Explosive
Summary
Extraction 2 is arguably bigger, badder and better than the first film with some jaw-dropping action scenes, a huge bodycount and some nice character moments too. It’s one of my personal favourite R rated action movies of the year.
Plot: After barely surviving his grievous wounds from his mission in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Tyler Rake is back, and his team is ready to take on their next mission.
Review: The amazingly monikered Tyler Rake (Chris Hemsworth) lives in this hugely entertaining sequel that was just released on Netflix today. This is one occasion where I was delighted to hear a movie was getting a follow-up as I remember getting a lot of abuse for not loving the first Extraction as I hate movies where the hero dies in the end; thankfully, that was not the case and like any great action star Tyler Rake gets shot, stabbed and more but still keeps on going.
Extraction 2 may not have quite the relentless pacing as the first movie but I liked that as it gave us a little more character depth and had a few more moments of humour too. Tyler Rake is my favourite character that Chris Hemsworth has played so far (sorry, Thor fans) as he is a man of few words but is a born killing machine occasionally spouting one-liners in-between dishing out beatings to the endless onslaught of bad guys. He is a surly bugger which is something I can totally relate to and I love how he just busts everyone’s balls at first. He is still racked with guilt over the death of his son so we understand why he behaves the way he does.
One of the many highlights of Extraction 2 is the prison escape which includes a one take action sequence but the best moment is Tyler punching guys while his hand is on fire. Director Sam Hargrave once again proves that people from a stunt background make the best action movies where we get to see every punch and kick and there is just some amazing camera movement throughout. The fight scenes are brutal and you feel like you are in the thick of it; I love how in both movies someone gets killed with a rake simply because the protagonist’s name is Rake. Genius.
The villains are hateful enough though we understand their motivations for wanting revenge but I also had no idea Daniel Bernhardt was in this film; I was hoping he would have had a more satisfying showdown with Rake but he is disposed of a little too quickly.
Idris Elba has a small role as a mysterious figure who gives Tyler details of his latest mission and it made me think that he may be too old to play Bond now but Elba would make a great M.
It’s very much open for a third entry which I hope we get sooner rather than later as I’ve really become a fan of these movies and I like Hemsworth in this role. He also has a good rapport with Nik (Golshifteh Farahani) and they should totally get together at some point if they ever stop killing people for more than five minutes.
Overall, Extraction 2 has so many entertaining set-pieces it’s hard to pick a favourite but this is one of the best action pictures of the year with regular fight scenes, shoot-outs and explosions so action fans should enjoy every bloodsoaked second.