How many times have you been playing a frenetic, first-person shooter and thought to yourself, “This would make a badass movie”? Now how many of you also thought, “It could star Sharlto Copley as a kooky British colonel type!” You’re not alone — that’s exactly the thought process behind director Ilya Naishuller’s Hardcore, a first-person POV action film which is currently raising funds on Indiegogo. You may remember Naishuller as the brains behind last year’s viral short film Bad Motherfucker. This success of that project – and the urging of Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov – spurred him to direct a POV-style feature film. Before I go into too much detail, you should check out the trailer to see exactly what the director has in mind.

While POV-style films aren’t necessarily a new thing (see Andrew Bowser’s terrific Worm for an example that predates this), the execution in Hardcore sets it apart from the pack. Hopefully, they won’t keep the strong, silent protagonist as silent as he is in this trailer because the occasional thumbs up isn’t really enough for my taste. I get that the director wants the audience to project themselves onto the protagonist, but I’m not quite sold that it’ll be enough. Minor gripes aside, the action in the trailer is terrific, the style feels inventive, and as we all know, you can never have too much Sharlto Copley. Also, this poster is pretty unassailable too.

Here’s the official synopsis:

“HARDCORE is a modern, action Sci-Fi story about HENRY, a newly resurrected cyborg who must save his wife/creator ESTELLE (Haley Bennet) from the clutches of a psychotic tyrant with telekinetic powers, AKAN (Danila Kozlovsky), and his army of mercenaries.  Fighting alongside Henry is JIMMY (Sharlto Copley), who is Henry’s only hope to make it through the day. Hardcore takes place over the course of one day, in Moscow, Russia and it’s all shot in the same style as BAD MOTHERFUCKER to be released in cinemas worldwide.”

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Hardcore is raising funds until December 6, 2014.

Images: STX Entertainment