Friday, June 16, 2023

'Extraction 2' A Review

Extraction 2 is an action movie, a sequel to 2020's Extraction. Chris Hemsworth's Tyler Rake is brought back from the dead, retires from mercenary work, then returns to it with a mission to extract the wife and kids of an imprisoned Georgian drug lord. A large body count ensues.

Hemsworth doesn't do much acting here, is in full on Terminator mode, which is fine. He's clearly doing much of his own stunt work which enhances the action(after the first 15 minutes or so it is basically one prolonged sequence). There's some talent in the supporting cast- Idris Elba shows up, Golshifteh Farahani returns as Tyler's handler/partner- but there's not much to do. The plot is overly convoluted and at times utterly preposterous so regardless of how well or artfully the various action set pieces are put together they don't feel like they actually have stakes.

Shot with the modern eras standard drab grittiness masquerading as realism the look evokes a homogenized weariness rather than excitement. The score is droning and forgettable. The fight choreography and action sequences are really the only things the movie does well(or seems to be interested in) and clearly this is Netflix's attempt to birth their own John Wick franchise. And yet much of the action falls flat, there are no real characters that inhabit it and there is no question that Hemsworth's Rake is invincible. The 21-minute one take shot doesn't seem to have much of a purpose and there are moments within it that are clearly tightened up with CGI, its kind of impressive but doesn't have nearly the kind of visceral quality of the long-takes it is pulling from in True Detective or Children Of Men.

In the marketing for the movie they are really pounding the fact the Extraction, the predecessor, was the most watched movie on Netflix, of all time. Well, it was released in 2020 during the 5th week of lockdown, so, duh. It was bad but we all watched it because we had nothing else to do. Three years later the sequel seems to have passed from the collective viewer consciousness within 48 hours.

Lacking vision, heart, or much of a pulse.

Currently streaming on Netflix.

Don't See It.

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