Half in the Bag Episode 107: Hardcore Henry

half in the bag I don't even know what's wrong with my face so when that [ __ ] rich you know rich the other VCR repair man who was introduced in the last episode when he comes through this door and he will you start shooting okay I didn't care if it's someone else I'll start shooting anyway cuz you don't really have to use a sight on a shotgun right I it couldn't hurt well over the recoil would probably break my face also it could hurt it would yeah and also shotgun is like a wide spray so it's not like a sniper rifle but you know I'm inexperienced with firearms so I'm just going to go ahead and do what I was doing okay we could be here a while go ahead okay go guns gang heavy and I can't wait five minutes without beer mm-hmm okay this would be a lot easier if the two of us weren't alcoholics [ __ ] it you know what if he comes through we'll just pick up the guns and Saoirse with them we don't just sit here waiting for him yeah I mean have you seen that round boy he can't move fast on uh who even knows if he's gonna come here he may have fled the country moved up to Canada where all the other pacifists limp-wristed socialists live ha hey this shotgun doesn't even have a pump on it and even think I could fire it oh wow oh I guess I could fire it yeah it's fine it was just CGI blood which eliminates it of any sort of emotional impact it reminds me have you seen hardcore Henry hello had me relax okay scam process actually hardcore Henry or as I like to call it hardcore headache or parkour Henry you picked the clever alternate title is the world's first POV action movie surprisingly this was not based on a video game but based on a music video will there be a video game soon could hardcore Henry the game be the first video game based on a movie based on a music video who cares all I know is I wish someone would shoot me Reginald what did you think of hardcore Harry Leisure Suit Larry Mac that's going way back that was the world's first video game sex game winter made me think of this movie because the original title for this film was hardcore I don't know why it was changed to hardcore Henry but I know hardcore was a 70s movie with George C Scott it's like a it's it's eight millimeter before 8 millimeter it's better because it's dirty Scott this is a famous scene of him breaking down in the movie theater is that a famous scene because I was thinking about that I was like that's why is that scene not used more why is that scene not a meme it's the most amazing thing ever I think people people use it kind of like the the Hitler scene that's what it should be that every time there's something to react to there's a new version of that Hitler scene but nobody uses the jerk see Scott freaking out in the movie theater they should they should everybody should use that it should listen up internet internet meme makers here's an example of what you can do with that scene party's over kids the clown has arrived I'm the more enlightened age the space age from the future at office outer space cop from the past me cop from the piece you're trying to tell me that you're a cop you look more like the mailman or an ice-cream truck driver who ate himself out of patience should you like eating those things space cop you even know what hotdogs have made it oh I guess we're talking about hardcore Henry I am there's not a lot to talk about so this movie is 50/50 Furby buy the song love hate love hate really reaction yeah it gets an A for effort an a-plus for effort but I had seen the music video that this was inspired by it's the same this is the first film feature directed by this guy but he did the original music video for I think his own band and I remember seen that when it came out and then I saw the trailer said this movie is like there's no way that a 90 minute feature can keep up this momentum and energy that this music video has and I was right so some parts work really well in some parts don't and that's all that matters in a movie like this because the storyline is super thin and really doesn't matter yeah I guess it goes without saying that I was little I was hoping for more from the story and one big problem with that was a lot of the exposition came in the end of the film yes which made like it kind of annoying for the first 80% of it and there were a lot of like elements that I found fun and creative and I wish there were more of particularly the opening scene when he wakes up in the lab and the the the Hans from die hard the super villain shows up as I say he looks like an albino Crispin Glover yeah he has Darth Vader eyes I was going to say Hans Christian Andersen what's his name Harriet Tubman who's the guy in Revenge of the Sith the guy who was the actor Hayden Christensen Oh Hans Christian Anderson Hayden Christians I get it I get how you would come to that I suppose my the synapses in my brain are misfiring everywhere but well your core doesn't say you just watch our core Henry I called the lead actor of Revenge of the Sith Harriet Tubman watch how horribly misfiring my synapses are firing misfiring yeah so there's opening sequence in and hardcore Harry Henry wakes up and it is like you know I'm it's like Robocop I'm a robot and looking around and then I was thinking of roebuck is the Robocop Total Recall there's a whole bunch of whole but that sequence in particular though because there's a whole section in Robocop this is POV and the bad guy busts in and then there's like uh we got to escape but they run out there was a guy in escape pod and he's like [ __ ] you yeah and then and then they shoot out he grabs a girl and they shoot out the escape pod and I'm like older and some kind of airship this is awesome it's very sci-fi and of course all the robot stuff and you know the former scientist for the bad guy who was crippled because the bad guy crippled him and he uses a virtual reality helmet and and robot duplicates of himself that he cloned he can only have his conscience in one robot at a time which is fun there's a sequence there's a musical number which comes out of nowhere which is kind of great because it's something exciting and weird and yeah when one stops performing it falls down and the next one comes in yeah and then and then the one of the guys is like a British World War two soldier an old like limey bastard private about Beauty chinchou the net Hong comes too quickly on the soap these is it's really fun because you're there running around and they're there instead of just straight up shoot them up violence oh yeah I love earnest to it well that whole sequence in particulars is probably the best action scene in the movie because it's just a series of action scenes that's the whole movie and that one it's like it's a clever sequence the way it's presented is clever it has a clear goal and a clear sense of geography as far as what's happening which is nice because there's the the original scientist man who's the crippled guy and they're trying to lower him down in this like makeshift elevator thing down the middle of this big open stairway make sure you stay below the [ __ ] that whole sequence is like it's clever in a way we're like the final action scene where it's just Tim fighting and endless amount of guys on a rooftop and it just kind of keeps going is not clever yeah at that point the action became nauseating he's confronting the bad guy the bad guy headquarters and I thought okay we're gonna do a thing with the bad guy because a bad guy has magneto powers somehow which I don't know if has ever explained it's not explained which I'm okay with it's just that this is sort of like a like when I saw the trailers for this I was thinking of the crank movies oh yeah and the crank movies are of course the best movies ever made if you are unaware too high voltage to is amazing and number six on AFIS top 100 films of all time it should be numbered for the fire okay I'll go there's a couple more movies that are better than cranked to high voltage but and like the crank movies especially the second crank movie this movie seems to be kind of just throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks it's not quite as crazy it has weird elements but there's a lot of sort of bland action scenes to the crank movies are the only ones I can think of where it has this constant momentum and constant adrenaline that doesn't get tiring like this movie does and I think a part of it is Jason Statham he's actually character and he's charismatic and in this movie we have no character really yeah there's nothing he doesn't even like the movie starts he doesn't know who he is and we don't really learn much about him throughout the movie a tiny bit at the very end but Tim Roth is his father and he smashed a toy robot yeah and that's at the very end we kind of get a little bit of X or e to this guy so there's not really doing to root for he doesn't talk which I'm sure was a deliberate choice by the filmmakers so they didn't have to worry about that with the first-person POV stuff so it's just yeah there's not really a lot to latch on to aside from just admiring some of the the stunts and the the visuals well the good news is that you're gonna live a while bad news is in this case 20-30 minutes tops this is [ __ ] war baby so this guy made the music video for a band his band and his band and it's it's like this good visuals terrible sound effects good visuals and then the guy who made Abraham Lincoln vampire hunter send a message on Facebook and said I like your video won't you make a movie is that actually what happened yeah and he's like okay and he's like just make it are you gonna get i want final cut okay sure whatever go make the movie I guess to give money or get follow put producers in his way who gave him money and then he's a producer on it and so he's like do you think it'll work for 90 minutes sure well you go ahead why not who no one's ever done it before and I give the movie credit for that for attempting something that's never been done before sure this is a POV action movie with no story that's what it is and that's what they wanted to make yeah and it didn't get like overly burdened with like a love story or and anything that would have like Hollywood producers would have shoved in there it doesn't need to be Hollywood schmaltz you just need something they need a character it needed to yeah and you needed if they had pulled off a 90 minute POV action movie that that somehow transcended above its material and had a deeper meaning a deeper element to it a deeper connection where you're like oh that's brilliant that's really good I really feel something here wow they did that with a POV shoot them up video game action movie because we have not used the term video game in a derogatory sense towards this movie at all no because there are people out there oh say video games can be smarter than movies they can be more having better developed characters they could have better storylines calling this movie a video game though is appropriate hmm and and it unfortunately it like furthers that stereotype or that idea that video games are just nothing but just sitting there shooting I think it's interesting because there are video games now where the story is more important than the gameplay where you're practically watching a movie and then you have a movie like this where it feels like you're watching somebody else play a video game it's like our wires are getting crossed okay what it good news is that you're gonna live a while the bad news is there's an army standing between you and your wife so let's go better this is the first movie that was made to be cut up into 25-minute parts and put on YouTube there you go because the structure of the movie is action scene or level level 1 level 2 level 3 yes and in between each one is a little bit of I wouldn't even call it exposition I would just call it talking where is somebody they stopped somebody's talking to them you got to do this got to plug this into this oh [ __ ] action scene 2 starts each action scene has a specific end goal like a video game yeah we're like a theme like here's an action scene in the back room of a seedy strip club yeah here's an action scene on a bus here's an action scene you know here and and it's so each one is its theme and it's look that's the general structure and I guess I was sort of interested in the bad guy a little bit I want to know more about them I want to know why he could he has magnetism powers I like that they didn't explain that he's just a weirdo I didn't know if he was part robot or what and then it then it's like the plot is he's making super soldiers and then there's the Total Recall twist when the the oh [ __ ] yeah that's a big spoiler yeah that's the only spoiler there's a lot of like action scenes and little set pieces that just kind of come out of nowhere and take you by surprise yeah and it's really hard like to fault this movie a lot because it is it is very well done as far as like I don't know who the the guy is that plays the guy but he's I believe it's multiple stuntmen it's not one guy I was gonna say whoever they got was like someone that's really good at parkour parkour Henry and also we should pay special commendation to the whip pan which helps cover up lots of edits well hide your edit do it pan yeah well that's good though I mean it's like you could tell where this little this little part was that had to happen yeah so they probably set up and filmed and we got to get this part and then so here's the next thing and all I don't flow together seamlessly they weren't they weren't trying to say this is all a one-take POV movie no there are very clear edits yeah that were edit well there there's there's jump cuts to which is almost defeats the purpose of even doing the whip pans it's almost like one of the other yeah yeah but um I would have preferred a more smoother looking POV well they yeah I mean that I believe they shot the sole thing on GoPros the consumer-grade GoPros it has that sufficient to it and the quality level wasn't quite there for see I would have