Movie Review: Chris Hemsworth’s "Extraction" is Like "John Wick" Meets "The Raid"

This Netflix Original is all action, all the time, and that’s just fine.

In Extraction, Chris Hemsworth plays a mercenary named Tyler Rake who winds up literally killing someone with a gardening rake. So, it’s that kind of movie.

As for the villains, well, they’re introduced by nonchalantly throwing a child off the top of a building, much as the filmmakers have done with the art of nuance.

This is an uncomplicated flick that takes plenty of shortcuts to where it wants to go, and what it’s most eager to get to is a 12-minute action sequence in the streets of Dhaka, India, filmed to appear as one unbroken shot. Throughout that lengthy, ultraviolent scene, Rake attempts to protect the teenage son of a drug lord he’s been tasked to 'extract' from the corrupt cops and turncoats trying to kidnap him. It involves car crashes, a multi-storey foot-chase and Rake shooting everyone in the face. Screenwriter Joe Russo (one half of the Russo brothers who directed Avengers: Endgame) should have named Hemsworth’s character Tyler the Obliterator.

Extraction is directed by Sam Hargrave, a stuntman-turned-filmmaker like the guys who gave us John Wick, and it seems he’s trying to replicate the model of 'one man kills 900' perfected by that series. It also feels partly inspired by Indonesian gangster flicks The Raid (as was John Wick) and especially The Raid 2, which filmed a car chase by having its cameramen in hot pursuit. When Extraction does a variation of the same, it’s clearly a special effect. I’m not saying cinematographers should endanger lives for our entertainment, but the bar raised by The Raid remains unwedged by Extraction.

That said, there’s actually a lot to enjoy here, so long as you suspend your disbelief and most other expectations for movies, and appreciate it like a Call of Duty spectator. It has a solid supporting cast, including Rudhraksh Jaiswal as the sought-after 'package' Ovi, and Randeep Hooda and David Harbour as questionable allies. Even Hargrave, formerly the stunt stand-in for Captain America, gets to play a bearded sniper. The frequent action sequences are well composed and performed, and Hemsworth proves to be an able administrator of pain. (He’s the kind of action hero who kills people with a rake first and asks questions later.) Hemsworth even gets to keep his Aussie accent, and to stress that he’s Australian Russo makes him say "bloody" twice, "mate" countless times, and "I did have me a wife" in an ocker demonstration that’s probably overkill. But overkill is precisely Extraction's point.

3.5/5

Extraction is rated MA15+ for strong themes, strong violence, strong blood and gore. It's now available to stream on Netflix.