Extraction 2 Review: Tyler Rake Returns for An Even More Visceral Second Chapter
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Golshifteh Farahani, Adam Bessa, Olga Kurylenko, Idris Elba, Tornike Gochrichiani
Director: Sam Hargrave
Streaming Platform: Netflix
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 3.5/5 (three and a half stars) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Extraction 2 is the movie on Netflix from June 16th. Even in a genre considered “low” and entertaining as action films, there are trends. Lately, for example, exaggerated, ironic, kitsch action films that look like video games are all the rage. However, the “classic” action films survive, a little démodé, from the 90s, full of shooting scenes and with a gruff and silent hero with a very painful past. Extraction 2, the sequel to the 2020 film, belongs to this trend but transports it into the contemporary. After 3 years the beloved and revived Extraction of the Netflix house returns to entertain his audience with a new adventure in the name of pure adrenaline.
Tyler’s newfound lifeblood might seem surreal to a less experienced spectator, considering that at the end of the first film the character, after being repeatedly shot, literally fell off a bridge and sank under water. Not even Thor has 9 lives but maybe Tyler Rake does: Chris Hemsworth’s character in Extraction 2 is looking for answers about his past and inspiration for his future. Will she be able to find them? But above all, will the film produced by the Russo brothers live up to the expectations of the public? Let’s find out together in Extraction 2 review, obviously without spoilers. In what appears to be the perfect ending and resolution of the first film, Tyler Rake finally finds peace in a comfortable cottage in the mountains of Austria, accompanied by the memory of his beloved son. However, as expert connoisseurs of the genre know, when the hero of an action movie seems to have found peace, you have to start worrying.
Extraction 2 Review: The Story Plot
By the end of the first film in what is now a franchise, we left Tyler Rake dead than alive in a river. Now, we find him more or less cured, having to face a task similar to that of the first film, but with a complication: the one asking to be “extracted” is the sister of his ex-wife, who is confined with her children in a Georgian prison because of her husband, the crime boss of the whole country. In this mission, which is practically suicide, he will be assisted by Nik and her brother Yaz. In addition to strength, cunning, and the ability to operate an impressive variety of firearms, Tyler will also have to use his hidden skills of empathy and will have to find within himself the strength to overcome his trauma and the loss of him.
Extraction 2 opens the curtain exactly where the one in the previous film closed, although not exactly. Let’s try to clarify the doubts immediately and dispel the suspicions. Tyler Rake concluded with Tyler’s presumed death. The trained soldier played by Chris Hemsworth, flogged by gunfire, fell from the bridge and the viewer could assume that the protagonist’s body was left missing under the water. Too bad that the true ending of the film already hinted at something else. The last scene of the first film in the saga showed the little boy played by Rudhraksh Jaiswal practicing the teachings of breathing control and underwater meditation taught by Tyler, while in the background appeared the shadow of a figure that unmistakably resembled Chris Hemsworth. Now, the film left the door open for a potential sequel or the viewer’s only hope for a brighter and happier future for the protagonist. The success of the film guaranteed Tyler a new film but not a better future, on the contrary.
The connections with what was experienced in the first film run out almost immediately since there is no reference to the previous adventure, except for the inevitable clinical consequences that Tyler’s body brought back. The ties between the protagonist and the boy dissolved into thin air. A real shame because the previous film had hinted that Tyler’s paternal spirit was slowly mending and the boy had managed to heal some deep wounds. A real wasted opportunity, but we’ll come back to it later. Extraction 2 dedicates its introduction to the miracle of Tyler’s return from the realm of the dead. The fall and the blows that the character suffered in the previous film have left their marks but in less than no time the protagonist is ready to return to the battlefield.
Extraction 2 Review and Analysis
Sam Hargrave, director triune in his perfectly knowing the elements to mix to create a well-dosed and tasty magic potion, chooses a charismatic star in the lead role: Chris Hemsworth is very far from his awkward, arrogant, and childish performance of the God of Thunder, the Thor we have come to pity and love. The actor, on the other hand, immerses himself completely in the most successful action hero stereotypes and comes out credible, colorful, and not at all obvious. His solemnity and his physicality are calibrated by an emotional performance, full of nostalgic glances and an unexpected introspection. Difficult, for the audience sensitive to male charm, not to understand the dreamy looks that Tyler’s colleague – and his savior – Nik throws him from time to time, expertly scattered here and there by the intelligent direction. An equally charismatic counterpart is the always dazzling Idris Elba, who brings retired agent Tyler back into action.
The writing, a bit redundant and excessively explanatory as well as captions of what happens on the screen, nevertheless builds a perfect plot to support the spectacular action sequences. Chases, blood, and chromatisms opposite to those proposed in the first episode set in India – all played on grays – make up a mosaic of crazy movements precisely designed to keep the viewer in suspense. Hemsworth presents himself as a new type of action hero, despite the references and easter eggs of the great classics such as the Terminator or Commando. His fragility completes him, infusing him with a rich, vulnerable, and nuanced humanity. The action hero of the 20s of the 2000s tries to overturn the testosterone and plaster canons of often sterile imagery, which prevailed in the genre from the 80s to the 10s of the new millennia.
