Film Review: Extraction

If there is one thing to take away from the latest Netflix release Extraction, it’s that stunt-coordinator-turned-director Sam Hargrave is the real deal. You may not know him by name, but you have definitely seen him at work. All the cool hand-to-hand action beats from the Marvel movies directed by the Russo Brothers? That was Sam Hargrave. The stairway sequence from Atomic Blonde? That was also Sam Hargrave. Hell, he even did extensive work in China’s Wolf Warrior 2. He once again collaborates with the Russo Brothers, who serve as producers on his directorial debut, with Joe Russo also being the writer, adapting a 2014 graphic novel he worked on called Ciudad.

While the comic took place in Paraguay, the film shifts its location to Bangladesh where Ovi (Rudraksh Jaiswal), the son of an Indian drug lord, is taken to after being kidnapped by Amir (Priyanshu Painyuli), a rival Bangladeshi drug kingpin. However, help comes in the form of a literal white savior, Tyler Rake (Chris Hemsworth), a mercenary who is hired to find Ovi, and you guessed it, extract him. Oh, and before you ask, yes, he does get to kill someone with a rake, and fairly early on too. Naturally, complications arise, the extraction is compromised, and now Tyler has to fight his way through Amir’s army and find a way to get him and the kid back to India.

The set-up isn’t particularly fresh, and it largely consists of story elements and tropes that feel like it may be a deliberate throwback to the kind of polished, star-driven, hard-R action films that were not uncommon in the multiplexes before superhero films reigned supreme. It’s stuff I’ve always had an affinity for, so the film’s indulgences in junky hyperviolence and no-nonsense, I-know-just-go-with-it plotting doesn’t really bother me at all. But do know that this isn’t the kind of transcendent actioner like the John Wick films that will appeal to those not already into these kinds of movies to begin with.

Like I said though, Hargrave’s work here as an action director is really good, and his stunt team does some excellent work throughout the film. There is one sequence in particular that I’m sure is going to be the one everyone talks about after seeing the film. It happens a little over half an hour into the film, and the whole sequence is done as a tracking – or maybe edited to look like one – that goes for almost 15 minutes. It begins with a car chase, goes into and up a building, and end back on the streets. It’s full of car stunts, pyrotechnics, intense hand-to-hand choreography, and bloody gun play. It’s terrific, and while the rest of the film’s action beats are not as ambitious in its filmmaking, they are still just as thrilling and fun, and Hemsworth is more than capable of selling the mayhem.

Outside of the action, there isn’t a whole lot to it. It does rely very heavily on the charisma of its star, and the strength of its action to carry the film from start to finish, which it does, but if you are looking for anything a bit more substantial, there isn’t much to be found here. The only reason the obligatory sad backstory for our main hero works is because Hemsworth is a good actor, and can bring some emotional vulnerability to the material. It’s also a very humorless affair. The only thing that resembles a joke is a line from Ovi where he mentions that Rake is a really weird last name. There is a minor thread that is about how Tyler uses his mission as a way to make amends with something he did in his past that haunts him, and while it can be effective in the moment, the film brings it in far too late in the game to have a strong impact once it’s all said and done.

Extraction isn’t necessarily a great movie, but it is a rock solid action movie that has more than enough to satisfy fans of the genre. It has its fair share of flaws, and while most of them I can overlook, I do find the white savor element to be a bit eye-rolly, despite a compelling turn from Chris Hemsworth. There are plenty of bright spots with the action choreography and stunt work, enough to where I can say that I had a good time with the film overall. It’s also well made, competently constructed, and the actors are good, even if some of the players like Golshifteh Farahani and Pankaj Tripathi felt criminally underutilized. Though, we do at least get a solid fight scene between Hemsworth and Randeep Hooda. At the end of the day, it’s the work put in by the crew that impresses me the most. I do look forward to seeing what Sam Hargrave can pull off when he’s working with better material.