“Extraction”
Film Review by Alex Moore
So, it would seem that Netflix is now among the streaming services by which all prospective moviegoers will flock to. It was probably just a matter of time, anyway, but who knew that the process could change so rapidly? In the midst of the new normal, I have now viewed at least two, consecutive films, strictly for official reviewing purposes and did so without even leaving my apartment. I must admit, it does not feel as special, but it certainly is convenient.
This time, another well-known and respected action star has graced the small screen, but he is miles behind Mark Wahlberg in age and experience. However, we live in the now and that means Chris Hemsworth (“Men in Black: International”) is probably more relevant. Well, he definitely is, as much as I personally like the formerly-mentioned.
From what I have seen so far, Netflix is getting the right people for the technical aspects of filmmaking, but seems to be coming up short on the principles. When I watched “Spenser Confidential,” for example, I thought the cinematography and use of source music were both solid, but I did not think much of the story or some of the acting performances or the editing, in some spots. As for “Extraction,” from the get-go, I thought pretty similarly, but not as much about the music, positively, or the acting, negatively. Of course, most movies, these days, do not impress me in the realm of original music and as for the acting, what seemed to make a difference was the casting, related to the filming locations and nature of the story, even though the story, still, was not all that original, at least at first.
Hemsworth is Tyler Rake, a former member of the Australian military, turned black-market mercenary for hire. The film sort of glossed over that in the introductions, so I would recommend, either, paying very close attention or reading up on the synopsis on IMDB or Wikipedia. That would be your choice. In any case, he is hired by another mercenary soldier, Nik Khan, played by Golshifteh Farahani (“Arab Blues”), to locate and rescue the son (Rudhraksh Jaiswal as Ovi Mahajan Jr, of “Noor”) of a major drug lord (Pankaj Tripathi as Ovi Mahajan Sr, of “Drive”) who is being held for ransom by another major drug lord (Priyanshu Painyuli as Amir Asif, of “Upstairs”). It should be noted that Jaiswal and Painyuli did fine work in their roles, especially Jaiswal. 
His onscreen chemistry with Hemsworth was surprisingly good and some of the most-memorable scenes in the entire movie, strictly involved the two of them, together.
As they traverse through Bangladesh, another figure emerges, who happens to be connected to the boy’s father, Randeep Hooda (“Baaghi 2”) as Saju. So, as you can see, there are two, separate outfits attempting to do the same thing, but one does so from a strategic, military approach and the other is much more personal. 
I, personally, found that Saju was the most-interesting character in the movie. Hooda has a rather distinctive look to him and that seemed to work well with his portrayal. I always find it interesting when the protagonist, the hero of the film, is going head-to-head with another who could have easily been the lead protagonist, himself.
Coming in pretty late into the story is David Harbour (“Hellboy”) as Gaspar. He once worked with Rake, but decided to stay and reside in Bangladesh. I wondered why he was written into the story at all, regardless of the original source material. His role was pretty much limited to being a pit fall for a character turn-about in, both, Rake and his new companion, Mahajan Jr.
One of the biggest issues I had with this film was that some of the action sequences seemed to only serve to showcase more action. 
They are, in other words, unnecessary and nothing for the actual story. As for the level of violence some have talked abut in other reviews, I did not think it was so bad. Of course, like any other action flick, the hero is a one-man killing machine and, aside from a few cuts and bruises, he mostly goes unharmed, at least until the end of the movie.
The ending is not as happy and linear as one might expect and I appreciated that approach, in this case. It makes me wonder a bit about the actual source material, “Ciudad.” Liberties are always taken in film adaptations, but “to what extent” is always the question. Although I did not understand all of the backstory details in “Extraction” and some of the action work looked a little bit clumsy, I thought that this was a decent action film for Netflix and a slight upgrade from the last project that I viewed. Keep in mind that Netflix is still in its infancy as a film studio, compared to the big boys, which have been around for over a century, in some cases. For the short time that Netflix has been in the game, their trajectory and potential is, still, very impressive.
Director: Sam Hargrave (directorial debut)
Screenwriter: Joe Russo
Based on: “Ciudad,” by Ande Parks, Joe Russo and Fernando Leon Gonzalez
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Rudhraksh Jaiswal, Randeep Hooda, Golshifteh Farahani, Pankaj Tripathi, Priyanshu Painyuli and David Harbour
Distributor: Netflix
Release date: April 24th, 2020 (United States)
