Extraction Review

April 22, 2020 at 6:59pm
By Jason Stettner

Extraction is a Netflix Original film that follows a mercenary that is sent in on his most deadly mission. This is Tyler Rake (Chris Hemsworth), a troubled individual that has certain beliefs and tries to enforce them upon this intensely dangerous situation. This is a graphic action focused experience, with some quiet moments that almost act as a padding in what’s going on. The initial setup does come across as a tad generic, but once it gets rolling it feels very much like John Wick in terms of the style.

There’s a really nice flow to it as Tyler takes on swarms of opponents, and a key foe on the path to keeping this young crime lord’s kid alive. It’s an interesting dynamic, and it has moments that did feel realistic in terms of dealing with hardcore scenes of damage. That was whether fighters were getting fatigued, or in how they would actually have a toll taken on them throughout combative sequences.

This makes it a much more visceral, and therefore exciting journey to go on. I also quite liked some of the smaller themes that were present throughout, but wasn’t a fan of the whole slowed down quiet segment I mentioned prior. That had an interesting payout, but it sort of detracted from the overall flow of the experience. A shorter run time would have been preferred, just to keep the action and momentum they had achieved prior to that point.

I really felt that Hemsworth was going all out in this one and really nailed that quiet, yet almost broken sort of action character. I also liked how subtle they were with his background, being clear in what is past was without diving into it as that’s just not needed. You can tell that there’s some damage there, and this almost feels in general like just his latest mission.

That’s a neat setup, that I again compare to the style of the John Wick films which are of a very high quality. When this one is rolling, it feels really quite tense. I loved how those actions sequences were shot, and with how they were tracked. That flow was excellent, and it came across as hardcore. There were moments where the combatants were very tired, and just trying to get an edge on their opponent.

This was done in some creative, and setting appropriate ways. There was a very interesting balance in this one in terms of using the environment. It’s set in a very crowded place, and it felt natural to that setting. This also played into how the combat played out, and the situations. These felt like smaller, more intimate scenes and yet still had a large scale frenzy to them.

The Conclusion

Extraction brings some intense action, and gets straight to the point while having some padding that sort of drags it down a tad. I thought all of the intense sequences were delivered in unique, and satisfying ways. The tracking was excellent, and I liked the sense of fatigue that was present during various engagements. This really does get to the point, and right into the action quickly.

It’s got a generally fine, yet generic sort of start to it. Once the lead gets thrown into the situation it gets intense and I liked the various perspectives that were in play throughout the run time of this. I keep going back to the John Wick comparisons, but I think you’ll be right at home if you like that series.

It’s got a certain style that’s similar, but clearly its own sort of thing and that works very well for it. I’d actually be interested in more setups with this particular scenario as there’s potential for more I suppose. It hit the right marks, used its extraction target well and had some neat surprises throughout.

Extraction Review at Home with Streamed Viewing
Screening was Provided by Netflix

Rating Overall: 6.7