Movie Review--Extraction

"You're hoping if you spin the chamber enough times, you're going to catch a bullet."

--Nik, Extraction

Siblings Anthony and Joe Russo, the directors of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, have reunited with Chris Hemsworth for Netflix's Extraction, this time serving as producers instead of co-directors.  Far more like John Wick than than anything the Russo brothers handled in the MCU, Extraction relies on its elegant but raw action scenes at the expense of character development, but its performances do not suffer from this.  Thankfully, they remain strong despite the superficiality of the characterization.

Production Values

Chris Hemsworth has a role that is far more grim than that of Thor, and he communicates little about his character through words--one of the better aspects of his writing.  In his character's introductory scene, he jumps into a body of water and calmly sits at the bottom, which is a more explicit way to convey his physical ability and discipline than merely having other characters talk about them.  Hemsworth manages to thoroughly immerse himself in the role despite its intense physicality.  The supporting characters, though they are not the focus, are also acted competently.  A colleague of Tyler named Nik is an easy example, her role performed by Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani.  So, too, is a character played by David Harbour.

As for the underdeveloped characterization, it is not that Extraction is a film that pairs electric action scenes with silly or careless characters, but that the characters, despite being appropriately somber and humorless, simply are not explored deeply.  The action, however, is developed far better than the characters.  Long, smooth camera shots are used in key fights that other filmmakers would likely have shot with rapidly changing angles that obscure the action rather than enhance it.  The choreography and environmental diversity of the fights in the John Wick trilogy might very well be unsurpassed by other contemporary action films, but Extraction comes far closer to matching it than any other recent film I know of.

Story

Some spoilers are below.

An Indian crime lord's son is kidnapped at the behest of Amir Asif, a rival Bangladeshi drug lord.  The boy's caretaker is threatened to get him released, at which point a former soldier who has become a mercenary is contacted to rescue the child.

Intellectual Content

There is no grand philosophical purpose to the events of the movie, but a film can have other kinds of excellence, as Extraction does.  It manages to stand on its largely strong production values rather than on philosophical depth, a weaker sort of depth when it is isolated from philosophical significance, but a source of cinematic strength all the same.

Conclusion

Chris Hemsworth and Extraction's spectacle are certainly enough to warrant attention from viewers who are fans of either the actor or action films that embrace utter seriousness.  As long as one doesn't expect complex characters, Extraction can be appreciated for what it is.  It handles its primary components very well, but the absence of the missing components is very noticeable.  If there is a sequel, and one is reportedly being planned, the weak areas that need improvement are obvious--and so are the strengths that need to be preserved.

Content:
 1.  Violence:  Films like The Predator are noticeably more violent than Extraction, but there are still plenty of vicious onscreen brawls and killings.  In one scene, a head is forced onto a rake's points, and there are many bullets used to great effect.

 2.  Profanity:  "Shit," "bastard," and "fuck" are used.