YMMV / Hardcore Henry

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• Alternative Character Interpretation: When Akan confronts Henry and Jimmy, he gives due respect to Henry, saying "[he'll] go far" while calling Jimmy a piece of shit. In the moment it seems like he's just hurling vitriol at an old enemy, but you have to remember, Jimmy used to work for Akan. Jimmy is the man primarily responsible for the ground-level of this cyborg technology, even rebuilding corpses and implanting memories. Jimmy *might* have morals now, but at one time, he seemed perfectly willing to align with Akan as long as it furthered his research. It may just be the villain calling someone out for rebelling as they're not so different.
• Americans Hate Tingle: The film was very well received in several European countries and Russia (obviously at the latter, because in spite of the English language used by the main characters, it's a Russian film). American critics were much more polarized by the film, with only a 51% at Rotten Tomatoes.
• Awesome Music: The Director's (Ilya Naishuller) Band "Biting Elbows" made some good music for their Movie:
  • My Woman.
  • Dustbus.
  • For The Kill.
  • НА ЗАРРРЕЕЕЕЕЕЕЕЕЕЕЕЕЕЕЕЕЕЕЕЕЕЕЕЕ, голуса ЗАВуууууУУУУУУУУУУУУУУТ МЕНЯАААААААААА
  • That one Queen song. You know the one. And here's the rooftop fight scene beginning when the song starts to play.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment:
  • Jimmy having his clones do a song and dance number, just to show off his technology to a confused Henry.
  • While looking for Jimmy at a brothel, Henry stumbles upon a man pretending to be a car amongst a bunch of ladies. He's listed in the credits as "Car Fetishist."
• Captain Obvious Reveal: Estelle is evil. Any viewer with some genre savviness is going to immediately distrust the first person an amnesiac character meets, much less a scientist who apparently wears a black cocktail dress to work. By the time the movie actually gets to the reveal, the audience has gotten so much proof Estelle can't be trusted that they've probably already gotten there.
• Catharsis Factor: Arguably the whole movie, but it's cranked up to eleven during Henry's Heroic Second Wind and he majestically repays Akan and Estelle for all the suffering they put him and the Jimmys through, especially Akan with finally giving him a taste of his own medicine after spending 90% of the movie using his telekinesis to kick Henry's ass.
• Cliché Storm: Something of an Invoked Trope, as it uses clichés to give the movie some excuses for its Unbroken First-Person Perspective. That said, the movie is a pretty unique example of this, because it largely delves into the pool of videogame clichés and associated tropes, not film clichés.
• Complete Monster: While Akan and Estelle love each other, Akan's Co-Dragons have no such redeeming qualities:
  • Slick Dimitry is Akan's chief benefactor and in charge of his "guns/cops/real estate" in arming and outfitting the villain's organization. Planning to Take Over the World with Akan, Dimitry helps him lobotomize and transform dozens of men into cybernetic killing machines, only to personally murder the lot of one of their batches when they prove too mindless to be useful. Dimitry throws his men at Henry with no care for their lives, and is fully backing Akan's destructive plans.
  • Yuri is the chief of the mercenaries Akan hires, who regularly racks up Collateral Damage anywhere he goes. Introduced viciously beating Henry and taking enjoyment from it, Yuri dispatches his troops to hunt Henry and kill anyone in their way, leading to various cops and an entire bus of citizens being killed. Later leading a massacre of a brothel, Yuri also uses heavy artillery to try to kill Henry and Jimmy, uncaring of the various civilians who die as well—such as a lovable hippie who had just nursed Henry back to health.
• Crazy Is Cool: Jimmy and his clones make it very entertaining to see, if only for how erratically he makes them behave.
• Critical Dissonance: The film's critical rating sank from Fresh to 51% on Rotten Tomatoes shortly after its release, but audience ratings remain high.
• Cult Classic: It's arguably on the fast track to becoming a cult classic, as the the sheer amount of imagination used to film and direct the action sequences is deserving of praise and recognition in of itself. Even though the movie didn't get the warmest reception when it was first released, it's gotten some high praise from prominent critics like Adam Johnson by virtue of it being a really fun, energetic action movie, as well as it just having some genuinely impressive stunt work and choreography.
• Dancing Bear: A high-octane, fast-paced action movie shot entirely from the main character's perspective.
• Fanon: Due to some behind-the-scenes footage and pictures showing that Ilya Naishuller himself played Henry. A few of the non-first-person fanart that doesn't depict Henry as faceless, sometimes portray him as pretty much-looking like or being played by Ilya Naishuller.
• Friendly Fandoms: Thanks to the cross promotion and Jimmy (at least his coke-snorting clone) being a playable character. Some fans of PAYDAY 2 are also fans of the film.
• Heartwarming Moments:
  • The speech Henry's Dad gave him when Henry was a child. The first few words are "You. Little. Pussy." Near the end, the full speech is revealed:
    Henry's Dad: "You. Little. Pussy." That's what my old man called me. It was like it was my name. And I proved him right. By killin' all the wrong people. I love you, Henry, and I'll never call you anything but your name, but you gotta decide... Are you gonna lay there... swallow that blood in your mouth? Or are you gonna stand up, spit it out, and go spill theirs?
  • In a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment during the Slick Dimitri chase, Henry accidentally collides with a random woman on an escalator and immediately checks to to see if she’s alright. Henry - a half-machine, One-Man Army on a bloody Roaring Rampage of Revenge - unintentionally hurts a civilian, and his first instinct is to help her. It’s a small moment, but it shows that our hero isn’t as heartless as he seems.
