Russia has arrived on the global film stage!
You're watching Beyond The Trailer's review of Hardcore Henry!
Where are the Hollywood challengers? Well first, there was Bollywood, but it's remained
stubbornly insulated from the global film market. In fact, recent global phenomenon
Bahubali came from outside Bollywood, from the South of India. And of course, everyone
knows that China has suddenly emerged as a major - and somewhat corrupt - global player.
But one roadblock for foreign film has always been language. For now, the United States
is the biggest audience in the world and we don't watch movies with subtitles. Sure movies
from Bollywood, China and Mexico are able to occassionally crack the top ten, but they
never open in the top five. That's why China is going to begin making english language
films, and why Russian rock star turned filmmaker Ilya Naishuller has decided to make his first
movie in english - Hardcore Henry. Naiqshuller cut his directorial teeth first helming his
rock band's music videos, which were so stylish they got the internet's attention - and Hollywood's.
Now, naturally, Naishuller has taken the high concept idea used in both videos - a first-person
shooter, video game-esque experience - to the next level with a full feature film, which
stars Russian heartthrob Danila Kozlovsky as the villain and South African director
Neil Blomkamp's muse, Sharlto Copley, in multiple roles. Hardcore Henry made such a splash at
the 2015 Toronto Film Festival that Lionsgate and Universal were both eager to acquire the
film, but in the end STX Entertainment's ten million dollar check won the day. Good for
STX, which made an impressive debut with its first movie The Gift last year, bad for Lionsgate
whose recent box office numbers are so bad Wall Street just downgraded its stock. Deadline's
Pete Hammond has already labeled POV filmmaking as the next craze that will replace "found
footage", and sure enough Sacha Baron Cohen's The Brothers Grimsby has already featured
it. But again, Hardcore Henry's success won't be a win for POV filmmaking but for Russian
film talent. Kozlovsky tried to get work in Hollywood, but the best he could manage was
Vampire Academy. Timuk Bekmambetov, a producer here, was off to a good start with Wanted
but then Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter an Ben Hur have seriously downgraded his stock.
The last Russian movie to really turn any heads stateside was 2013 Stalingrad, and it
only earned a million dollars here. Surely Hardcore Henry can do better than that - but
is it good enough to earn Russia the respect of America's largely xenophobic moviegoers?