DIRECTED BY-:
Sam Hargrave
STARRING-:
Chris Hemsworth
Golshifteh Farahani
Tornike Gogrichiani
YEAR OF RELEASE-:
2023
PREMISE-:
After barely surviving his grievous wounds from his mission in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Tyler Rake is back, and his team is ready to take on their next mission.
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MILD SPOILERS.
THE NEGATIVES: - Even if we assume that Tyler had access to the BEST physical therapist in the world, it was still unrealistic how quickly he was able to recover and return to his former fighting form.
- During the action sequences, the main characters usually had A LOT of plot armor, luck, and convenience surrounding them.
- When our heroes are making their escape on their train in Georgia, why didn't the bad guys (who are in helicopters) just shoot their missiles at the railway track in order to derail the whole train directly?
- Even though our heroes are skilled black-market mercenaries with a lot of experience, I still found the ease with which they were able to escape from Austria in their helicopter a bit hard to believe, since the local police would presumably be tracking them at all times.
THE POSITIVES: - Characters, Themes, and Performances: At an approximate 1 hour 50 minutes runtime (excluding the credits), and 3 considerably long action sequences, Extraction 2 mostly doesn’t concern itself with building its characters or exploring various themes. Still, the film does occasionally make some satisfying attempts that are worth appreciating, like —There is a very clear focus on the relationships between fathers and sons and how they can heavily influence one’s decisions. Whether it be Tyler’s guilt for abandoning his dying son, Tyler’s motivation for coming out of retirement, Zurab’s obsession with vengeance, or Sandro’s conflicting loyalties, each of these plot threads originate from these characters’ checkered history with their son/fathers. Of course, the film is well aware of the drama that could be extracted (no pun intended) out of this, which is why these three characters are pitted against each other in the final act. It was also nice to see Tyler and his ex-wife achieving a sense of closure, which we can assume, also alleviated Tyler’s own guilt. All of these character-oriented parts of the movie are sold convincingly enough by the entire cast. While Chris Hemsworth’s strengths clearly lie in making the action scenes believable, he does a good enough job of carrying the emotional weight of his character when the scene calls for it.
- Action and Pacing: Keeping aside the heavy plot armor, conveniences and luck, Extraction 2 boasts a collection of incredibly well choreographed, staged, and directed action sequences. The 21-minute intense one-take extraction sequence in the first act is so nail-biting, immersive, and well executed that it alone makes the film worth a watch. Apart from its immaculate choreography, what makes this sequence exceptionally engaging is the flawless camerawork and cinematography that not only proficiently capture the action on screen, but also seamlessly convey change of locations — from the inside of the prison to its courtyard to a high speed car chase to an elaborate set-piece involving a train and helicopters — which further makes the sequence more dynamic and prevents it from feeling dragged, repetitive, or dull. The ruthless brutality, gore, and “coolness” of some of the kills, and the phenomenal sound design accompanying them, further act as the cherry on top. The only flaw of this meticulously crafted sequence is that it sets the bar for action way too high way too early in the movie, which the subsequent action scenes, while sufficiently good in their own right, are unable to match. Nevertheless, all of the above mentioned qualities together make Extraction 2 a very entertaining and satisfying viewing experience.
RATING-: 6/10
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