TL;DR – It might not stick the landing, but it was a good action romp until then.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this film.

Extraction 2 Review –

When I watched the first Extraction, I found it to be a film that barely had a working narrative, with just enough connective tissue to move from action set piece to action set piece. But each action set piece was strong enough to carry the film to its conclusion. But given the first film went to 100% and stayed there, was there room for them to go any further in the sequel? This is the question I sought to find out when I sat down to watch Extraction 2.  


So to set the scene, Tyler Rake (Chris Hemsworth) is feared dead until he washes ashore on a river in Bangladesh, barely clinging to life. He is medically evacuated to Dubai, where they can save his life, but Tyler is faced with an immense mountain of physical therapy because of his wounds and is unsure if he has the strength to make it through it. In Kojori, Georgia, local underworld figure Zurab’s (Tornike Gogrichiani) brother Davit’s (Tornike Bziava) prison sentence was extended, and Zurab is murdering the local governor kind of upset. Nik Kahn (Golshifteh Farahani) and her brother Yaz Kahn (Adam Bessa) set Tyler up in a cabin on the side of a lake in Gmunden, Austria, to try and give him some drive to recover. When Alcott (Idris Elba) gives him a mission, he has to get his sister-in-law, Davit’s wife Ketevan (Tinatin Dalakishvili), and her children out of the prison that Davit has locked them up in. It is a simple mission. What could go wrong?    

One of the film’s highlights is the opening escape from Tkachiri Prison when everything falls apart. It mirrors the one-er in the first film’s intensity because it is presented in one long take. Even though you are paying attention, you can see the seams. What makes this scene work is the juxtaposition between order and chaos. Tyler is methodical in his approach to the extraction, but he is extracting civilians, and children, so there are things like a dropped toy he can’t control. Then there are two warring gangs, the guards not liking being under attack, and soon not even all your training can keep things from falling apart. I liked the touches on Tyler showing more restraint than he would generally because he does not want to traumatise the children by killing a bunch of people in front of them [if he can help it].  

A film like this does not work if, first, you don’t believe the physicality of your leading actor, and that is not an issue with Chris Hemsworth. You buy every moment, and he has the strength to come back from the dead and lead a mercenary army quickly. Then there is the whole stunt team that is supporting the action. Sam Hargrave’s team is one of the best in the business today, and their work here is astounding. This combination makes the film work as well as it does.  

The action is very much in the style of John Wick’s later films, with many shots being fired to the ratio of people falling down. However, the difference being everyone is wearing body armour rather than suits, sans helmets. Some action set pieces make the most of their location, like being on a train or fighting in a gym. Others feel a bit more generic like insert generic industrial facility here. One area where the film needed more time in production was its compositing of vehicles into the action scenes because they were the key moments that pulled you out of the scene.   

Where the film fell flat for me was the third act. It had a lot of strength leading up to that and could have been a solid 90-minute outing, but when you feel like you are at the conclusion of your big end-of-film action sequence only to find out there are 40 minutes left to go, things start to feel like a slog. Meaning that the film ends with a bit of a fizzle than a crescendo. There was an attempt to give Tyler a bit more of a character arc this time around, and it was a bit hit-and-miss. As were the attempts at a bit more expansive world-building.    

So in the end, do we recommend Extraction 2? Well… Look, I don’t think it stuck the landing. However, it was still an entertaining watch up until that point. The action set pieces worked well; if nothing else, the film got at least one ‘oh damn’ out of me. If you liked Extraction 2, we would also recommend to you Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you watched Extraction 2?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 


Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Extraction 2
Directed by – Sam Hargrave
Written by – Joe Russo
Based on –  Ciudad by Ande Parks, Joe Russo, Anthony Russo, Fernando León González & Eric Skillman
Music by – Henry Jackman & Alex Belcher
Cinematography by – Greg Baldi
Edited by – Álex Rodríguez & William Hoy
Production/Distribution Companies – AGBO, Wild State, T.G.I.M. Films & Netfllix
Starring – Chris Hemsworth, Golshifteh Farahani, Adam Bessa, Olga Kurylenko, Tinatin Dalakishvili, Andro Japaridze, Marta Kovziashvili, Miriam Kovziashvili, Daniel Bernhardt, Tornike Gogrichiani, Tornike Bziava, Levan Saginashvili, George Lasha & Idris Elba
Rating – Australia: MA15+; United States: R