actually liked it if it looked a little cheaper like I liked the music video because there's such a purity to it and it's very clear that there's no like digital trickery I mean there might be little bits here and there but in the minim time up the original video like when he's climbing up the buildings are jumping from building a building it's very obvious that this is real stunts really happening and with this movie it's it's it's I mean I guess that's a compliment to the effects guys and then it's sort of seamless but it makes it harder to appreciate because you don't know how much of it is completely you know phony or done in the computer I read a little quote from the director and he feels very strongly about chuckles stop okay he said the movie should at first be it should be practical with CGI were necessary not not CGI we're practical is necessary not inverted so I didn't take that to heart with squibs you watch this movie and just think of how complex and harder oh sure to make and then you're like I don't know I'd probably get a lazy two and go can we just do a digital blood splatter there instead of trying to time all this [ __ ] out there were a lot a lot of rubber heads and props and oh yeah I can tell when there was a real like there's a one shot where the guy comes in and he but blows them up with a shotgun and there's books yeah you tell that was real that's almost why it's more distracting when there is the the CG because it never blends in properly it takes you out every time it's yet and it's unfortunate in a movie like this because there is so much else to admire to me I would almost prefer like he's you see him with the machine gun and he's shooting guys in the trucks I would almost prefer just like they get hit no here don't even worry about it yeah every time someone gets hit there's a little like CGI color blood hitting the windows of the inside of the cars and it's just like not everyone explodes in a little bits of blood so we've grouped in the fallout you know just is you a fine fine we're going too hard on hardcore Harry no I mean it's it's I admired it more than I liked it and that's it's almost frustrating because it's not doing great at the box office like it's number it opened number five or something under my Big Fat Greek Wedding - and it's left the movie with most McCarthy in it I thought the movie with Melissa McCarthy Anna wasn't my big fat greek design haven't Greek mmm what she might be she might have a little Greek in her I usually yeah that's usually that's just some weekends because she gets [ __ ] by Greek guys oh yeah as opposed to something like a Batman V Superman or shitty Melissa McCarthy comedy number 106 something like this that it's at least attempting to do something a little different by with the origin of violence absolutely it's something different like eggs are and it's very niche though I don't know it didn't feel like a wide release it doesn't feel like a movie that most audiences would a 15 year old boys a video game nerds like it's a very very thin razor thin audience because most normal people go that looks like it would give me a [ __ ] headache yeah I think they were banking on the gimmick of it though as being like a selling point which is why they opened it so wide there's maniac the maniac remake with Elijah Wood that's all POV mmm and a better use of POV this movie just feels like let's do it to see if we can you know it feels it it feels like a gimmick as opposed to the maniac remake which it's it's completely changes the movie as far as what its purpose is which is to get you in the mind of this deranged murderer and have you sort of understand him psychologically so it's a little more depth to the purpose of the POV in that this is just look what we did this movie reminds you of Run Lola Run at all a little bit when he was running through the little shops in like whatever that underground tunnel thing was and the muse was very techno yeah I was thinking to run lola run during that part and that's a movie that keeps up that energy because that's true yeah there there is that's like ticking clock 101 like here's your plot yeah here's what's here's what you got to do Melania it resets every 30 minutes or so we're seeing the same story told you know slightly different three times to keep it fresh as opposed to this which it just kind of keeps going yeah it's kind of like you're in a sports car and you hit up the gas and then you hit the brakes get the gas I hit the brakes now it's gas oh my god Jesus place my gums on the table oh geez I was getting a little too into my metaphor who built this building the Chinese they built the railroads there takes us across the United States overall their Braves feeling late is slow like bloody you know are you gonna stand up and go spill this I'm having a hard time J I'm having a hard time functioning brain realizing what it just saw my brain really wants to like it my stomach doesn't want to like it because I threw up I throw up all over my crotch I would have appreciated if you had gone to clean up and then came back to watch the rest of the movie as opposed to just sitting in your own vomit for the next 45 minutes so I clean up if it's just gonna happen again you know it's like why brush your teeth every day if you're just gonna eat food that's why I haven't brushed my teeth in five years I know I know and it saved you and I a whole lot on toothpaste breath mints and trips to the dentist office whenever I ate a toothache I just do like Tom Hanks and cast away I just have an old rusty skatin just yeah I just knock it out with a rock yeah at home dentistry life hacks my [ __ ] yeah my facts remove your own [ __ ] teeth The Rock I don't know is this a big screen experience J um it's just a home TV experience to me the pictures seem to kind of fall apart a little because of the quality of the GoPro yeah like it got blurry during lots of motion I would say it's a home because when you watch it at home you can pause it you can take breaks it just it admire it for what it is without it because you're not going to get an engaging story so at least admire the technical aspects of it in in fifteen minute chunks yeah having the ability to pause it and watch it at home it's probably better yes then the theatrical experience plus when you throw up all over yourself you're close to your hamper Oh share shower mm-hmm theater doesn't have a shower in it maybe they will install them temporarily for this filament it's like that those theatres with the D box experience recent in the little booth than like the seat vibrates is not know the sort of thing this is the thing that exists so they did that but they also included an overhead shower so you can clean all the vomit off yourself that would be helpful just wear a giant like sumo diaper there you go like wow they give you Poncho's when you come into the theater oh there you go Matt poncho like a Gallagher show yeah except for Gallagher kids well I guess we should go back to aiming our guns at the door are you pointing the gun

