Extraction

Click here for a video version of this review: https://youtu.be/5VSDwYyxjsA _Extraction_ has just been released on Netflix and stars Chris Hemsworth as Tyler Rake, a former Special Forces soldier who now works as a mercenary. He takes on a high risk job rescuing the kidnapped child of a drug lord. Sounds pretty much like every other action movie doesn't it? Well it kinda is, and it kinda isn't. It is a fairly standard action movie from the point of view of having a simple story, a clichéd hero with a tragic past, lots of fights, car chases, and explosions. But what steps this up somewhat is the quality of the action. This movie was put together by Sam Hargrave and the Russo brothers, who of course all made huge contributions to the Marvel cinematic universe, and are therefore people who understand how to string action sequences together.  This experience shows in brilliantly choreographed fight scenes that echo John Wick but which have a more real world feel like Jason Bourne. There’s fights that take place in a single room, others across multiple floors in an apartment block, and others out in the open street. Wherever the action needs to be the film-makers take you there and make you feel like you’re part of the action.  This is most evident in a car chase sequence that we paused and rewatched because it was so well put together. Shot to look like one like 15-ish minute take, the camera goes from outside the car to inside the car then out again and around the car and then back in and out the back window, it was excellent. I’ve seen some footage of how they filmed the externals and Hargrave literally strapped himself to the hood of a car to get the shots - a benefit of having a Stunt Co-ordinator as a Director, I guess. The end result was that it just added another level of intensity to an already balls-out sequence.  So yeah, this movie is one heck of a ride from start to finish, and while it might be light on story, the real reason to watch it is for its incredible action.