Showing posts with label sharlto copley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sharlto copley. Show all posts

Thursday, 7 April 2016

Hardcore Henry Review

Hardcore Henry is an action film completely shot from the first-person point of view of its lead character. Apart from found footage films that use the POV of a character's camera, I think this is probably the first total first-person POV film since Lady in the Lake attempted it in 1947. And Hardcore Henry is a hell of a lot more fun than that.

It's from director Ilya Naishuller who made the music videos I have embedded below. Once you've seen these, you'll have a very good idea of exactly what Hardcore Henry is going to be like. Below these is a snippet of my review of the film.





The titular Henry awakes in a flying laboratory after losing two limbs and most of his face in some unseen grisly accident. His scientist wife, Estelle (Bennett), is putting him back together with new robotic parts when suddenly telekinetic villain Akan (Kozlovsky) bursts in, kidnaps Henry’s beloved and sends his henchman to hunt and kill poor Henry. But they’ve underestimated this half-cyborg super-soldier and his determination to get his wife back, even if he’s running low on power and hasn’t got any memories of his former life.


Just because films based on video games never work, it doesn’t mean that cinema can’t have its very own version of a first-person shoot-‘em-up. Hardcore Henry is so much like playing a video game, that it feels strange not to have a controller in your hand. Copley pops up throughout the film as Jimmy to tell Henry/you what the next mission/level is that needs to be completed. You might find yourself tilting your head, straining to see what Henry sees from a clearer angle, or recoiling from the screen as his enemies leap, punch, kick, and shoot at him. There’s even time for a sniper’s eye view as you stand on a balcony picking off enemies below you...

Read the rest of my review of Hardcore Henry at Starburst Magazine here. 

Here's the trailer:



More recent reviews:

Zootropolis

Disorder

High-Rise

The Witch

Goosebumps

Tuesday, 4 November 2014

Chappie Trailer Shows off Neil Blomkamp's Short Circuit Reboot?

Waaaaaaiiiiiiiittt a minute, come back it's not really a Short Circuit reboot! But it does have a robot who looks a bit like Johnny Five and he is most definitely alive! He may not have a wonderful Wall-eeeeeeeeeee catchphrase but he definitely looks like he'll be tugging at the heart strings no less than any other little robotic critter on the big screen.


Chappie is going to be Neil Blomkamp's chance to bounce back after the relatively (compared to District 9) disappointing Elysium. He's also sort of going back to his roots as this is based on Blomkamp's own short Tetra Vaal which is brilliant and I have also embedded below. It's set in South Africa again, features Sharlto Copley doing voice (and a bit of mo-cap) for the robot and also has big Hollywood stars Hugh Jackman and Sigourney Weaver to help with the international market!

Knowing Blomkamp, this is bound to have plenty of subtext going for it but even without that, this story of a robot outcast looks like it will be axction packed and emotional!

Check out the trailer below:



Tetra Vaal



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