Channel: RedLetterMedia

Views: 950,013

Rating: 4.9217434 out of 5

Keywords: redlettermedia, red letter media, red, letter, media, half in the bag, plinkett, mike stoklasa, jay bauman, rich evans, hardcore henry

Id: Ioit5DWsWsw

Length: 26min 10sec (1570 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 14 2016

Reddit Comments

[u/MastermindExcello]

"Have you seen that round boy? He can't move fast."

[u/Meadslosh]

HARDCORE HAYDEN HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSON TUBMAN

[u/Thetenthdoc]

The fact that this half in the bag was in 1st-person 0% of the time makes me sad.

[u/badhusbamd]

George C. Scott watches the Jack & Jill trailer.

[u/veloster-raptor]

Oh my god, this was a fucking great episode.

"Are you pointing the gun at m--" end credits theme

[u/CursedJonas]

Why does Reginald always change his name?

[u/Supermunch2000]

Hack frauds, about time they put something new out.

Excuse me while I stop everything else in my life to listen to Mike and Jay for 26 minutes.

Edit: Confirmed, the next Plinkett reviewed will be about The Matrix.

Edit 2: Mike's face at the end was worth the wait, I can't ever remember a funnier snear.

[u/[deleted]]

I love Mike & Jay's boner for Crank. Neveldine & Taylor would be a great guest on the show.

edit: here's the Crank guys response to RLM https://twitter.com/neveldinetaylor/status/720705776017248256

https://twitter.com/neveldinetaylor/status/720712323732606976

c'mon mike check your twitter

[u/JPaverage]

Next episode will be about a Civil War between Mike and Reginald since he pointed a gun at him