Movie Review #04
Extraction(2020)
Cast
Chris Hemsworth as Tyler Rake
Golshifteh Farhani as Nik Khan
Randeep Hooda as Saju Rav
Sam Hargrave as Gaeten
David Harbour as Gaspar
Neha Mahajan as Neysa
Priyanshu Painyuli as Amir Asif
Rudraksh Jaiswal as Ovi Mahajan
Pankaj Tripathi as Ovi Mahajan(Sr.)
Shataf Figar as Baijlur Rashid
Adam Bessa as Yaz Khan
Story
Ovi (Rudhraksh Jaiswal) is a kid who lives privileged
life, but is lonely within is surroundings. His father is Mahajan (Pankaj
Tripathi), a ruthless drug lord in India who’s currently residing in prison for
his crimes, leaving parental overseeing to Saju (Randeep Hooda), his right-hand
man, who has a family of his own to care for. One night, while spending time at
club with some friends, Ovi is kidnapped by men who work Amir Asif (Priyanshu
Painyuli), a major drug lord / criminal kingpin from Bangladesh, who’s looking
to take advantage of Mahajan’s imprisonment, with plans to conquer his rival’s
territory by holding his son as a hostage. Enter Tyler Rake (Chris Hemsworth),
an Australian mercenary who wrestles with his grief issues and is pulled into
duty when a team, led by Nik Khan (Goldshifteh Farahani), is hired by Mahajan’s
people to retrieve Ovi; organizing a covert mission that sends the team into
the belly of the beast, with Asif’s army of enforcers swarming the city.
Traveling to Dhaka to get the boy, Tyler soon realizes that the job isn’t what
it initially appears to be; finding himself (and his team) in mortal danger as
plans go awry and double-crossing ensues as the hired merc plans to navigate
through the hostile city to see his mission to the end and saving Ovi from
anyone who gets in his way.
Review
Extraction, the latest action film of 2020’s releases
as well as an Netflix original movie. Which is really a stress lifter during
this lockdown thing in pandemic for many movie enthusiasts. I do remember that
Netflix released the trailer for the
film titled Extraction, which starred actor Chris Hemsworth in the lead role as
well as promising non-stop action nuances; something akin to a theatrical
action blockbuster from major studios. Like many, the trailer did catch my
attention and I was eager to see the film. As I’ve stated in the past, I do
like some Netflix original TV series, but felt like there movies are a bit of a
mixed. However, with Hemsworth in the star power and the movie’s premise
resembling something like a theatrical release of a classic action popcorn
flick, I went into Extraction with a better mindset than I usually do while
watching Netflix movies. And what did I think of it? Well, it was pretty good.
While the story is thin and lacking substance, Extraction delivers on its
action premise through some exciting sequences of editing and cinematics as
well as a believable lead in Hemsworth. It’s not the best action movie out
there, but it definitely something to look at for those action movie junkies
out there.
Extraction definitely boasts plenty of action, with Sam Hargrave(Director) focusing on the gritty and intense level of military action and using the aspect to its fullest extent. If you’re looking for action, you’ll won’t be disappointed in this movie as it has it all…. gun fights, car chases, hand-to-hand combat. It’s all there and has a bombardment of heightened intensity that feels quite ramped up; something that is similar to the grittiness of Max Payne, The Raid: Redemption, and a little bit of John Wick. Its in these moments of which the movie come alive and really do have the gripping action sequences that the film’s movie trailer was showcasing. As to be expected, the movie is rated R for a reason and the film’s action definitely speaks to that rating; providing plenty of high-stakes action along the way. Of its overall presentation, Extraction is a solid tried and true action feature that carries the theatrical presentation weigh for a gritty military action endeavor of recent projects. As mentioned, the film’s action is the highlight of the movie and is made fully realized with some terrific and explosive sequences that are tightly edited and performed beautifully. One entire action sequence as a feeling of a “one-shot” take by dropping us (the viewers) on a non-stop scene of action, danger, and intensity for Rake to overcome, which provides some gripping cinematic action that’s worthy of a blockbuster treatment.The film’s location, production designs, and set decorations also feel appropriately well-done; depicting an urban Indian cityscape that feels claustrophobic and intricately maze-like design helps build tension in the feature’s story.
The are a few problems that I had with Extraction,
which felt like it was a little bit hollow in certain areas and not fully
fleshing out the feature’s narrative as much as it could’ve been. How so? Well,
the main problem comes down to two aspects, which is in Hargrave’s direction
and in the script handling of the movie. While I do certainly praise Hargrave’s
efforts and makes the feature standout
with its intense action sequences, the movie struggles to find a balance of action versus story / characters.
