Extraction (2020)

Tyler Rak, a totally fearless black market mercenary, finds himself thrown into the most lethal mission of his life after being hired to pull off a high-stakes rescue of an imprisoned international crime boss's kidnapped son.

IMDb

Director: Sam Hargrave
Writers: Joe Russo (based on the graphic novel "City", from a story by), Joe Russo (script)
Stars: Chris Hemsworth, David Harbour, Golshifteh Farahani

An absolute action rollercoaster where the adrenaline never lets up—it’s basically a bloodbath involving half the US military and local police forces.
I feel like I've seen this trope a thousand times before, but honestly? It holds its own. The handheld camera work gives it this gritty, grounded sense of realism that actually works. Chris Hemsworth delivers a strong performance in the lead role, making the whole thing a pretty decent watch in my book.
My final rating for the film is 6.5/10.

Gave up after about 4 mins.

Rachel Turner2 said:Gave up after about 4 mins.

Is it really that bad?

It isn't bad at all, really. It’s a solid action piece, though I found it quite nicely interwoven with some genuine dramatic scenes.

I wasn't really feeling this movie, it felt pretty middle-of-the-road to me, and I honestly found the casting of those actors from India to be a bit grating

What exactly do you mean by "irritating"? Are we talking about them being genuinely grating to watch because of poor acting?

Gave up after thirty minutes. Predictably boring.

Bad movie, bad story, even the supporting cast was off. And the ending? The absolute icing on a terrible cake. Why did I waste my time? 3/10. This actor will be back at Marvel before you know it...

Just your run-of-the-mill Netflix cookie cutter. The action? Honestly, it’s not half bad.
It’s a decent enough watch if you’ve got absolutely nothing else going on.

0/10

Honestly, maybe a 1/10 just because of Golshifteh Farahani—that Indian woman is pretty damn good 🙂

Honestly, this is easily one of the best action flicks we've seen in years, yet everyone seems to be rating it a zero or a one... 🤣 What’s your usual go-to? Do you even watch action movies at all?

Man, this one hit me like a total sucker punch. The action is top-tier, and the choreography is just insane—I'm still trying to wrap my head around how they handled the camera work. I mean, I know there has to be a cut somewhere, but I just can't spot it... damn. Thor really carries the whole thing, the supporting cast is decent enough, and David Harbour is criminally underused. The ending caught me off guard, though it's not like they weren't dropping hints—or maybe they were just straight-up ripping off Gladiator. Definitely worth a second watch...

SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have finished the film and I find myself agreeing that it is your quintessential modern action flick. I am uncertain what their specific ambitions are regarding the Indian market, though it was a refreshing change of pace to see gunplay occurring in that setting with an Indian accent. My impression is that of an industrial action movie pumped full of steroids. They injected a dash of drama by providing us with a heavily buffed ex-special forces operative who carries significant family trauma—specifically the death of his son—which causes him, in the middle of a job where he would otherwise act as a ruthless mercenary, to suddenly discover a sense of morality and justice. Consequently, instead of following professional protocols, he decides to embark on a suicidal mission to save a child. Fine, they have constructed a decent storyline. As for the irrational and excessive amount of injuries the protagonist manages to endure before he is finally taken out, I shall not dwell on it too much. I was actually reflecting on how many action films are beginning to feel like adaptations of video games (shooters). I do not mean that quite literally, but judging by the level of violence and the depiction of combat, one sees an increasing influence from gaming. In this particular instance, we can observe a great deal of CQC elements that defy all logic; for example, an ex-special forces Australian operative is able to single-handedly wipe out an entire squad of special forces from Bangladesh in close quarters, survive a car impact only to continue running and shooting with equal efficiency, and so on through similar nonsense. When hit by an RPG, today's action heroes survive as if someone merely tossed a broom at them rather than leveling an entire room with a projectile. My personal favorite is certainly the scene where the Indian ex-specialist fits himself with a nasal splint, accompanied by some timely blood spitting into a sink and a small cry, after which we see nothing more than a minor scratch on his nose. All in all, it is a pleasant film; I found watching all these action stunts quite entertaining and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for some mindless shooting with a happy ending.

briskhound2 said:Honestly, this is easily one of the best action flicks we've seen in years, yet everyone seems to be rating it a zero or a one... 🤣 What’s your usual go-to? Do you even watch action movies at all?

