THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Extraction was one of Netflix’s best films from 2020, being an action packed distraction from such troubling times. With viewers like myself blown away of what was done than, I didn’t mind getting more of it.
PLOT
Extraction 2 follows mercenary Tyler Rake survive his rescue mission in Dhaka when previously being declared clinically dead. He decides to retire from his work and recover from his wounds in a cabin in Austria, but a stranger named Alcott (Idris Elba) recruits him for another mission. He is tasked to rescue Ketevan and her two children, Sandro & Nina (Miriam & Marta Kovziashvili). Ketevan is the wife of Davit Radiani who leads the crime syndicate the ‘Nagazi’ with his brother Zurab. Davit is imprisoned for killing a DEA agent and unable to bribe his way out of a sentence, but demands his family to move into the same prison as him to prevent them from ever leaving him. Due to the poor living conditions and constant abuse from the Nagazi’s co-leader, Ketevan’s sister Mia specifically requested Alcott to recruit her ex husband Rake to save them. Aware of the stakes, he takes the job and trains to be physically prepared for the task. On the day of the mission, he takes his partner Nik and her brother Yaz to join him, infiltrate the prison and rescue their targets. The escape is deemed a success after Davit gets killed, everyone else passes through a riot and board an armored train, fighting off enough forces to board a plane to Vienna. All was satisfied except Sandro, who actually idolized his father, resulting in him to secretly share the whereabouts to his uncle by texting him with Yaz’s phone. The group’s recovery doesn’t last long when Zurab tracks them down to a safe house. In the crossfire, Yaz would be killed and Sandro would join his uncle. However, Rake & Nik would still get Ketevan and Nina to cabin where they would reunite with Mia. There, the protagonist would apologize to his ex wife for not being there for her when their son died of lymphoma, admitting he left on a mission before he died because he felt guilty he couldn’t save him. Still wanting revenge for his brother, Zurab contacts Rake and tells him to meet him at a nearby church. There, the latter and Nik wipe out the majority of his forces only to find Sandro wearing a bomb vest. Zurab tries to force his nephew to shoot the man trying to save him, but the child accepts what is right & wrong and refuses to listen. This gives Rake the chance to kill his evil uncle and Nik disarms the vest. Despite saving everyone they were tasked to rescue, Rake & Nik would be imprisoned by authorities for the chaos they’ve caused. When Rake is visited by Mia, she informs him Ketevana and her children have relocated for witness protection. When she also shares their son thought proudly of him before dying, Rake would instruct her to give her sister money he left in his cabin. The film would end with him and Nik being broken out thanks to Alcott, who offers them another mission in exchange for their freedom. THOUGHTS
I hold Extraction quite dearly to my heart because it was one of the first films I ever blogged about during the COVID-19 pandemic, sparking my encouragement to continue speaking my mind on the films I’ve seen. The fact three years have gone by for this sequel to exist only makes me proud on how far I’ve gone. Putting aside a personal sentiment, I was prepared for another joyride of an action film like before. It only made me very satisfied on how Sam Hargrave and the Russo Brothers top themselves in a big way. The cinematography & editing done for each action sequence is what’s made the first film so distinctive from other films, which is where I’m stunned to see how that is exactly what is topped here. I’m sure people enjoyed what occurred in the sequences from the NYC tower safehouse to the abandoned church, but they’re far from great when comparing it to the entire prison break sentence done in what resembles as one take in an estimated amount of 21 minutes. You see everything that comes the character’s way and you feel like you’re part of it, surpassing a similar scene from the predecessor. Apart from the incredible action, the rest of the movie works because the returning lead Chris Hemsworth continues the theme of redemption, where it’s never too late to do so no matter how broken you feel. Rake may be a badass when he has to be, like fighting while his arm is on fire, but he’s still someone who wishes everything was within his control. He’s definitely proud of his success in Mumbai, otherwise he would’ve not visited Ovi by the end of the first film, but it didn’t change how much he misses his son. He continued self isolation due to still wishing he could bring him back and hates he