Extraction is based on the ultra-violent graphic novel Ciudad, written by Andre Parks and the Russo Brothers.
The premise is not very complex. The son of India's drug kingpin is kidnapped and held for ransom by his rival in Dhaka. The services of an ex SAS mercenary, Tyler Rake are called upon to rescue the boy. The catch is, the boy's captors control the police and the military. Facing an impossible task, Tyler Rake must dig deeper than he has ever done before to complete his mission.
Extraction is an all-out action flick. But, whilst the premise is weak, there's enough to make it a decent movie. The Russo Brothers co-wrote the story and Joe Russo wrote the screenplay. The direction, from Sam Hargrave, also sets this film apart from your regular action movie. Right from the opening scenes, the camera work is amazing and immersive. He, delivers some incredible ‘one take' action scenes that take your breath away, and the fight scene choreography is just outstanding. In that regard, it's quite like the John Wick series of films.
The hero, the star, the lead man, and the main focus of the movie is nonother than Chris Hemsworth. The muscle-bound Aussie has dropped Thor's hammer and instead loads himself up with knives, guns, grenades, and anything he can get his hands on. He is fantastic and his raw Aussie accent let's rip too. Hemsworth genuinely executes this role with aplomb and this was a great choice of role for him. It may have helped that he co-produced it with the Russo Brothers too.
Extraction edges close to becoming the Chris Hemsworth show. Virtually every single character in the film gets killed – except him. But, there are some surprisingly good appearances. David Harbour gives a good performance as do Priyanshu Painyuli, Randeep Hooda, and Rudhraksh Jaiswal, who are all brilliant. Sam Hargrave jumps in front of the camera too and does great as a crack sniper. But the real standout comes from Golshifteh Farahani who is electric, her character develops throughout the film and so does her performance.
All in all, Extraction does everything that you would expect from an action flick and much much more. The kill rate is through the roof and the violence is pushed way over the line. But it's definitely not boring! Yes, there's a couple of reasonably sedate periods in the nearly two hours. But they need to be there to get your breath back.
Extraction is relentless and does succeed in entertainment stakes. Who knows, maybe this is not the last we have seen of Tyler Rake. I certainly hope not.
