Extraction review – Netflix’s New Action Movie Is A Cousin Of John Wick And The Raid

Director: Sam Hargrave

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Rudhraksh Jaiswal, Randeep Hooda, Priyanshu Painyuli, David Harbour

Genre: Action

Year: 2020

In Netflix’s new action movie Extraction, Chris Hemsworth (Thor, Avengers, Rush, The Cabin in the Woods, Bad Times at the El Royale) plays Tyler Rake, a mercenary who lost his son a couple of years ago and has nothing left to lose. When Ovi (Rudhraksh Jaiswal), a son of an imprisoned Indian drug lord, is kidnapped by Amir Asif, the biggest drug lord in Bangladesh, Tyler and his team are hired to get him back. Of course, things go awry, and Rake must fight his way through Dhaka and escape from Asif’s men and police to save the boy.  Inspired by the graphic novel Ciudad, Extraction was written and produced by Russo Brothers, directors of Avengers: Infinity War, Captain America: Winter Soldier, Avengers: Endgame, and Captain America: Civil War. The movie is a big hit on Netflix right now so they already announced a sequel is in the works. And is the movie any good? Actually, yes.

I’ll be perfectly honest – I had really low expectations from this one. Since Extraction is directed by a newcomer Sam Hargrave, known as a stunt coordinator on many big Hollywood blockbusters (Avengers: Endgame, Avengers: Infinity War, Thor: Ragnarok, Captain America: Civil War, Atomic Blonde) and this is his first movie as a director I didn’t know what to expect from him. Chris Hemsworth is a solid actor but is not a guarantee of a good movie (see Men in Black: International, The Huntsman: Winter’s War, Blackhat or Red Dawn). And last Netflix’s action movie I checked out, or at least tried to watch, was an unwatchable disaster 6 Underground with Ryan Reynolds from director Michael Bay (Transformers, Armageddon, Bad Boys). So I really didn’t expect much from this movie as it looked like one more generic action flick without anything special or new to offer. But in the end, Extraction turned out much better than I was expecting – like a surprising cousin of John Wick and The Raid. Explosive, thrilling, and entertaining action movie with some exceptional action sequences and camera work.

Extraction – best action movie of the year?

Yes, the story is simple and generic, yet sufficient for this kind of movie. They even gave some background to the characters and you understand motivations behind their actions. Rake and Ovi’s relationship is believable and Hemsworth and Rudhraksh Jaiswal (who plays Avi) have solid chemistry. One more character that stands out is Saju (Randeep Hooda), but I’ll leave it at that as I don’t want to spoil anything for you. Don’t get me wrong, characterization and story are not particularly good or award-worthy but are good enough for this type of movie.

Actors did a decent job, especially Chris Hemsworth who is actually really good and believable in this role, even in a few dramatic moments between all the action. Villains, although mostly one-dimensional, are menacing and memorable and is kinda refreshing to see a movie set in India and Bangladesh. Some of the complaints go to long-running time, plot holes, some eye-rolling moments, visual style in some of the scenes (with bright tones and lens flare), bad CGI or annoying and unnecessary switching from Hindi to English and then back to Hindi. But what elevates this movie are spectacular action sequences and camera work.

Actually action sequences and camera work are the real stars of this movie. From car chases, fistfights, knife fights to shootouts. Action in this movie reminded me of John Wick and the great Indonesian movie The Raid (if you haven’t seen The Raid or its sequel go see them immediately as they are best action movies of the last 10 years). No, action sequences are not as great or brutal as in The Raid or such expertly choreographed like in John Wick. While Wick’s choreography was more like a dance or ballet, Extraction’s action is less stylized and a little more brutal. There is one outstanding single-shot action sequence that lasts for 12 minutes – it starts with a car chase, continues with a brutal fist and gunfights, and finishes with one more car chase. The camera work here is insane, I know there is a cut somewhere but I can’t tell where. It’s so well-made that I doubt we’ll see a better action sequence this year. Although this is his first movie, director Sam Hargrave proved that he knows how to make an effective and thrilling action movie so I’ll keep my eye on him.

Look, if you’re looking for a smart and well-written movie with excellent performances look elsewhere. But if you’re a fan of an action movie, I definitely recommend to check out Extraction, I’m sure you’re not going to be disappointed. No, it is not good as John Wick and definitely not as The Raid, but it’s not that far and I really didn’t expect this good and brutal action movie from Netflix and Chris Hemsworth.