Extraction sees Aussie Chris Hemworth team up with writer Joe Russo (of the Russo Brothers) and debut director Sam Hargrave for a brutal and bloody action thriller for Netflix.
This isn’t a unique story, it sees a teenage kid of a Mumbai drug lord get nabbed and held for ransom by an opposing drug lord. Hemsworth’s mercenary Tyler Rake, riddled with PTSD and a death-wish, is hired to snatch the kid back and you can guarantee the mission is going to go all pear shaped within 10 minutes.
< He also worked with the Russo’s as a second unit director on those former films so he knows how to make the action dynamic and exciting to watch. There’s some excellent close combat fights and an extremely cleverly edited one-take car chase sequence that proves both Hargrave and cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel know their stuff.
Ultimately though this American/Indian/Australian co-production filmed in India and Thailand is all action and not much substance. The story is simple, the villains are all one-note and even Rake’s character is barely fleshed out for us to want to empathise with his journey. On the plus side though, Hemsworth finally gets to show off his Australian accent to an International audience.
TWO AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Extraction is streaming now on Netflix globally.
