EXTRACTION
(director: Sam Hargrave; screenwriters: Joe Russo/based on the graphic novel “Ciudad” by Ande Parks/story by Ande Parks, Joe Russo & Anthony Russo; cinematographer: Newton Thomas Sigel; editors: Ruthie Aslan, Peter B. Ellis; music: Alex Belcher, Henry Jackman; cast: Chris Hemsworth (Tyler Rake), David Harbour (Gaspar), Randeep Hooda (Saju), Shivam Vichare (Sachin), Rudhraksh Jaiswal (Ovi Mahajan), Golshifteh Farahani (Nik Khan), Priyanshu Painyuli (Amir Asif), Pankaj Tripathi (Ovi Mahajan Sr.), Sam Hargrave (Sniper); Runtime: 116; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Eric Gitter, Chris Hemsworth, Mike Larocca, Anthony Russo, Joe Russo, Peter Schwerin; Netflix; 2020)
“It’s a mediocre and humorless suspense film with suffocating dialog and ham-fisted metaphors, however it’s immensely popular with viewers.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwart
Extraction is the extremely violent kick ass escapist action pic that’s the directorial debut of the former stuntman Sam Hargrave. It’s a mediocre and humorless suspense film with suffocating dialog and ham-fisted metaphors, however it’s immensely popular with viewers.
It’s penned by Marvel’s Joe Russo (wrote “Avengers: End Game,”a film mirrored here because so many of the film crew have an Avengers connection). It’s based on the graphic novel “Ciudad” by Ande Parks, from the story by Parks, Joe Russo & Anthony Russo.
It has a simple plot. Tyler Rake (Chris Hemsworth, Aussie thesp) is an impulsive, grim-faced, and emotionally tight pill popping Australian mercenary soldier. The ex-special ops operator is on a dangerous black market rescue mission of the teenager Ovi Mahajan (Rudhraksh Jaiswal), being held in a Bangladesh hide-out by the sinister Bangladeshi drug lord, Amir Asif (Priyanshu Painyuli). Ovi’s the kidnapped son of an imprisoned Indian drug lord Ovi Mahajan Sr. (Rudhraksh Jaiswal), who doesn’t have the cash to pay the ransom to his rival Amir Asif (Pankaj Tripathi). The Mumbai drug lord blames his henchman Saju (Randeep Hooda) for the kidnapping and warns what will happen to him if his son is harmed.
Thankfully to the rescue comes Tyler, a “broken man,” whose young son died and he wasn’t around to protect him, and is now seeking a cause to fight for so he can be whole again.
Think no more of the plot, everything is predictable but for a few minor twists.
If you want a respite from so much macho gun-play during the rescue, Hemsworth, the former Marvel’s Thor, forms a warm bond with the innocent child without coddling him–during the rescue he runs through the streets with the kid while being shot at by the baddies.
Golshifteh Farahani is Tyler’s female co-star, who works the earpiece. David Harbour plays Tyler’s old friend who saves his ass by briefly providing a safe haven.
It makes for lightweight entertainment, a disposable film about international drug dealers that has nothing to say. Its use of questionable superheros reminds us that the government’s War on Drugs is a failure and only small victories in the War come about through these types of hearty adventurers (that is if you can believe such bullshit).
REVIEWED ON 7/24/2020 GRADE: C+