lot of movie studios out there that would even try, and so for that alone, I have to the give the movie its due.
     One big thing I would like to point out that I felt while watching the movie is that it knew what it was and never once tried to take itself seriously.  It was meant to be over-the-top, and it 100% embraced that throughout the whole movie.  If it ever started to take itself seriously, it would make sure that it did something so big and ridiculous, that it would bring it back into perspective and make you realize that you are just watching a distraction of a movie, not something that was trying to win any awards or be something that was going to make you think too hard.  It was an action movie, similar even to movies in the 80's that were big and cheesy and just went for it, no matter how silly the end result was.
     I don't want to say that this was the best movie I have ever seen or anything like that, but I do think that the movie was a brave choice and was executed well for what it was trying to do.  It's not a movie that is for everyone, but I also think that if you go into it knowing what you are getting, it will go a long ways to helping you enjoy the movie more.  It is a big, in your face action movie, that relies on its first person perspective and non-flinching filmmaking.  If you want to experience something different from anything else released this year, than Hardcore Henry is for you.  If you are looking for something that is going to make you think long after the movie is over, than you probably want to steer clear.

My rating for the movie is 7.5/10