History Film / HardcoreHenry

** They ''keep'' showing up even after that problem is dealt with? [[spoiler:The [[Big Bad]] is viewing everything Henry does and knows exactly where he is.]]

* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler:The movie ends with Estelle falling to her death from the helicopter when Henry slammed the door on her fingers.]]

* DueToTheDead: [[spoiler:When the Real Jimmy dies from having a piece of shrapnel getting lodged onto his jugular, Henry lays him to rest by closing his eyelids.]]

''"This is fucking war, baby!"''

* EpicFail: Henry is stuck out in a field and tries to ride a nearby horse, to [[Film/TheMagnificentSeven1960 dramatic Western music]]. It immediately [[RealityEnsues bucks him off as soon as he finally gets on top of the thing]].

* RealityEnsues: Toward the end, the nerdy, awkward Jimmy in a vest attempts to "buy time," [[spoiler:and is immediately gunned down,]] while the [=WW2=] Jimmy and the original Jimmy are [[spoiler:mortally wounded by shrapnel from some of the explosions on the way.]]

* LongRangeFighter: Akan's telekinetic powers make him a highly dangerous ranged opponent, being able to throw enemies and heavy objects around, [[spoiler: but his regular human body makes him vulnerable in close quarters. Henry exploits this by grabbing and keeping hold of Arkan's arm once he has the chance to get near enough, thus impeding him from pushing Henry away with his psychic energy and giving Henry the chance to finish him.]]

* MoralMyopia: [[spoiler:Estelle]] is viably horrified at the death of [[spoiler:her boyfriend]] but [[spoiler:she]] certainly didn't bat an eye to all of the brutal experiments and atrocities committed to create a super soldier army to take over the world.

* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: When Henry and Jimmy come upon a group of cops trying to rape a woman in the basement level of Jimmy's base, Jimmy tells Harry to sneak past them to avoid calling attention to themselves, to which Henry immediately responds by enthusiastically killing the cops and freeing the woman.

** They ''keep'' showing up even after that problem is dealt with? [[spoiler:The Big Bad is viewing everything Henry does and knows exactly where he is.]]

** It's easy to miss since we don't get a clear look at Henry's first set of clothing but through the dirt and grime it is clearly a white jump suit. [[spoiler:Turns out this is standard clothing for the rest of Akin's cyborg army.]]

* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler: When Henry gets his HeroicSecondWind, charges Akan and manages to not only negate his telekinetic ability, but also start [[SquishyWizard pummelling him to death]], Estelle loses her cool and starts screaming panicked orders at Henry, culminating with her screaming rant on the helicopter. Akan, for his part, [[CruelAndUnusualDeath doesn't have time for a breakdown.]]]])

* AttemptedRape: Three dirty cops try this on some poor woman. Henry [[KarmicDeath kills all three, with the primary rapist finding out fellating a shotgun isn't as fun]].

* CombatPragmatist: henry often uses improvised weapons, such as tossing glass into his enemy's eyes or beating down corrupt cops with nothing but a steel pipe. [[spoiler:He later improvises a garrote out of his robotic eyeball!]]

* RuleOfSymbolism: The whole story is symbolic of the relationship between player and player character. From the HeroicMime FeaturelessProtagonist to the UnbrokenFirstPersonPerspective. It even gets surprisingly meta later on, as [[spoiler:Henry discovers that his whole journey has all been going according to Akan and Estelle's plans--essentially, he had always been trapped under their control without any chance to break free and make any decisions for himself. His eventual killing of both Akan and Estelle is symbolic of his breaking out of their control and becoming his own character.]]

* EvilAlbino: Akan.
* EvilAllAlong: [[spoiler:Estelle. She was secretly Akan's lover and helped him in setting the plot in motion to test their super soldier program]].
* EvilTowerOfOminousness: Akan H.Q., an enormous gleaming skyscraper.
* ExpandedUniverse: Fittingly for a movie modeled after first-person action games, Jimmy is a member of the [[VideoGame/Payday2 Payday Gang]], which indirectly connects it to [[Film/PointBreak2015 Point Break]], Franchise/JohnWick, and [[VideoGame/HotlineMiami Hotline Miami]]. You can even see his mask sitting in the drawer in the brothel! The trailer for the Hardcore Henry DLC is pretty [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6Xuk_cieHQ rad.]]

* LudicrousGibs: [[Akan and Henry have their final confrontation in mid-air, above a helicopter that's taking off. Henry [[OffWithHisHead messily decapitates Akan]]. Akan's head avoids the spinning rotor blades. [[NoBodyLeftBehind Akan's body does not.]]]]

-->[[spoiler: '''Estelle''': [[BigNo NO!]] ''STOP!'' ''I AM ORDERING YOU TO '''STOP!!''''']]

* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] for BlackComedy at the climax. When Estelle is hit by a bullet that ricochets off Henry's hand, the music turns sombre and, as she stumbles in shock, she dumbly asks what happened. Then she falls out and is left dangling out the open helicopter door, with the city far below, tearfully pleading with Henry for her life. Cue [[FinGore door]] [[DisneyVillainDeath slam]] and EndCredits with upbeat music.]]

* OhCrap: [[spoiler: Akan's smug demeanour ''vanishes'' when Henry gets his HeroicSecondWind and closes the distance to deal with him once and for all. Before Henry slices the top half of his head, the look on Akan's face is one of pure ''fear''.]]

* SquishyWizard: Akan's telekinesis makes him formidable, but it's made clear that it's taxing for him, and physically he's a man of fairly average build. [[spoiler: When Henry closes the distance in the climax, [[FinGore it gets]] [[OffWithHisHead ''messy.'']]]]

* SinisterSurveillance: [[spoiler:It's revealed near the climax that Akan has been monitoring Henry's actions through his robotic eyes the whole time.]]

* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] for BlackComedy at the climax. When Estelle is hit by a bullet that ricochets off Henry's hand, the music turns sombre and, as she stumbles to the open helicopter door, she dumbly asks what happened. Then she falls out, and is left dangling over the city, tearfully pleading with Henry for her life. Cue [[FinGore door]] [[DisneyVillainDeath slam]] and EndCredits with upbeat music.]]

* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] for BlackComedy at the climax. When Estelle is hit by a bullet that ricochet's off Henry's hand, the music turns sombre and, as she stumbles to the open helicopter door, she dumbly asks what happened. Then she falls out, and is left dangling out the helicopter, tearfully pleading with Henry for her life. Cue [[FinGore door]] [[DisneyVillainDeath slam]] and EndCredits with upbeat music.]]

* LongRangeFighter: Akan's telekinetic powers make him a highly dangerous ranged opponent, being able to throw enemies and heavy objects around, but his regular human body makes him vulnerable in close quarters. Henry exploits this by grabbing and keeping hold of Arkan's arm once he has the chance to get near enough, thus impeding him from pushing Henry away with his psychic energy and giving Henry the chance to finish him.

* VillainForgotToLevelGrind: Akan's army of cyborgs have better equipment than Henry and are further [[spoiler:bolstered by data streams containing his combat experience.]] Unfortunately for them, they are utterly unprepared for [[spoiler:an upgraded Henry who is faster and stronger than the one they took all their manoeuvres from.]]

* ArcWords: [[PunctuatedForEmphasis You. Little. Pussy.]] Said to a young Henry by his father after Henry refused to chase after some bullies who'd broken his toy. [[spoiler:At the end, [[OnceMoreWithClarity the full flashback]] reveals that this is actually his father quoting what his own father said to him (he even said he 'deserved' to have been called a pussy for following his mafioso father's orders to shed innocent blood instead of defying him and not committing evil), promising to love him unconditionally and never speak to him like that even if he acts like a coward, and asking him whether he wants to keep being a coward or start retaliating. Henry uses this as motivation to get up and [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge brutally kill Akan and Estelle]]]].

* ArcWords: [[PunctuatedForEmphasis You. Little. Pussy.]] Said to a young Henry by his father after Henry refused to chase after some bullies who'd broken his toy. [[spoiler:At the end, [[OnceMoreWithClarity the full flashback]] reveals that this is actually his father quoting what his own father said to him (he even said he *deserved* to have been called a pussy for following his mafioso father's orders to shed innocent blood instead of defying him and not committing evil), promising to love him unconditionally and never speak to him like that even if he acts like a coward, and asking him whether he wants to keep being a coward or start retaliating. Henry uses this as motivation to get up and [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge brutally kill Akan and Estelle]]]].

* ArcWords: [[PunctuatedForEmphasis You. Little. Pussy.]] Said to a young Henry by his father after Henry refused to chase after some bullies who'd broken his toy. [[spoiler:At the end, [[OnceMoreWithClarity the full flashback]] reveals that this is actually his father quoting what his own father said to him, promising to love him unconditionally and never speak to him like that even if he acts like a coward, and asking him whether he wants to keep being a coward or start retaliating. Henry uses this as motivation to get up and [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge brutally kill Akan and Estelle]]]].

See also ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine'', a similar deconstruction of first-person shooters.

* CombatPragmatist: Henry to an extreme. He often uses improvised weapons, such as tossing glass into his enemy's eyes.

Heavily influenced by first-person shooters, ''Hardcore Henry'' made a splash at various film festivals with its revolutionary concept, gonzo nature and fast-paced, fun approach to the action genre. It won't surprise anyone then, that it did actually get some early cross-promotion with ''VideoGame/Payday2'' as a tie-in, which takes place before the film does, and has you collecting and stealing data on superhuman experiments before Akan can get his hands on it.