Maybe its because of the director’s inexperience to handle such projects
(again, this is his first full-length film), so the decision to take action
over story is quite crystal clear and possibly hinders the feature from
reaching its potential. Additionally, the second act of Extraction feels the
most sluggish and unappealing. I do get what Hargrave wanted to achieve from
this point of explaining certain characters (i.e. Rake and Ovi), but it
ultimately backfires and feels quite boring, especially considering
Extraction’s first and third act. As a whole, if you look at other rescue
mission movies like All the Money in the World, Man on Fire, Ransom, and
Taken, Extraction comes up a little bit short on its substance; presenting
a very straightforward tale that has plenty of explosive action, but lacks a
reason for us to invest in these characters and why they are doing what they
are doing.
The cast in Extraction is effective good, but, while
the talents behind them are relatively good and solid in their various roles,
their characters feel rather stock-like and stereotypical military action
endeavor. Leading the charge in the movie as the “big-ticketed” star of the
project is actor Chris Hemsworth as central main protagonist character of Tyler
Rake. Hemsworth known for his roles as Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as
well as in 12 Strong, Rush, and Men in Black: International,
certainly greats the weight of the film on his shoulders; acting as both the
star power of Extraction as well as the leading man in the story. In both
regards, Hemsworth succeeds; making his character of Tyler Rake a believable
character of the strong / silent type. Physically, Hemsworth is rock solid in
the role too; providing stoic / battle-hardened mercenary military man that has
no time for no-nonsense. There is some character development in Rake’s build
(most in his past) and Hemsworth sells it, but the material that’s given to him
is quite dynamic. Thus, he does what he can with it, which definitely works for
Extraction. Thus, whether you agree with
that or not, Hemsworth was perfect as Tyler Rake and definitely is another
solid project for the Aussie actor body of work as a leading man. In more secondary characters roles, actor Randeep
Hooda (Highway and Beeba Boys) does a good job in the role of Saju, a former
special forces operative who works for Ovi Mahajan Sr. / protector of Ovi Jr.
Like Hemsworth’s Rake, the character of Saju is more of a “physical” role,
which means that there isn’t much depth provide for Hooda to play around with.
Thus, the actor makes the role memorable by ways and means of how he interacts
with situations (much like Hemsworth) and provides a solid action character
that is trying to do what is necessary to protect his family. Likewise, young actor
Rudhraksh Jaiswal (Noor and Mahabharat) as Ovi Mahajan Jr. was effectively good
in the role. Like many “rescuing mission” narratives, the kidnaped individual
usually gets the least character development (i.e. All the Money in the World
and Ransom) and while that maybe true with Ovi Jr. in this movie, Jaiswal still
pulls off a convincing (and likeable) performance in the role. Plus, his
interaction with both Hemsworth and Hooda are equally good throughout.Behind
them, actress Goldshifteh Farahani (Body of Lies and Paterson) and actor David
Harbour (Hellboy and Stranger Things) are respectfully good in their supporting
character roles of Niki Khan, the head of Rake’s mercenary team, and Gaspar, a
special operative in Dhaka who lends a hand to Rake. Together, both Farahani
and Harbour certainly do leave a lasting impression on their characters, even
though they might boil down to the stereotypical caricatures of a military
action feature (i.e. a skilled no-nonsense team leader and a somewhat debonair
yet experienced mercenary handler. The rest of the cast, including actor Pankaj
Tripathi (Newton and Stree) as Indian crime lord / father of Ovi Jr., Ovi
Mahajan Sr., actor Priyanshu Painyuli (Soulmates and The Bhai) as Ovi Sr.’s
rival / Bangladeshi crime, lord Amir Asif, and young actor Suraj Rikame (making
his acting debut) as Farhad, a young local boy who turns henchmen of Asif, are
in minor support characters roles in the movie that are relatively good in
their respective acting talents, but fall into the generic characters of story.
None of them are bad, but could’ve been easily fleshed out / expanded upon.
Director Sam Hargrave feature-length directorial debut feature takes the military action rescue mission plot device and provides plenty of aesthetics and nuances to quench an intense entertainment experience. While the feature does struggle to find a proper balance between action and story (due to a thinly written narrative) as well as character development / plot backstories, the feature does succeed in giving the feature a extra juice of pure action glee through the film’s direction (to a certain degree) as well as in the film’s editing, cinematics, and solid performances from Hemsworth and Hooda. Personally, I liked this movie. Yes, there were a few parts that could’ve been easily expanded and I felt that some of the unsaid story elements were distracting, but I felt the Hargrave’s movie held its own and is definitely worth a watch.
Thus, my recommendation for this film is a favorable
“recommended” one, especially to fans of the action movie genre as well as fans
of Hemsworth’s work. In the end, while it isn’t the “be-all-to-end-all” of
action film endeavors, Extraction is fun (and intense) distraction of pure
adrenaline entertainment that works effectively if you take the project for
what it is…..a solid action flick in movie escapism.
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