Extraction

Now streaming on Netflix, this movie is incredibly violent. It is brutal and bloody and thrilling. With one massive action sequence in the middle that totally makes up for the predictable plot.

The film opens with Ovi, the teenage son of an Indian crime lord as he goes about his lonely day at home and his average day at school as he works up the courage to talk to a girl. That night he sneaks away from his heavily guarded home and goes to a club. There he is kidnapped by a rival gang lord. The film then shifts to Chris Hemsworth. The hunky Australian dives off a massive Australian cliff and sits underwater. He has a whole scene under water as he thinks about the family he’s lost and weeps. It’s quite a nice and effective scene. Even though the tortured soldier who lost his family going for one last mission is maybe the oldest action movie cliche ever.

He is called on to rescue the Ovi. His team infiltrate the enemy stronghold and extract (hence the title) Ovi. Things of course go wrong almost immediately as the entire city is under the crime lords control. The cops, the kids, and everyone they meet on the street is probably going to try to kill them. Chris Hemsworth and Ovi fight their way through trying to get to the rendezvous point.

The plot doesn’t matter so much though. This is a nonstop action movie. The plot and the characters are just a clothesline upon which to hang the action. As far as action goes, this one succeeds in a big way. The highlight of the film is one of those sequences that looks like it was all done in one take. It was obviously, digitally stitched together, but it looks pretty good. And the effect of this simulated continuous movement is an action sequence that grabs hold of the viewer and doesn’t let go. It’s truly an impressive sequence. In and out of cars. In and out of buildings. The camera work is fantastic.

It’s nice to watch an outrageous action movie that at least feels like it takes place in the real world. Chris Hemsworth isn’t indestructible here. When he gets hit or cut, it hurts. He weakens and slows down. He’s not the terminator. He struggles, and this struggle leads to a much more interesting action movie than a lot of them that are out there today.

The film looks great, the action is great, but the plot and story is so standard, that it does diminish the film. It is entirely predictable in the broad strokes. Just knowing the basics, tortured former soldier, kid needs rescuing, it’s not hard to guess what will happen and where it will end. However, the ride to get there is pretty fun.

If you’re looking for a bloody, violent, action movie while stuck at home, this is a good one to check out. If you’re looking for a new take on the genre, story, and characters you won’t find it here. All in all, I enjoyed it. It was my cup of tea. B+