Extraction

Extraction is produced by the Russo Brothers, who directed the last two The Avengers and Captain America movies and most likely explains Chris Hemsworth’s involvement here. I can also understand the urge to blow stuff up and curse in your own accent after ten years of being bound by the Disney tenants of decency. The film is directed by Sam Hargrave, who was the stunt coordinator for all of The Avengers movies, Atomic Blonde, and The Suicide Squad, to name a few. So, all of these guys have worked together before and decided to go all-in on something different. I get that. However, this movie will never eclipse the other films this group has worked on together in excellence or popularity, despite their best efforts to do so.

The stunts and special effects in this movie are awesome, and it has more than enough violence to offer. You can tell that a stuntman made the movie. The plot is somewhat formulaic, though, which I guess, to be fair, so are the scenarios of The Avengers movies. What this film is missing, which those films have is great dialogue. There’s not really all that much dialogue in this film. The dialogue follows a somewhat hackneyed plotline that is in every movie that follows a mercenary with a heart of gold. I will say that the ending is fantastic and if you like a good shoot-em-up, the film is worth sitting through for that.

“…the stunts and special effects are fantastic…”

It’s terrible to say, but I would watch Chris Hemsworth with rapt attention reading the phone book (if they still exist). This really isn’t his best role, though. It’s cool to see him kick a*s and take names, but there is not much gravitas involved that isn’t totally forced. There’s a bond between Ovi and Rake that formed over the course of five minutes, that doesn’t really work that well. The villain, Amir Asif (Priyanshu Painyuli), though a bit cartoonish, is really great at being a bastard, so you do find yourself rooting for Tyler and friends. But again, there’s not a lot of natural emotional weight to the film.

Overall, Extraction is a perfect film to watch during the quarantine. It’s like a video game, but with Chris Hemsworth doing all the killing and maiming. Again, the stunts and special effects are fantastic, and as far as action movies go, there are far worse options out there. But the interpersonal drama is lacking too much for me to watch it again. However, it does have Chris Hemsworth in it, so I might find myself eating my words.