Streaming on Netflix
I had less than favorable feelings about the first Extraction film in the foulest year of our lives, which was 2020. Admittedly, my feelings about most things during the beginning of the pandemic were less than optimistic, as I'm sure they were with you as well, my beautiful readers. In a time when we were in dire need of decent distractions, movies like the first Extraction film felt too lazy and unengaging with their by-the-numbers repetitive action scenes, lackluster story, and overdone action hero archetypes. The first Extraction film may not be the absolutely worse film of this particular subgenre, but it's not the most favorable on my personal list, either.
The follow-up movie, Extraction 2, is technically better than the first film, but not by much. While it still retains many previous issues (which I will get to later), there is a better sense of emotional investment and personal steaks to make the proceedings somewhat engaging, but don't be too surprised if you still find yourself checking your phone more often than usual while watching.
Taking place sometime after the events of the first movie, expert soldier of fortune Tyler Rake (Chris Hemsworth) has successfully recovered from his previous ordeal and is trying to enjoy retirement at his remote cabin. His quiet time is short-lived when a mysterious figure approaches him with a job offer similar to the one he barely survived. However, this time around, it's personal to him, as it involves his ex-wife, her sister, and her two young children. As it turns out, the sister is married to a European crime boss and has arranged for his family to rot in prison with him. Tyler is hired to extract the sister and two children from the prison and into witness security for a better life. The only question is just how ruthless will the opposition be?
This has the potential to be a profoundly emotional and resonating story that would make the action all the more engaging. Sadly, much like the first film, there's simply not enough time spent on the little things that would have made the more significant things grandiose.
Like in the first film, repetitive action is emphasized too much. What little nuance that might have enhanced the action is briefly mentioned and then tossed aside in favor of another gimmicky fifteen-to-twenty-minute action sequence involving chases, shootouts, and fist-fights, all seemingly in one continuous take. Technically admirable, but no longer really awe-inducing. Not to mention that the vast majority of the action scenes tend to follow similar beats with little to no variation, other than one briefly neat moment where the perspective shifts into Snoricam for a little while.
The bits of potentially compelling human drama are more present here than in the first film and provide enough justification for emotional investment in the story. Plus, director Sam Hargrave (who helmed the first film) shows some promise of improvement as a storyteller rather than a mere stunt coordinator in way over his head. However, more is needed to excuse the lack of variety in the action. We can only enjoy watching Chris Hemsworth plow his way through a bunch of bad guys using the same tactics so many times before our eyes are drawn to our watches.
Extraction 2 is little more than a new option for the white noise you play in the background while you finish your daily chores. While it's at least a decent improvement over what came before, there still needs to be more here to call it a good movie. Maybe by the time they get to the fourth or fifth movie, they will finally have found a balance between narrative & action, but honestly, at this point, I have more faith in Arnold's FUBAR show on the same streaming service. Netflix may start creating better action content with The Terminator in charge.
Bottom line: Extraction 2 is a slightly improved version of a previous idea that still can't hit the target. Only check it out if you are mildly curious.
Ladies & gentlemen, I am TheNorm; thank you all for reading.
I agree with the fact that sone of the action sequences are way too long. The one with the prison riot I thought would never end and he comes out of it pretty unscathed? Pretty unrealistic for someone who fought about 100 guys. The camera work was interesting in sone of these sequences with a lot of follow shots and as you mentioned one takes but it does lack moments that could have made it a better film with a much better narrative.
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