Man, this one hit me like a total sucker punch. The action is top-tier, and the choreography is just insane—I'm still trying to wrap my head around how they handled the camera work. I mean, I know there has to be a cut somewhere, but I just can't spot it... damn. Thor really carries the whole thing, the supporting cast is decent enough, and David Harbour is criminally underused. The ending caught me off guard, though it's not like they weren't dropping hints—or maybe they were just straight-up ripping off Gladiator. Definitely worth a second watch...

I watch action movies—you mentioned recent years, so for instance, both Sicarii films are way better in my book, whereas this one is basically an insult to your intelligence, right up there with The Equalizer and John Wick...

hollowwalker24 said:I watch action movies—you mentioned recent years, so for instance, both Sicarii films are way better in my book, whereas this one is basically an insult to your intelligence, right up there with The Equalizer and John Wick...

Well, I'm gonna have to stop you right there—Sicario isn't really an "action movie." It's more of a drama that happens to have some intense action sequences thrown in. There's a massive difference there. It's more like Heat...

The characters and the plot are pretty weak, but man, the action is top-tier—which is really all you want from an action flick anyway. For me, it’s a total win; the fight choreography is basically on par with John Wick, though I’d say this one feels way more brutal. It’s weird, though, because everyone raves about Wick, but they seem to be hating on this one for no reason.
Maybe it lacks a bit of that lighthearted, fun vibe since the whole thing is super dark, but hey, that was clearly the style they were going for, so you gotta respect the vision.

That one sequence that looks like a single ten-minute long take? It kicks off with a car chase, moves straight into a massive shootout in that building, and wraps up with another chase... honestly, it’s easily the best part of the movie. 🙏

It’s actually kind of wild how that Indian woman special ops soldier ends up being a much more compelling character than the actual lead.

@briskhound2
It’s hardly true that everyone is giving this a zero; I personally handed it a six. And if you bother to look at IMDb, a 6.8 rating suggests that people actually seem to enjoy the film.

Honestly, this feels like it was directed by Jeong-beom Lee—it’s just pure, high-octane action scenes from start to finish.

goldenhound32 said:@briskhound2
It’s hardly true that everyone is giving this a zero; I personally handed it a six. And if you bother to look at IMDb, a 6.8 rating suggests that people actually seem to enjoy the film.

I was just talking about what I've been seeing on the forum. I know the movie was generally well-received by most people.

briskhound2 said:The ending was a bit of a curveball, I guess, but they weren't exactly hiding the clues—honestly, it felt like they just ripped off Gladiator.

Let's try something more contemporary 😁: Man on Fire. The whole movie.

Mark White11 said:The characters and the plot are pretty subpar, but the action is top-tier, which is basically all you want from an action flick. For me, it’s great—the fight choreography is on par with John Wick, though maybe a bit more brutal. It’s weird how Wick gets all the love from fans and critics while people seem to hate on this one.

I mean, Wick is definitely more brutal, especially as the series goes on. There isn't a single scene in this movie that tops the eye scene in John Wick: Chapter 3. And the choreography... it's just not quite at Wick's level because those fights feel almost like a choreographed dance. But overall, it’s not bad. I have to give massive props to the cameraman during that ten-minute sequence; total respect. 🙏
I agree, the Indian woman is more interesting than Hemsworth.

All in all, it's a solid action movie, but it's definitely not a masterpiece. The ending (just the very end) reminds me a bit of the finale of the last Rambo movie. 😁
Ramb Ps: when that "Stay down !" part happened, I kind of expected Russo to throw in an "I can do this all day!" line. 😁