Extraction proves that Chris Hemsworth doesn’t need to be the God of Thunder to triumph over his opposition. 

     Extraction was released on Netflix in 2020, and was directed by Sam Hargrave. The film stars Chris Hemsworth, Rudhraksh Jaiswal, and Randeep Hooda. The film depicts a black market mercenary, Tyler Rake, who is hired to rescue the son of a crime lord in India. 

     Chris Hemsworth is highly enjoyable to watch on screen; he’s great in action scenes and small dialogue moments alike. The biggest problem is how the film barely gives us enough time to learn more about and understand him, which makes the action seem somewhat less tense. Rudhraksh Jaiswal gives a fantastic performance, especially for a child actor, but again, not much time is given to build his character. 

     The character with the most given to him in this regard would be Randeep Hooda, who is great in the film as well, when we learn his intentions are to protect his family. 

     The film decides to go with what I refer to as a “48-hour script,” meaning that the beginning of the story starts 48 hours before the first scene the audience sees takes place. This decision is odd, because having the small scene at the start was unnecessary and added little. 

     As previously mentioned, the script doesn’t have character development, or much character motivation in general. It includes flashback sequences to try and give us more to Hemsworth’s character, but there’s not much else to offer. The moment we do learn more about his past is a lazily written exposition scene, and then he (quite literally) walks out of the room. 

     Overall the exposition, along with much of the dialogue, feels unnatural, and is poorly written. For example, the scene in which Hemsworth’s character learns the exact details of the mission is maybe a 45-second scene with clearly no other purpose. There are many moments where the script tries to trick the audience into thinking that dialogue is there to provide meaning, but is simply time wasting. 

     The script is very dark, so be prepared. For example, within the first 10 minutes of the film you see a police officer shoot a 16-17 year old in the face. It cuts to a high angle, wide shot when this happens, but still, it certainly set the film’s tone, that of realism and unpredictability, quickly. 

     Small sidenote, the word ‘extraction,’ or a variation of it, is used 5 times within 20 minutes of each other. Normally, including the title of the film in the script wouldn’t be an issue on any level, as long as it’s warranted. In this case, due to the film’s title literally being EXTRACTION, it felt jarring, and furthers my previous point of the unnatural nature of the dialogue. 

     However, most of the script’s flaws are equaled out by the awesome and violently entertaining (see what I did there?) action set pieces. These are some of the best action scenes that have been in film for years, as the only films before this in the past 5 years that compare to this scale of action would be the Mission Impossible films. Director Sam Hargrave utilizes a good blend of handheld and tracking shots in the action sequences. 

     The film utilizes its R-rating the most in the action; you see a lot of blood. The staging, but more impressively the choreography, of each action scene is excellent. The action scene that stands out is an 11 minute scene that’s edited together to seem as if it was completed in one take, going from a car chase, to a sort of a cat-and-mouse type deal in this apartment complex, to a one-on-one fight, and then back to a car chase. 

     If you want interesting characters, or a script filled with jokes, don’t waste your time here. On the other hand, if raw, heart pounding action scenes strike your fancy, then get cozy, grab some popcorn or Nutter Butters, because Extraction delivers… and then some. 

[My grade for Extraction, is a B]