78
The film is an exhilarating and inventive spectacle that makes every other action film from the last 10 years look as obsolete as the Lumière brothers running that train at you back in 1896.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
40
The visuals are undeniably impressive at times, as Henry parkours around the city or during a particularly tense shoot-out, but they also struggle with inevitable motion sickness of the frenetic handheld camerawork.
70
Hardcore feels like umpteen post-“Star Wars” action blockbusters trash-compacted into one — and whether that fundamentally appeals or not, the ingenuity of effort is undeniably high.
75
The film's unbelievably precise choreography of action seeks to tap into a universal feeling of powerlessness.
58
It never crystallizes into a singular experience, and instead collapses in a rush of well-intentioned innovations.
67
The Film Stage by Ethan Vestby
It feels longer than 90 minute because, despite changing locations frequently enough, Ilya Naishuller‘s debut feature never really has a strong sense of structure nor escalation to make it as truly kinetic as it wants. Yet, at least to some degree, the right spirit is there to lift it through some of the deadening stretches.
50
The A.V. Club by Ignatiy Vishnevetsky
Shot with head-mounted GoPro cameras, the Russian-made action flick Hardcore Henry mimics the experience of watching someone else play a very derivative first-person shooter with sub-Duke Nukem humor.
40
The Guardian by Jordan Hoffman
Naishuller’s technique is one that could be well served as a shorter gimmick; a solitary action scene in a larger film. Hardcore is unrelenting and unforgiving in its commitment to be loud, fast, destructive and gross.
70
The Hollywood Reporter by Stephen Dalton
Hardcore blasts along like a supercharged computer-game shoot-em-up, bursting with sick humor and splatterpunk violence.
0
New York Daily News by Stephen Whitty
Stupid as a bag of hammers and twice as loud, Hardcore Henry sounds like the title of the worst Kissinger bio ever. Actually, it's an action movie that feels more like you are trapped in a video game. A really, really bad video game.