Hardcore Henry
Director: Ilya Naishuller
Year Released: 2015
Rating: 2.0
Live action video game simulation has cyborg Henry engaged in a battle with malevolent Akan (Danila Kozlovsky) who wants to form an army of resurrected super soldiers ... and has kidnapped Henry's scientist wife Estelle (Haley Bennett). Textually hollow - it really doesn't matter what the plot is and the characters are paper-thin - but intense: it was shot using GoPro cameras in first-person perspective to resemble Halo, Deus Ex, Call of Duty, etc. (pick and choose your favorite game; there's also a little Metal Gear Solid in there) and seems determined to jolt you consistently ... which it technically does since it's the only thing it sets out to do (I couldn't imagine having watched this in the theatre without Dramamine). It isn't the first movie to use this POV technique (Naishuller purposely places a Lady in the Lake poster in one apartment) although it makes me wonder whether or not this kind of thing should remain on a console or PC.
