Movie review: Chris Hemsworth returns in ‘Extraction 2’, a hitman that pulls you right in
Tyler Rake was clinically dead when we last saw him at the end of “Extraction,” tumbling over a bridge in Bangladesh with a fatal, bubbling bullet wound to the neck. But death is no match for Netflix.
Chris Hemsworth returns as the assassin Rake in “Extraction 2” and you’ll thank the giant streamer for such a nifty piece of resurrection, because this franchise is pure cinematic adrenaline.
The new film comes two years later a surprisingly good first episode, in which Rake intervened in a feud between two rival drug dealers, survived countless double-crosses, asked things like “How many enemies on site?” and throw an inexhaustible number of grenades.
How he survived it all baffles even his friends. Awakened from a coma in “Extraction 2”, he is put away in a remote chalet in Gmunden, Austria, and told to relax – learn to knit, go hiking, try to achieve mindfulness. “Enjoy your retirement,” he is told. If he did, there would be no “Extraction 2”.
Another extraction job is inevitable, so watch the montage to get in shape of Hemsworth doing pushups in the snow, splitting firewood, pushing a sled filled with rocks, and throwing some light with an axe. Somehow the “Extraction” movies lean into all the clichés, but they don’t feel old.
Hemsworth is once again joined here by Marvel Comic Universe screenwriter Joe Russo and stunt specialist-turned-director Sam Hargrave, but their ace is cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel. He shoots impossibly long single takes of complicated fight or driving scenes that put the viewer straight into the action like few other thrillers.
This time, Sigel stages a breathtaking rescue from the twisting tunnels of a brutal Georgian prison, complete with a full-blown riot, a flaming police shield used as a weapon, a motorcycle and missile chase, a race through a factory and then on to a train that 40 mph drives, where helicopters get shot down and there’s more hand-to-hand combat on board. It’s a 20-minute tour-de-force – the kind of sequence that gets you out of your seat to applaud even when you’re on your couch. And there is still more than an hour to go.
“Extraction 2” seems to have more money this time around – I’m sure they want to apologize for using a lot of it to destroy the center of Vienna – but unlike other action franchises it doesn’t waste it on pretty excursions to Parisian museums or five-star hotels in Tokyo.
The power of these films is always in the mud, streets and dirt, with the sound of empty cartridges pinging off concrete. These characters sweat and bruise, even though many look fantastic in sunglasses.
The bad guys here are similar to the first episode – a pair of powerful, scarred brothers who run heroin and guns in Georgia and are soft-talking psychopaths, the kind who whisper a metaphor and then stick a rake down your throat.
We learn a bit more about Rake and even meet members of his extended family, but he remains an emotionally repressed one-note man. One knock on the franchise is that it hasn’t been able to capitalize on Hemsworth’s wit, as Marvel has with its Thor.
Family takes center stage in “Extraction 2” as Rake gets between this Georgian clan and also tries to keep his trusty handler, Nik Khan (Golshifteh Farahani, really good, a franchise spin-off anyone?) and her cool-ass alive -silk sidekick brother (Adam Bessa).
Death will free only one side and along the way a posh rooftop gym will turn into a charnel house, a skyscraper will be virtually razed to the ground by rocket fire, an airport will explode into a fiery mess and a church will perish – sorry, God. But death isn’t the last word – in this franchise, that’s relative.
“Extraction 2,” a Netflix release airing Friday, is rated R for “strong, bloody violence and language throughout.” Running time: 123 minutes. Three out of four stars.
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MPAA definition of R: Restricted. Under the age of 17, an accompanying parent or adult guardian is required.
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Online: https://www.netflix.com/title/81098494
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Mark Kennedy is present http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits
