Main cast: Chris Hemsworth (Tyler Rake), Rudhraksh Jaiswal (Ovi Mahajan Jr), Randeep Hooda (Saju), Priyanshu Painyuli (Amir Asif), Golshifteh Farahani (Nik Khan), Pankaj Tripathi (Ovi Mahajan Sr), and David Harbour (Gaspar)
Director: Sam Hargrave
Sam Hargrave is a stuntman who was heavily involved in the Marvel Cinematic Universe along with many other movies, while the producers and lead actor are also from that same incestuous circle. Perhaps these people are testing out their post-MCU careers, as heaven knows Chris Hemsworth isn’t scoring many home runs when he’s not playing Thor. Extraction is Sam Hargrave’s directional debut, and with his expertise in coordinating and being part of elaborate action scenes, he’s definitely at home in this violent flick.
I’m sure we all know that India and Bangladesh are not exactly fond of one another. When the biggest drug dealer in India, Ovi Mahajan, ends up in jail, the biggest drug dealer in Bangladesh senses an opportunity: Amir Asif, the Bangladeshi fellow in question, has Ovi’s son, Ovi Junior, abducted for ransom. Ovi Senior is not pleased, as he feels humiliated by the kidnapping more than anything else, and he has his henchman Saju go get that boy back… or Ovi Senior will have Saju’s boy killed. Meanwhile, Tyler Rake, a mercenary with the usual hidden anguish over his dead boy, is approached by fellow mercenary Nik Khan for a lucrative job: to extract Ovi Junior from Amir’s men. He takes up the job because it feels like an impossible one, and he has a death wish. Plus, you know, his boy is dead so he has a thing about protecting other boys yadda, yadda, yadda. So, here we go.
As usual, nothing goes well. Saju messes up the initial extraction plan, and Tyler soon realizes that something doesn’t seem right. Who exactly hired him and Nik again? Have they all been played for fools, and if yes, by whom? Ovi Senior, Amir, or someone else?
Did I mention that this movie is violent? We’re talking about video game levels of violence here. Tyler has the amazing ability to hit a target regardless of how he angles his weapon – I don’t think he has to see where he is aiming – and the lead guys in this movie are indestructible, taking hits after hits that would have killed mere mortals… that is, until the plot requires them to stagger and die, and then, oops, they’re gone. I’ve lost count of the mooks that die in this gloriously brainless movie, and it’s awesome. And, unlike, say, the John Wick movies or Atomic Blonde, this one doesn’t try too hard to have a complex plot or deep characterization. The plot is what it is – ready, get, set… KI-III-III-ILL! – and the characters are what they are, especially with Tyler being the stereotypical hard-assed fellow who secretly have a soft spot for protective kids after losing his son – and you know one of the kids he lets go will come back to bite him in the ass hard. This movie is predictable, cookie cutter, and gloriously chaotic.
Extraction may not be a great movie, but it does get the adrenaline pumping. Sure, you can argue that it is silly to have a white guy, who will stand out in a crowd of natives, go do sneak missions, and you can point out parts of the movie that don’t make sense, but who cares? This movie is good at what it wants to do: provide almost two hours of high-octane, old school gun-fu and whack-fu. It’s exactly the kind of thing I need to pick me up during the stay-at-home thanks-COVID-19 lock-down season.
