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Chris Hemsworth leaves Mjonir behind to pick up a fully automatic, with Netflix’s release of Extraction. You can be skeptical about this film, as many, surely, waited for the other shoe to drop. But if you do the math, it equals up to something “mighty.” Sam Hargrave directs here, having worked on other projects with Hemsworth and the Russo Bros. such as Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. More over, Extraction offers a diverse roster of actors, with stand-outs Pankaj Tripathi, Golshifteh Farahani and –oh yeah– the gift of David Harbour…
From the opening sequence, Extraction starts with Hemsworth embroiled in action. The scene is a clear flashback and sets the tone for the rest of a movie that sticks close to the source material. Published by Oni Press, the graphic novel was created by Fernando Leon Gonzalez, Eric Skillman and the Russo Brothers for Oni Press. The film takes very few liberties with the source.
The kidnapped child in the film version, Ovi, is the son of an Indian drug lord. Hemworth’s Tyler Rake is a black market mercenary who is tasked to return the boy to safety from a rival Bangladesh drug lord Amir Asif. Rake and his team are approached by the father’s right hand man, Saju. After the initial rescue does not go as planned, Rake and Ovi Jr. must find a way to the extraction point with everyone out to find them, even children younger than Ovi.
Rake is addicted to prescription pills and loves to mix it with alcohol and deep meditative dives into bodies of water. After losing his family, he’s taken on missions in search for the one that ends it all. This movie and protagonist have Man on Fire vibes, with that film’s Creasy and this film’s Rake sharing similar characteristics and flaws. Moving passed that Extraction feels like an original movie, and it’s important to note that Netflix now has a feel to their productions the same way a Marvel or Tarantino film have their own signature feel/vibe.
The fight scenes are clean and paired with camera work that compliments the cinematography. The hand-to-hand combat is by no means what you would expect from Hemsworth with his prior action experience being the God of Thunder. The up close and brutal fighting is precise. Extraction‘s gunplay is just as clean and filmed tightly with the action. The story is believable, and it shouldn’t be difficult for the characters to earn the attention and investment from the audience. Extraction is a well thought out adaptation of Ciudad and creates differences that make the film feel different and familiar, while delivering a satisfying ending.
Being honest to the congregation (of course!), I’ll admit, before ever sitting down and actually watching, that I thought I’d wind up giving this thing a 3-Bibler. Instead the film provides a role for Hemsworth that should help push the actor past his Asgardian persona and offer up many more considerations. With a tight script by Joe Russo and intelligent direction from Hargrave (who cameos, as well), Extraction delviers a very strong action story with enough poignancy and surprising, organic twists. You already have Netflix, so what’s stopping ya? 4/5 Bibles.
-Frank Simonian