“Extraction 2,” But Whom? | Film Review by Alex Moore

It was three years ago that the world stopped its forward motion for a brief amount of time. It is a time most of us would prefer to forget, but one thing that transpired and has only continued since then is the growing demand for movies from home, rather than in the theaters, as we have always been accustomed to. At least, in THIS country. My duties as a film critic continued, though in a less-significant physical presence. Still, I was grateful to be able to write my reviews for That Nerd Show, as I have for over nine years, to date.

One such movie was a Netflix original, “Extraction.” It is a good old-fashioned, American-style action film. Set in the faraway land of Bangladesh, Chris Hemsworth (“Thor: Love and Thunder”) is Tyler Rake an Australian mercenary attempting to save the son of an Indian crime lord. In other words, get him out of harm’s way. You get the picture.

Due to delays from the COVID pandemic, the making of the follow-up went through significant delays. It is somewhat hard to believe it has already been three years since the previous installment. Reprising the lead role is Hemsworth. Also returning as the same characters from the original movie are: Golshifteh Farahani (“My Father’s Dragon”) as Nick Khan and Adam Bessa (“Harka”) as Yaz Khan. You might be happy to know that Sam Hargrave and Joe Russo have come back to direct and screenwrite, respectively. The first film was a decent movie for what it was, in my opinion, but can the sequel maintain a similar tread, several years later and with such little frame of reference available?

First off, appearing in a couple of scenes is none other than Idris Elba (“Luther: The Fallen Son”) as Alcott, something of an intermediary for the star mercenary. Rake has just survived an incredible ordeal from the previous dilemma. Soon, he is on his way to recovery and eager to get back out into the world to rescue another family from an evil gang of criminals. This time, they are not Indian, but Georgian. No, not THAT Georgia; the former Soviet block. If you have not seen the first movie and wish to see this film, do yourself a favor and watch it before you delve into this one. In my view, this is not the kind of sequel which can really stand on its own. It will be harder to follow if you do not.

The action scenes are in far greater numbers compared to the previous movie. To me, it takes away from the little bit of story development and character growth in between. There is very little left and that is something the previous movie had going for it, by comparison. The camera work is very good, but nothing out of the ordinary compared to most action films today or even from the past 20 years or so. What little dialogue is in there is not too interesting, either. In fact, some of it is downright bad; as if they were trying too hard to be witty…or is that the style of the original graphic novel?

I pointed out that I liked the villains from the first entry. I longed for that again, but was let down. We have seen villains like this so many times before. I know Georgians are not the same as Russians, but they are still similar enough to blend in, I am sorry to say, as an ignorant American. The family Rake is trying to pull out are being sought out by thugs with ties to these victims. They are Mia, played by Olga Kurylenko (“The Princess”); Ketevan, played by Tinatin Dalakishvili (“Abigail”) and Sandro, played by Andro Jafaridze. The only real interesting drama is when Sandro seems willing to join the ranks of the gang to help honor his family. Whether he does or not is up to the viewer to find out.

Meanwhile, Rake is slowly developing a unique interest in Nik, who seems to be as much of a dominant fighter at times as Rake is, believe it or not. Sooner or later, his feelings for her impact his decision-making and may or may not be used against him in a time of vulnerability. Just be aware, not all the primary or secondary cast of characters will survive this film.

In the end, it looked an awful lot like a third movie will likely be in the works soon. For those of you who wind up liking “Extraction 2,” that will be something to look forward to and it will not take another three years to see it, I am predicting. As for me, I did not think it was bad, but I did not think it was good, either. I would appreciate it if the next entry resorts back to the original approach and contains fewer action sequences in place of more story and character development. So far, I seem to be in the minority of critics who will not be recommending this movie. Perhaps I am just not the target audience member, but if you ask me, “Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant” is a much better film within the realm of military action exploitations. I say, if you like more action, you will enjoy it. I am not someone who does.