never can. Only fate would have it for him to continue his path of healing when being tasked to save Ketevan and her children. I was surprised we’d get more depth of Rake’s past when introducing Olga Kurlyenko as Mia. From what we get out of her by the third act, we sense she’s someone whose went through the ringer of emotions and is willing to put the past behind her to focus on the now. She picked Tyler to save her sister because she knew how great he is at what he does, besides wanting to reconnect. Once he said how he felt, all the resentment she had towards him vanished because getting a clarification on how he was feeling was what she wanted for so long. And her visiting him in prison proved how much she’d forgiven him. As for Ketevan, Tinatin Dalakishvili does a good job in portraying her as one who knew what both sides were going through and accepts their way of thinking. Apart from that, she is a strong willed mother who protected her kids as long as she could from great terror before being rescued. There’s nothing else to say about Nina since she was such an innocent kid who didn’t ask for the life filled with trouble, just like her brother. That is where Sandro differs because due to being older, Andro Japaridze expresses how conflicted he is on how to properly love one another. And due to being under the wing of his father and uncle, he believed their ways were right. He felt that way out of fear and didn’t want to go through pain. He accepted he was wrong the second his uncle made him point the gun at Rake, which he didn’t want to do. With two great threats no longer part of his life, it’s safe to say he will continue his life with a clear conscience. Now Zurab & Davit are straightforward with their villainy, being cruel and power hungry individuals, but off of that, Tornike Gogrichiani & Torik Bziava nail the expected aspects of an antagonist. So when they bite the dust thanks to Rake, no sympathy will be given. Besides Rake himself, I was glad Nik & Yaz came back as well. Golshifteh Farahani is still great in making Nik a loyal friend to Rake who’s with him tik the end, whereas Adam Bessa was right behind her on that as Yaz besides being laidback when not on the field. It was a bummer for Yaz to die because despite not knowing him like we know Rake, it was like he got overwhelmed from it all. At this point, at least he can be at peace like Rake was able to seek at the end. I don’t kid when I call this film a hellacious blast, but it doesn’t excuse some issues I picked up on as I enjoyed myself for the most part. For instance, is it really a gift for Tyler to be in a cabin in the middle of a snowy forest? He’s barely recovered at this point and maybe he didn’t want to be alone like he says he does. I’ve given my flowers to the prison break sequence, but why do the other prisoners still do the trope of attacking the protagonist one by one when there was an obvious numbers game? I know we want Rake to have a chance due to his recent recovery, but he felt too lucky at that point. That was honestly dumber than the henchmen not wearing helmets when trying to take the family back from Rake. And was there really cover with a ladder? I mean that chopper that had to have known he had a clear shot or two if he aimed at the ladder. I want to pick on how insane it is for Sandro to remember his uncle’s phone number, but it’s mostly Yaz’s fault because he should’ve not left the phone unlocked. Even if you don’t think the kid would do such a thing, be precautious and avoid the damn risk. The one thing I hated about Sandro is that he doesn’t change his mind by the time Zurab shoots up the hotel. At that point, Rake should’ve cuffed him to make sure he wouldn’t run off. And he is way too lucky for the bomb vest to not go off when he took it off on his own. He should’ve waited for at least Nik if not Rake to do it because even if it would’ve been just as easy, she would’ve been more cautious about it. I then wonder if Ketevan and Mia both go into witness protection because if not, Zurab’s followers would continue looking for them if they weren’t. The biggest mistake Zurab is not taking too long to kill Rake but being surprised of him having the upper hand, when he told him where to find him. And lastly, how did Nik break out? I know Rake is the leading man but if she’s gonna be his ride or die, they should go out of the way to show if Alcott broke her out or not. Other than that, this movie is still fun to get through. In short, Extraction 2 is another hit for Netflix due to being an excelled action packed experience, arguably outdoing everything that the first one work. If you got the said streaming service and enjoyed what was down before, see this as soon as possible.
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