Certificate: 15
Running Time: 123 mins
UK Distributor: Netflix
WHO’S IN EXTRACTION 2?
Chris Hemsworth, Golshifteh Farahani, Adam Bessa, Olga Kurylenko, Tinatin Dalakishvili, Tornike Bziava, Andro Jafaridze, Miriam Kovziashvili, Marta Kovziashvili, Daniel Bernhardt, Tornike Gogrichiani, Levan Saginashvili, George Lasha, Idris Elba
WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?
Sam Hargrave (director, producer), Joe Russo (writer, producer), Eric Gitter, Chris Hemsworth, Mike Larocca, Patrick Newall, Anthony Russo, Angela Russo-Otstot and Peter Schwerin (producers), Alex Belcher (composer), Greg Baldi (cinematographer), Alex Rodríguez (editor)
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
Tyler Rake (Hemsworth) is tasked with getting a mobster’s family to safety…
WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON EXTRACTION 2?
You can’t blame streamers like Netflix for trying (and mostly failing) to get into the blockbuster game, especially when the pandemic gave them a taste for worldwide success. This is no better represented than with Extraction, the Chris Hemsworth-starring action vehicle that was released at the height of lockdown, and despite its mixed reviews quickly became one of Netflix’s most-watched originals of all time, gaining more than 99 million views within its first four weeks. Audiences clearly had a hunger for big-budgeted escapism at a time of great misery, so it’s little wonder that it became such a huge hit and subsequently inspired a slew of largely mediocre straight-to-streaming blockbusters hoping to replicate its astonishing view count.
In today’s post-pandemic world, as theatrical continues to climb back from the depths, it is interesting that Extraction 2 is following its predecessor’s release pattern almost to a tee, in that it’s bypassing theatrical distribution entirely (even a limited run like streamers do for their awards-qualifying releases) and going straight to the streaming service. Could a movie that clearly looks like it would have thrived on the big screen work just as well at home as it did three years prior? Whatever the answer may be, it’s almost a shame that this is not being shown theatrically, because this is a pretty entertaining and very well-executed slice of over-the-top action that perhaps works best when surrounded by an audience and not with a select few in your living room.
The film, once again directed by former stunt coordinator Sam Hargrave from a script by co-producer Joe Russo, picks up from the ending of the first movie, when it looked like Hemsworth’s gunned-down mercenary Tyler Rake was about to meet his maker. However, by the power of heightened action movie logic, he ends up surviving and soon takes on another assignment, handed to him by a shady government figure played by a cameoing Idris Elba. He reveals in a big ol’ exposition dump that Georgian brothers Davit (Tornike Bziava) and Zurab (Tornike Gogrichiani) run a powerful cult-like criminal operation, but when Davit was imprisoned, he forced his wife Ketevan (Tinatin Dalakishvili) – who so happens to be the sister of Rake’s ex-wife Mia (Olga Kurylenko) – and her young children to be locked up with him. Rake’s mission is to extract the family out of the prison and far from the brothers’ clutches, which along with his handler Nik (Golshifteh Farahani) and her brother Yaz (Adam Bessa) he attempts to do while dealing with the violent wrath that’s inevitably coming their way.
If the first Extraction movie was a generic rough sketch for what a decent action movie franchise could look like, then Extraction 2 provides the more solid outlines. It’s certainly an action sequel that aims to go bigger and bolder than before, but a lot of it actually does work, because it’s not simply following the beats of the first movie again, and is actually taking the time to expand on characters and elements that were introduced but not heavily looked into last time. There is a stronger connection between the main characters here, allowing you to see the dynamic between Hemsworth and Farahani much more than you did previously, mainly because they share a lot more scenes with one another that firmly establish their working relationship and their style of banter. It’s enough to care about these people when they’re faced with some pretty gnarly scenarios, as opposed to automatically being behind them simply because a heroic and endlessly charismatic actor like Hemsworth is playing them.
Another way in which the film improves upon itself is the action, which was already a highlight of the previous film but here is amped up significantly as director Hargrave brings genuine suspense and a tight pace to multiple scenes of Hemsworth shooting, stabbing, slicing, and at one point even killing with gym equipment (one of the few times when I actually gasped out loud by how sudden and gruesome the violence was). He also finds inventive new ways to freshen up stuff that already worked in the last Extraction movie, setting the bar even higher for himself in the process. In that film, arguably the most memorable scene was a ten-minute sequence shot and edited to look like one continuous take of Hemsworth just laying into every bad guy coming his way, and here the effect is more than doubled with a breath-takingly executed one-shot centrepiece that includes a prison riot, one-on-one combat, a car chase, helicopters with machine guns, and a runaway freight train. Not only does most of it look seamlessly put together, but Hargrave always ensures that the camera is both focused on the right characters in the right places and clear enough for people to see what is going on rather than have it all be lost to the shaking camerawork. It is easily the best part of the movie, and an incredible feat of stunt-work and action filmmaking that is pretty hard to fault.
Despite all of that, it isn’t a perfect film, with most of the faults lying once again in Joe Russo’s screenplay. A major chunk of plot in the second half relies heavily on one character doing something incredibly short-sighted, to where you no longer care for this person as soon as they commit said act, even when their inevitable redemption comes around. Some of the dialogue can be pretty by-the-numbers for this kind of film, including some foreshadowing regarding certain people’s fates, not to mention some blatant sequel-baiting with Idris Elba bookending the movie as someone who will undoubtedly play a big role in Extraction 3 (which they may well indeed make, especially since this is largely an improvement on the first film).
With some solid character work, menacing villains, unapologetically over-the-top violence, and some incredible action set-pieces, this is certainly a step up from the more standard first film. However, I can’t help but lament the theatrical experience that could have been with this movie, because if The Flash can somehow wind up on the big screen in THAT state, then what exactly stopped Extraction 2 from getting a chance to bring audiences together beyond their living rooms?
SO, TO SUM UP…
Extraction 2 is an action sequel that largely improves upon its generic predecessor, going bigger and stronger with its characters and especially the execution of its impressive stunts and camerawork, though it still needs some fine-tuning in the script area.