  • Minor moments as well throughout the movie - action movies typically rely on Apathetic Citizens, but usually when Henry has crashed through a window or into a dumpster, the first reactions of bystanders is to try to help him and check if he's all right.
• Ho Yay: Depending on how you see it there's a slight one between Jimmy and Henry. When he decides to show off his technology. He or rather his clones begins to sing "Under My Skin" to Henry, not only does he take his hand but he spins him around too. (Subverted, though, as Jimmy does explain that he's straight as an arrow in the next scene.)
• Magnificent Bastard: Jimmy is a wacky and brilliant scientist who uses his bevy of clone avatars to assist the cyborg Henry in his quest for revenge against Akan. Having been crippled by Akan years ago following employment to the madman, Jimmy now seeks to screw with his former boss in any way possible, and seeks out Henry to truthfully manipulate him into being his pawn against Akan. Protecting, advising, and guiding Henry throughout the film in prolonging Henry's robotic life and tracking down his kidnapped lover, Jimmy shows an immense amount of charisma and swagger in each and every one of his clone avatars, playing them all up with hammy pizzazz even while mowing down enemy soldiers or torturing them for information. Luring an entire squadron of Akan's troops into a trap that wipes them all out, Jimmy leads Henry in breaking into Akan's base of operations, and, though lethally wounded in the process, Jimmy admits to having grown attached to Henry as a friend, and thanks him for all the fun they've had together. As a last good deed, Jimmy removes a memory blocker from the cyborg's mind and wishes him well, before dying with utmost dignity after making Henry promise to brutally kill Akan for both their sakes.
• Memetic Mutation: The entirety of "That has got to be the gayest jacket I've ever seen" scene with Hobo Jimmy, Henry and the flamethrower-toting Mr. Fahrenheit. Has become rather popular with not much people knowing about where it came from.
• Nausea Fuel: The shaky nature of first-person style can give some audiences dizziness and motion sickness. There are reports of people becoming ill at the film festivals where the movie was screened.
• One-Scene Wonder:
  • Tim Roth as Henry's grizzled, yet loving father, who appears at the end of the film to give Henry a speech that inspires him to get up and go after Akan one more time.
  • Punk Jimmy, who takes on Akan's thugs with nothing more than a machete, a sawed-off shotgun, a rad mohawk, and raw attitude.
• Special Effect Failure: Some of the hidden cuts are seamless. Others... not so much. The convoy chase scene in particular has Henry and the vehicles teleport to various different parts of the road, the time of day randomly changing mid-action, and forests suddenly transforming into fields.
  • The explosion effects near the end when Henry blows up some of the clones in a crowded room is not remotely convincing.
  • After Jimmy dies, Henry comes out of an elevator and uses the grenade launcher from earlier to blow up more guards. For some inexplicable reason, the gun is very obviously (and very poorly) green-screened in and the mooks being "blown up" just kind of fall over while the explosions happen.
• Spiritual Adaptation:
  • As the film is heavily inspired by First-Person Shooter video games, there's arguments that it's one for several examples: Call of Duty in its hectic gunfights and action scenes, Half-Life with the Unbroken First-Person Perspective and Henry's Heroic Mime status, Mirror's Edge in the chases and fistfights. First Encounter Assault Recon due to having a psychic commander as the Big Bad, and Bioshock for the protagonist's memory being tampered and altered (on top of the protagonist's earliest ally being the Big Bad). There's even a canonical connection to PAYDAY 2.
  • Some also felt this is the closest we'll get to a third Crank film, with that series and this film both sharing their love for over the top violence, frenetic pacing and outlandish humor.
  • There is also another party that feels it's an unofficial remake or sequel to Universal Soldier.
• Tear Jerker:
  • Jimmy's Death, due to his last remaining clone being severely injured and The Real Jimmy having a shrapnel lodged in his jugular. He uses his last moments both thanking Henry for helping get far enough and cause enough mayhem for Akan and his goons, and apologizing for hiding his memories after finding out that he had a somewhat normal and happy life before this whole fiasco. After he and his clone finally bite the dust, Henry closes his open eyelids you can clearly see Henry's Tranquil Fury. All while Peter Wolf Crier's Hard As Nails plays in the background.
  • Jimmy's death really stands out in the film as well. Pretty much every other death in the film is loud and over the top. Here? It's quiet. Low-key. Chillingly empty. It feels so out of place, so disconnected to the rest of the film, which only makes it all the more effective.
  • Henry discovering that Estelle and Akan were manipulating him this whole time, planning to use his recorded memories in order to emotionally manipulate their cyborg army into fulfilling their goals. It's such a painful and even surprisingly somber moment in such a fast-paced action movie. You can feel the dejection in Henry's eyes when we finally see his face in a reflective piece of glass, and it's the only time throughout the movie where the audience actually has a face-to-face connection with him; rather than just following his perspective and being taken along for the ride, we now see him as he is: just a man, caught in horrifying circumstances beyond his control. And then he takes control.
• Values Dissonance: There is derisive discussion/treatment of women and gay people in the film, which reflected mainstream Russian culture at the time. This led the film to be criticised for sexism and homophobia, particularly by viewers outside Russia.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: It's an entire movie shot from one perspective. The incredible technical wizardry used to pull this off, combined with the action sequences makes for an incredible looking film. It's particularly impressive for a film with only a $2 million budget. Special note goes to the Sniper scene, in which the view outside of the scope keeps moving in a realistic fashion to simulate moving the scope.
• The Woobie: Henry, surprisingly, especially near the end.

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