Back from the brink of death, commando Tyler Rake embarks on a dangerous mission to save a ruthless gangster's imprisoned family. Director Sam Hargrave returns to helm this sequel to the surprisingly good first Extraction film that was released at the height of Covid in 2020. So far, 2023 has been a promising resurgence for old fashioned action films. With the rousing success of the fourth John Wick installment, Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning-Part 1 right around the corner, and Expendables 4 (a movie I worked on) just on the horizon, it seems like action flicks are on the up and up this summer. Although it’s not playing in the cinemas, there’s a strong case to be made that Extraction 2 should have at least been given a limited release, because this is a lean over the top action thriller worthy of the silver screen.
Chris Hemsworth once again proves that he is more than capable of carrying a non-superhero action movie and he still works perfectly as the grunt black market mercenary Tyler Rake. Spoiler alert for the first movie: Rake survives certain death and is back for this sequel. One of the biggest strengths this movie has is that it allows Rake to recover from the events of the first film, thus giving Hemsworth an appropriate amount of time to bring gravitas and dramatic heft to the story. When Idris Elba’s mysterious Alcott character shows up to offer Rake a dangerous assignment, that’s when the real fun begins. After the initial 20 minutes which portrays the fallout from the first film, Hargrave wastes no time at all nudging Rake out of his short-lived retirement and back into the breathless action.
Screenwriter Joe Russo mostly does a fine job keeping the dialogue simple and focused on the urgent mission of Rake and his fellow black market mercenaries Nik (Golshifteh Farahani), and her brother, Yaz (Adam Bessa). Within the first 30 minutes, there is a 20 minute one take action sequence, while not completely seamless, ranks among the most impressive and captivating extended prison break scenes since The Raid 2. It goes from one set piece to another with swooping camera movements, wild zoom ins and outs, and a ton of visceral violence. The fact that the fight choreography is consistently top notch and so riveting to watch overshadows the feeling of exhaustion that naturally comes with it. This goes for all of the thrilling battle scenes that follow, as there is not one fight scene that succumbs to the pitfalls of shaky cam or jarring quick cuts. It’s a tremendous feat of exceptional stunt work that deserves heaps of praise.
The character Zurab played menacingly by Tornike Gogrichian is the perfect villain for this story and has an important connection with one of the family members Rake is trying to protect, which makes for an interesting dynamic of personal familial dilemmas. With a plot thinner than a Steak ‘n Shake patty, the film moves at an erratic pace in which there is virtually no breathing room. This doesn’t have the complexity of a John Wick film nor the intelligence level of a Mission Impossible flick, but then again it’s not trying to be anything other than straightforward popcorn entertainment, a field in which it excels almost too well. Overall, Extraction 2 further proves Chris Hemsworth’s immense capability of being a worthy non-superhero action star while showcasing director Sam Hargrave’s capacity to deliver kinetic summer thrills that would be even better suited for the silver screen. An exhilarating action sequel that improves upon the first and leaves the door open for bigger things to come in its inevitable follow up.
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