Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
“I have to say, you’re not living up to the hype,” a character sarcastically tells Tyler Rake when he meets the legendary assassin, who’s barely recovered from his last near-death mission in Dhaka, Bangladesh. But a few minutes into “Extraction 2,” Rake more than lives up to the hype in his new assignment, which ironically makes the film a lot less believable, because Chris Hemsworth’s character will give Norse God Thor a run for his money with his near-immortal resistance to death.
Directed by Sam Hargrave and written by Joe Russo, Anthony Russo, and Ande Parks, the 2023 sequel to “Extraction” follows Rake (played by Hemsworth) to Georgia. He is assigned the dangerous mission of extracting a woman called Ketevan Radiani (Tinatin Dalakishvili) and her two children from the clutches of her gangster husband, all of who are held at a high-security prison. However, the mission becomes increasingly complicated when the gangster is killed, and his ruthlessly vengeful brother (Tornike Gogrichiani) vows to track down his sister-in-law, Rake, and exact revenge.
The sequel reunites Hemsworth with actors Golshifteh Farahani and Adam Bessa, who portray Rake’s team members and siblings, Nik Khan and Yaz Khan. Together, with a few additional hands, the trio takes on an entire army of Georgian gangsters. So, YES, the film is action-packed and will undoubtedly keep fans of the genre entertained until the very end. In fact, even though the plot may be thin, it still manages to be intriguing. However, the extended runtime of 120 minutes poses quite a challenge when watching “Extraction 2.”
The prison-break violence, which occurs at the beginning, is one of the weakest action sequences in the film. While Rake’s stealthy entry into the prison with the assistance of an insider was tense and exciting, things gradually become increasingly unrealistic as the seconds tick by. Especially when Rake and Ketevan have to battle their way through rioting prisoners, with the latter armed only with a shovel. The Soviet prison break in “Stranger Things Season 4” was far more enjoyable and believable, even though the show features aliens and supernatural monsters! That said, Sam Hargrave and his team definitely pull out all the stops to make the film as intense as possible, so viewers can expect a barrage of guns, explosions, blood, and a few gory deaths. However, while the film delivers on the spectacle, the close-combat scenes are somewhat limited and could have benefited from improved action choreography, as they tend to feel generic.
If you enjoyed the first Extraction, the second installment is definitely worth a watch. You can stream the film on Netflix.
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