We’ve hardly seen the mighty Chris Hemsworth as bruised and bloody as he appears in Netflix’s new action extravaganza “Extraction”—that includes his bouts against the dreaded Thanos himself. And yet, Hemsworth – sporting his natural Melbourne accent – rarely feels like less than a superhero even here as he trades in the billowing cape for bullet-proof vest, Mjölnir for the assault rifle.
His name in “Extraction” is Tyler Rake. Occupation: Mercenary. Hobbies: Popping pills and jumping off sky-high cliffs into the water to quiet whispers of pained pasts. If you thought the movie’s overarching narrative linking this humdrum actioneer’s opening credits to the first of its endless shootouts would be less blunt, think again; within about 10 minutes we seen Ovi (Rudhraksh Jaiswal), son to an imprisoned Indian drug lord, kidnapped by a rival psychopath (sporting a pristine suit, of course) and put up for ransom. Promptly entering the other corner of the proverbial ring is Tyler, suited up and hired to…well…I’ll refer back to the title. And, dropped into a version of Bangladesh that “Extraction” makes look like Mars, Tyler lets it rip.
The mayhem is crisp and coherent (I suppose the expertly-maximized gruesomeness of select human disposals is as good a barometer as anything), and it comes courtesy of Sam Hargrave. He’s a veteran stunt coordinator and fellow Marvel alum embarking on his first feature directorial effort, a la “John Wick’s” Chad Stahelski, and his storytelling motivations align almost perfectly with his fist-throwing ones. Bullets fly. Blood spurts. Bones break, occasionally a little louder than we might expect. And, every now and again, a household object comically devolves into an improvised murder weapon.
But nothing is as clever as Tyler’s occasional creative execution. “Extraction” is mostly a sandbox for Hargrave to run wild in—and run wild he does, although the recycled rhythm of punch-stab-shoot-run-repeat eventually feels less like invigorating bombast and more like a mild snooze. This, despite the best efforts of an exhausting and ambitious single-take action sequence that is the rowdier cousin of “1917” and destined to be what most of the “Execution” conversation centers on. By its culmination, the movie has shifted fully into fetishistic violence mode, the Michael Bay side of its personality gently shoving the glimmers of Ridley Scott influence out of the way.
“Extraction” might be a bit more enduring – or we might take its lack of seriousness a bit more seriously – if it wasn’t for a few scenes that show the movie kidding itself over what it is. In one moment of brief respite for Tyler and Ovi, the movie comments on the genre by specifically zeroing in on the enduring trope of making young kidnapped victims as little more than a “package,” an impetus for the spraying of gunfire and exploding of grenades (your move, “Taken”). It’s a self-referential overture you don’t often see amid the violence and waves of goons, to be sure. And yet, the screenplay makes nothing of it, relegating Ovi to a package with legs in the awkwardly sentimentalized final minutes.
“Extraction” – which was written by Joe Russo, one half of the sibling team behind the most gargantuan “Avengers” entries – would like to think it transcends its beat-em-up, shoot-em-up confines to become a soap opera of muscled brutes worn down in safe house shadows by the things they’re willing to do for a paycheck. But calling these bits of the story earnest is like referring to “Bad Boys For Life” as melodrama. With Hemsworth’s recently-discovered comedic virtuosity virtually muted in favor of faux grizzled vulnerability, he’s little more than a Terminator here, despite Russo’s thin attempts to show a heart pumping under the muscle.
And there’s no deciphering the movie’s strange attraction to the concept of the child enlisted as hired gun; just when it seems “Extraction” has something to say about it, a group of radicalized tykes are dispelled like weightless punching bags in a sequence that doesn’t know if it’s audacious or humorous.
“There’s always a badass that’s bigger than you,” the film’s forgettable baddie utters at one point. Take your pick between a “John Wick” entry, Michael Bay offering or the 29th “Fast and Furious” movie—they’re indeed all bigger and more ludicrous than “Extraction” can ever hope to be.
"Extraction" is rated R for strong bloody violence throughout, language and brief drug use
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Rudhraksh Jaiswal, Golshifteh Farahani, Randeep Hooda
Directed by Sam Hargrave
2020
