Extraction 2 review: Gnarly, breathless sequel tops the first

Extraction 2 is a souped-up, exhilarating sequel that tops the first in every way; showboating still takes precedence over storytelling, but the carnage is delicious.

The opening flash of AGBO’s production logo is worryingly close to being a threat; for every Relic and Everything Everywhere All at Once, there’s a Cherry and The Gray Man, and lest we forget – only because everyone else has – Citadel, the Russo Brothers’ uninspired, ChatGPT-esque “phenomenon” that’s barely justifiable as background viewing.

Extraction actually had the juice: Chris Hemsworth fresh off the MCU’s Endgame, a hero named Tyler Rake who actually kills a man with a rake, ambitiously brutal choreography from stuntman-turned-director Sam Hargrave, and the easiest route on the market to millions of eyeballs with Netflix. In just four weeks, it became the platform’s most-watched original movie of all time, and the demand was rife for Rake’s return.

While it may be time to have a moratorium on awkwardly-stitched one-take sequences, the sequel ups the ante with affectingly breathless and bloody flair and (mostly) responds to the flaws of its predecessor. In some ways, it’s the ultimate example of the one-man-army actioners of the ’80s in a post-Raid and John Wick world; who needs quips when we have flaming fists?

Extraction 2 resurrects Tyler Rake

We open with Rake battered and bullet-torn on a Bangladesh bridge, coughing on his own blood as he plummets into the water. His body floats down the river and he’s discovered by a little girl on the shore, and he’s transported to a hospital in Dubai in a grave state; he thought he was ready to let go, but his soul wasn’t prepared to let him give up yet.

Thanks to his handler Nik (Golshifteh Farahani) and her brother Yaz (Adam Bessa), he’s given the gift of retirement, living quietly in a remote Austrian home with his dog and chickens… until work comes a-knocking from Idris Elba’s mysterious new character (a scene-stealer, we should add). Before we know it, he’s en route to rescue a mother and her two children from a Georgian prison, split by warring gangs and ruled by two crime lords: Zurab (Tornike Gogrichiani) and Davit (Tornike Bziava), the leaders of the country’s ‘Nagazi’.

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We won’t get into any other details regarding why Rake would take on another mission – but we’ll say this: the plot manages to anchor the relentlessness of the action in Rake’s reasons for being. He’s a man who has a pathological need to do, to fix, to kill; he’s programmed to seek out actions that have direct consequences, even if it’s slamming somebody’s head into a treadmill, swinging prisoners from his biceps, or crushing a goon’s head with gym equipment (this moment inspires a particularly giddy squeal). Gratuitous, perhaps, but just as Keanu Reeves’ hitman always gets back up, Rake’s violence is his reason for being.

That said, the villains are pretty weak-sauce (macho-psychotic Eastern European men with little more substance than daddy issues), and at just over two hours, there are the odd scenes – brief, thankfully – that may have you reaching for your phone. There’s an inevitability to the story from the beginning – but hey, did we watch Arnold Schwarzenegger in Commando for the story or the fun along the way?

Chris Hemsworth shines in extraordinary action

Hemsworth’s charisma and physicality make for a deadly two-hander, and the rest of the movie just orbits around him. That’s not to say others don’t deliver strong turns (Farahani is a certifiable badass), but his presence is powerful; the spectacle is great, but it can feel empty if we’re not attached to any of the characters. Sure, he may be indestructible, but he’s also likeable; his gruffness is occasionally softened by his Aussie use of “mate”, and in one emotional scene, the star peels back the layers of the hero in front of us with ease.

Hargrave’s direction is even more composed this time around, the action is bigger, louder, more ferocious, and confidently staged. A prison yard riot deftly juggles hand-to-flaming-hand combat and clinical gunfire, a late brawl with saws, nails, and screwdrivers is a knuckle-whitening bonanza of gore (the sound design is crunchy and fleshy), and everything on the train feels distinctly like a video game, especially in the over-the-shoulder shots of Rake armed with a Gatling gun firing at a helicopter.

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One sequence in a city is a tremendous proof-of-concept for the director to helm a Warzone movie: there’s juggernauts, RPGs flying around, soldiers sniping out of helicopters, and troops camping at the top of the building only to get their sh*t rocked by Rake and co. Seriously, give this man the keys to Verdansk and he will answer the Call of Duty.

However, let’s talk about the so-called one-take sequence that lasts a whopping 21 minutes: it’s an entertaining gimmick with well-orchestrated, often jaw-dropping scale – but it can look a bit ugly when it cheats. 1917’s cuts were mostly imperceptible, but here, they’re obvious: a shot suddenly turning fuzzy as it whips around to someone else, a man being whacked towards us so the screen is blacked out for a second, and cameras traveling across set pieces in ways that defy spatial sense. Such a filmmaking feat may be marketable, and there’s brave talent on display, but the whole is lesser than the sum of its parts.

The score, composed by Henry Jackman and Alex Belcher, lacks any sort of memorable punch, veering between generic uptempo intensity and mournful, pulsing strings. Greg Baldi’s cinematography doesn’t hold a candle to any of his visuals in John Wick: Chapter 4, mainly as it’s more concerned with following the action in handheld, close-quarters style than epic, beautiful imagery. Joe Russo’s writing also lands where it matters, if we’re forgiving one eye-roll-worthy line about TikTok.

Extraction 2 review score: 4/5

Put Just Cause, Warzone, and John Wick in a blender and you’ll get a head-rocking pint of Extraction 2, a strong contender for the Friday-night-with-a-beer-movie of the year.

Extraction 2 hits Netflix on June 16, 2023. Find out more about the movie here