When your movie ends with your hero bleeding profusely from a gunshot wound to the neck and falling off a bridge into a river, a sequel might seem unlikely. Though 2020’s Extraction hinted that Tyler Rake was alive with a Chris Hemsworth–shaped blur in the background of its final shot, this moment seemed to exist as a salve, keeping the grim Netflix action film from feeling like a downer (and making it more likely to get those sweet, sweet viewing minutes on repeat watches). Extraction 2 resurrects the mercenary protagonist for another mission — and more viewing minutes — with this sequel bringing more global locations, more ways to kill people, and more (unsuccessful) attempts at emotional resonance.
How is Extraction 2 happening?
To answer how Hemsworth’s Rake survived what should have been a deadly amount of blood loss followed by a fatal fall, Extraction 2 shows his miraculous rescue by his team in Dhaka. He slowly recovers in a Dubai hospital, looking as bad as Hemsworth can possibly look. (Still pretty good.) Though his handler Nik (Golshifteh Farahani) deposits him in a remote Austrian cabin for his continued recovery and theoretical retirement, she, her brother Yaz (Adam Bessa), and literally everyone in the audience knows that Rake isn’t done fighting.
A mysterious man (Idris Elba) drops by with the mission that will draw Rake back: Rake’s ex-wife’s sister (Tinatin Dalakishvili) needs — ahem — extraction from the Georgian prison where she and her two children are being held as company for her abusive, crime lord husband (Tornike Bziava). After almost dying, Rake has lost a lot of his muscle mass (but apparently not his rugby-player-sized neck), and he has just six weeks to get back in shape before the rescue. Cue an all-too-short training montage, then the real action begins when Rake, Nik, and Yaz travel to Georgia to save Rake’s former sister-in-law and her family, fighting hundreds of prisoners and gangsters with guns, gardening implements, and gym equipment.
Extraction kept most of its action in Dhaka, with Rake piling up the bullet casings and the bodies all over the Bangladeshi megacity. However, after the original briefly became Netflix’s most-watched movie ever, the follow-up extends Rake’s leash, letting him kick ass in a variety of European locations this time around.
Extraction 2 aims for deeper meaning — and misses.
Extraction 2 wants to be about Rake’s continued redemption, with this film devoting more dialogue and flashbacks to his tragic backstory. In case there were any remaining questions about the film’s intentions, the final fight is in a church, giving Rake an unambiguous chance at absolution. Yet as much as Joe Russo’s script tries to add thematic heft and emotional weight to what’s on screen, these moments are never as engaging as the fight scenes. Rake’s character is less developed than his biceps; he’s simply a gruff dude with a sad past who kills a lot of people. There’s nothing wrong with making an ultra-violent shoot ‘em up that’s just about the action, but Extraction 2 tries — and fails — to find greater meaning in all the mayhem.
Beyond its misguided flailing for substance, the franchise still fails to understand what makes Hemsworth such a compelling screen presence. He has an enviable physique, sure, but most actors with a trainer, dietician, and enough time could achieve similar brawn. Hemsworth's rare levels of charm and comic timing are what truly set him apart, but Extraction and Extraction 2 saddle him with a part that requires so little of him above the neck. The films feature plenty of well-choreographed action, but Rake could’ve been played by a less talented actor with no real impact on the results. Extraction 2 gives Hemsworth a little more to do than its predecessor — he gets to wink at a cute kid and say a few lines that get smirks — but the movie still wastes his talent.
Extraction 2 thrills with more creative kills than its predecessor, but it’s still exhausting.
The first movie mostly had Rake punching, shooting, and running over half the population of Dhaka (except for that one guy who he killed with — you guessed it — a rake). Extraction 2 levels up, finding far more creative ways for him to vanquish his foes. It even tops the 12-minute oner of Extraction with a 21-minute “single-shot” action sequence. It can’t match the opening scene of Athena, but it’s…fine — which can’t be the reaction that director Sam Hargrave was going for with such a huge effort.
Extending a oner to such lengths, at least here, dulls its overall impact. Your brain knows this couldn’t actually have been shot in a single take, and all the guns shot, punches thrown, and helicopters crashed just start to melt together in a sea of shrapnel and flesh. The impressive parts of this sequence aren’t remarkable because they’re part of a supposed single shot; they’re just as thrilling on their own, questioning the need for the illusion of a oner. The approach actually distracts from some genuinely cool moments rather than letting them shine on their own.
With stuntman Hargrave returning as director, the Extraction movies draw easy comparisons to the John Wick series, which also featured stuntmen-turned-filmmakers unleashing a seemingly infinite number of brutal on-screen kills. Fight scenes are shot with similar verve to that superior Keanu Reeves quadrilogy, but Extraction 2 suffers from less style, thanks to a dull, nearly neutral palette and direct, uninspired lighting. Other than the central villain played by Tornike Gogrichiani, an endless churn of anonymous cannon fodder populates this film, and the fights are so fast and furious that after a while, it all turns into a bloodstained mush in your brain.
With its bigger, broader swath of carnage, Extraction 2 improves upon the original and isn’t unpleasant (you know, unless you’re bothered by watching hundreds of deaths on screen). There’s value in the fun of big, dumb action movies, but this one’s worst fault is its clumsy stab at being something more. Extraction 2 has too much going on for it to be half-watched, but it’s never compelling enough to merit your full attention, ultimately making it a perfect Netflix original film and a mediocre one by any other measure.
Extraction 2 opened in select theaters June 9 and debuts on Netflix June 16
Topics Film