The mercenary played by Chris Hemsworth forcefully returns to the screen with an action movie that leaves you speechless with its chases, fights, and action sequences. A somewhat baroque and didactic writing does not spoil the pleasure of witnessing this series of spectacular scenes that leave the viewer no room for breathing space. Tyler Rake’s assumptions are maintained if not pushed to their full current potential, with Sam Hargrave in superb artistic form. In one of his last interviews, Chris Hemsworth defined the figure of Rake as that of a ” Rambo version for Millennials ” and the definition appears very precise. The directorial-screenplay combination keeps a film that never gets boring, but proposes creative solutions to surprise its audience, remaining faithful to a pattern written by a long genre repertoire. The Russo brothers, who intervene in the production or direction, manage to unite in a single organism – as they did for the Marvel brand in Avengers: Infinity War – action and substance. Joe Russo, responsible for the well-structured and slightly stuffed script, gives the work a result of authorship despite the blockbuster premises. A real treat for lovers of thrillers and action movies, a must-see!
The character of Idris Elba hides much more than it may seem at a simple glance. If you are a fan of Fast & Furious you will remember Mr. Nobody very well. Idris Elba in Extraction 2 follows exactly the characteristics of the character of the longest-running car saga ever: he is mysterious, funny, and shrewd. Never a word is out of place, never one is wasted. The English actor’s character has no name, and this helps to make him distant and untouchable. He is the one who provides the new assignment to Tyler and with it, then, a new life even more adventurous and reckless. Better not to go too far into the dynamics of the plot because telling the details about the characters would risk being considered a spoiler. Therefore, it will be enough for you to know that, as in the previous film, Tyler is tasked with bringing a certain subject to safety in a safe place. Plans don’t always go as planned and the clash is literally around the corner.
Tyler is not so cold and detached out of simple habits but in this way, he avoids becoming attached and losing the object of his love for him. Tyler went through a bereavement that transformed him and still marks and haunts him in chapter two of the saga. However, if in the first film the father-son relationship reappeared between Tyler and the boy that the soldier was supposed to protect, in the sequel it is absent, just as the boy is absent, obviously, unjustifiably. Netflix missed the opportunity to give his character a more marked three-dimensionality and to show him as fragile and protective in another light. Inserting the boy in this film too would have guaranteed an emotional line to the film and a strong point of contact with the previous one. Such a pity.
There are young actors in Tyler Rake but they are the cause of the film’s unexpected events. Because of their actions the action takes on a new dimension, even more dangerous and ruthless. We can safely say that Tyler and the “children” of the second film do not establish any kind of emotional bond, perhaps they are just the cause of a lot of nervousness for the character and the viewer. Without spoiling anything, I anticipate that the kids in the film will be the unleashed cause of the twists and turns which in the end are not so unexpected, because they follow the clichés of action films in every detail.
Still talking about action, both films are directed by Sam Hargrave, head of the stuntman of the Russo films, a man who knows action. The direction is aimed at dragging the viewer into the film. The camera is visibly shouldered for large and entire sequences, this helps the viewer to feel part of the action. Like an action video game, the viewer becomes an active audience immersed in the film sequences. In Extraction 2 there is a fake long shot entirely action starring Chris Hemsworth which is truly remarkable. It’s nothing I’ve seen before, of course, but I can assure you it was well-directed and did not go unnoticed.
I cannot fail to note that the screenplay of the first film bears the triple signature of Joe Russo, Ande Parks, and Anthony Russo, while that of Extraction 2 carries only that of Joe Russo. Perhaps the confrontation and dialogue helped in the first film since the script of the sequel is decidedly weaker, more obvious, and emotionless than that of the first film. Extraction 2 focuses too much and only on the action at the expense of developing the relationships between the characters. The emotion that at times characterized the first film is missing. Who knows that in the next film, because it’s already obvious that there will be, they won’t be able to rebalance the two sides of the coin. The interpreter of Thor in recent years is determined to continue his career in the wake of grotesque comedies. Too bad the actor proved his worth in dramas.
Just to mention two I name you Rush, a film in which Hemsworth played the role of the Formula 1 driver James Hunt, and 12 Soldier. Without a doubt, we also saw the best version of the god of thunder from Marvel in Avengers Infinity War, in which the character is anything but comical. In the two Extraction films the actor proves that he is a skilled drama actor and at the same time confirms that he is an incredibly muscular actor. These two characteristics elevate Chris Hemsworth to the Olympus of action actors who also know how to be expressive and convincing in the various more emotional sequences that arise when necessary. It is no coincidence that after the “failure” of the latest version of Thor, the ultra-comic one, the actor has decided to move towards films with a decidedly more serious and dramatic cut, at least away from Marvel.
Among the upcoming projects for the Australian actor, we point out the next biopic dedicated to the legend of wrestling, Hulk Hogan. The film is still called “Untitled Hulk Hogan Biopic” and is currently still in development. More solid and already with a release date set is the sequel to Mad Max Fury Road, Furiosa. The film starring Anya Taylor-Joy is currently in post-production and will debut in cinemas on May 24, 2024. In Furiosa Hemsworth will show the acting skills already revealed in Extraction, with the particularity that in this case, it will not be the anti-hero but the villain of the story. Who knows if the actor will be allowed to best show his emotions in an upcoming film in the Netflix saga? No doubt the film would benefit from it. We remind you that Extraction 2 awaits you on Netflix starting June 16th.
Extraction 2: The Last Words
Extraction 2 gives the right strength to a genre too often mistreated by critics, but much followed by the public. With a combination of narrative solidity and authorial thrusts by director Sam Hargraves, he manages to tell a complex, surprising story full of twists and turns in a fluid and exciting way. Indeed, it does not seem fair to add to this political and poetic extraction the same series of clichés that belong to the genre, at least not without having first known their depth and visual power. Joe Russo’s screenplay, impressive as it is, creates the ideal scaffolding for a story that never gives up, always on the spot, giving its best and raising viewers’ expectations.
