The Reel Review
After barely surviving a harrowing extraction in Bangladesh, black market mercenary-for-hire Tyler Rake is back on a new, more personal mission in the nation of Georgia in this sequel to the rousing 2020 Netflix action/adventure film starring Chris Hemsworth and directed by Marvel stunt coordinator Sam Hargrave.
Just like the first film from Ande Parks and the Russo brothers (Avengers: Endgame, Avengers: Infinity War), Extraction is light on plot and VERY heavy on action – like, a mind-numbing amount of high-octane, adenaline pumping action – much of it with the feel of a first-person shooter video game. Hargrave’s special effects and stunt work is truly extraordinary.
Golshifteh Farahani (Paterson, About Elly) and Adam Bessa (Mosul) reprise their roles as Rake’s sibling mercenary team members, with Idris Elba and Olga Kurylenko making brief appearances as Rake’s respective handler and ex-wife. The story is even sillier than the first film, but the entertaining, over-the-top action is so riveting that you just may not notice, or care.
REEL FACTS
• Extraction became Netflix’s most watched original film – 99 million views in one month – when it debuted in 2020.
• The one-take action sequence in Extraction II‘s first act lasts a whopping 21 minutes.
• Director Sam Hargrave has announced there will be a third installment to the popular Netflix franchise.
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