Extraction

Thanks to being set in a convincingly dirty environment, Liam Hemsworth's muscle mass, and the fantastic pace where one attraction is swapped out for another, the adventures of the hero with the super tough name Tyler Rake landed in terms of mood one or two classes more higher than the much praised and often compared John Wick. The combination of mercenaries, the desperate fates of children of soldiers of fortune, and the action-packed aspects polished to the last cut compensate for the fact that this does not offer (nor does it seek to offer) anything new to the classical screenplay. (05/21/2020)

In an ideal world, it would be John Wick meets The Raid with a touch of The Punisher... but hey. The first one lacks greater action exaggeration, although there is nothing to complain about with regard to most of the fights and shooting, and the film has a top stunt show-reel. Compared to Gareth Evans and his group of Indonesian suicidal people, Extraction never quite takes your breath away. Hemsworth looks good on the field, but he also carries with him a mediocre back story and a lot of boyish tenderness, which is not very believable, even though I like the guy and enjoy every one of his Instagram posts. There is only one expert on this deadly tenderness deal, and that is Joe Bernthal. I would have given it a higher score had it not been for the blatantly stupid finale and the fact that Bangladeshi Ivan Jonák should have been given more space. Thank you, BTW, for the scene with the beating of children. After a month of quarantine, it’s solidly cathartic. P. S. If someone from Netflix reads this (and they certainly will), shoot the author of the translation in the foot and pay for a proper translator. This man is a fraud and does not need to be rescued, but rather deboned. (04/24/2020)

There’s a strange contemporary trend – making action movies with good actors but without emotion. Which is a pity in this case, because Chris Hemsworth usually knows how to crack jokes, like he showed us in Thor. If he got some space for that, instead of just massacring left and right like Robocop, it could have been the best action blockbuster of the decade. As it is, it’s just an average action flick with one delicious chase in the middle, where the camera was working magic and I was just gaping at the screen with my mouth hanging open. (04/29/2020)

Who gives a crap about a more sophisticated script – that’s not my issue here – but this is merely two hours of systematically emptying bottomless clips without any display of emotion whatsoever. But what about the praises sung on this site about the 15-minute “continuous take”?  Well, when you make clever use of cuts (by zooming into macro details for an instant, right in the face) and unnoticeable dissolves, you can fill an entire feature-length film with such takes (just ask Sam Mendes), though it is of course all an illusion, even though it looks cool. To sum up, this is nothing new under the sun, just another yawn-inducing flick no one will remember three months from now. (04/29/2020)

There hasn't been a more action-packed ride from the USA since John Wick 3! Netflix went ahead and plunked down a pretty penny and the only thing that sucks about the film is that we didn't get to see it on the big screen. Chris Hemsworth is tasked with rescuing the son of a crime boss in the harsh world of Bangladesh, which is a huge plus as this is a setting we're not entirely familiar with from movies. Debutant Sam Hargrave is primarily a stuntman and it shows in the action scenes, which are absolutely perfect. The fights are dynamic, sharp, raw, clear and with a lot of contact, and the original car chase or the final shootout on the bridge are delightful, they will please any fan of sharp and uncompromising action. I also praise the camera work, which literally draws the viewer into the action, and the very fast pace. Good stuff. Story***, Action*****, Humor>No, Violence****, Entertainment*****, Music****, Visuals*****, Atmosphere****, Suspense****. 8.5/10. (04/26/2020)