The Screen Scribe

Remember those wonderful days of yore when action movies were unapologetically violent with morally compromised, jaded, but ultimately honourable men? And I mean real men, hard bastards that could take an arrow, a bullet, a knife to the gut but persevere, bloody and broken, with an iron will. Cinematic icons with cool names like Indiana Jones, John Rambo, Dutch, John Creasy, Mad Max, Martin Riggs, and John McClane. Damn, there’s a lot of John’s there. What happened to these kinds of characters in cinema? Why are there so few of them now? It’s almost like Hollywood has lost its balls in the last decade, content to let the superhero genre dominate the box office and let the classic action genre fade away along with Hollywood’s masculinity. But then 2020 rolled around and the first great action film I had seen in long time as Netflix released Extraction. Starring Chris Hemsworth as the cynical, world weary veteran mercenary Tyler Rake (see, a cool fucking name), Extraction was an adaptation of the graphic novel Ciudad co-authored by producer Joe Russo. Directed by first timer Sam Hargrave, a renowned stunt co-ordinator with an impressive CV, Extraction is an action movie that delivers a modern take on the classic genre.

A skilled but troubled black-market mercenary and former Australian SASR veteran, Tyler Rake is introduced to the audience living in the Australian Outback trying to forget his past. Given a mission by old friend and colleague Nik to extract a drug lords son, Ovi, from a rival cartel in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Rake sees this as an opportunity to fulfil his death wish or score a massive payday. Win-win. However, following a double-cross after the extraction, Tyler and Ovi must navigate through the city as they are hunted by the rival cartel and Rake’s employers as both try to get their hands on the boy. Fraught with danger and unexpected turns, Tyler is forced to reckon with his tragic past as he promises to deliver the boy from certain death.

While the film wasn’t well received by critics at the time, it scored highly with audiences and I view this as a sign of the times more so than the quality of the film. The plot is a simple premise, infiltrate, acquire the target, shit hits the fan, escape. And for an action movie of this ilk, a throwback to the classics of 80s and 90s cinema, that’s all the plot needs to be. We are here for action, for entertainment and incredible stunt work, and the odd one liner here and there. Simple, cinematic escapist fun. As such, the film falls prey to the usual tropes of the action genre, namely underdeveloped supporting characters and flat, one-dimensional villains. The head of the rival drug cartel was so forgettable I can’t even remember his name. There were also complaints at the time of supposed white-saviour elements but to that I simply say fuck off. Leave your politics at home and just enjoy the film. There were no calls of white-saviour criticism for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom were there?

But the expected flaws of this film, like many of its revered predecessors, are mitigated by strong leading performances, relentless action, and sublime stunt choreography that is matched with excellent camera work. There is one scene midway through that follows a breakneck action sequence that is a single, continuous shot lasting for over 12 minutes. Technical excellence that must have been a nightmare to co-ordinate but executed flawlessly. The leading cast deliver strong performances with heartwarming chemistry between Rudhraksh Jaiswal and Chris Hemsworth, who revels in the opportunity to cast away the blonde wig and hammer of Thor for a role with some genuine depth and a showcase of his acting ability. The film is edited well, with timely breaks between the extended fight scenes that allow both the viewer and the characters room to breath and develop.

Extraction is everything you need an action film to be. Violent, relentless, focused and just pure unadulterated escapist enjoyment for fans of the genre. We need more films like this, and we need more characters like Tyler Rake, solid, believable, unapologetically masculine men with a soft interior hardened by a tragic past. I wholeheartedly recommend Extraction if what your looking for is two hours of sheer adrenaline and ass kicking action.

Extraction is available to view on Netflix.

(Images owned by and courtesy of Netflix)