As Tyler Rake, Chris Hemsworth will do no damage to his image as the man of tomorrow. If falling off a bridge backwards, before rising from the ashes like an obscenely chiselled phoenix is the mark of an action hero, then Extraction 2 might just be the motherload.
Inhabited by an uber gruff Chris Hemsworth in all his buzz cut bravado, this high-octane follow-up is written by Joe Russo and helmed by returning director Sam Hargrave. Who ensures that any downtime our hero suffers through is limited, before he gets a mission of mercy from Alcott (Idris Alba) which drives him back into the field to rescue a family friend.
Much of the reason for Tyler’s need to break into an Eastern bloc prison, free a wife and her child, before dismembering anything which gets in his way is academic. Whether he is being tracked down by revenge driven brothers Zurab (Tornike Gogrichianai) and Davit (Tornike Bziava), or ploughing through reams of faceless mercenaries – Chris Hemsworth sells the action effortlessly.
Alongside Golshifteh Farahani as Nik, who proves equally efficient at dispatching bad guys, Extraction 2 zips by at breakneck speed, with dazzling action sequences which are seamlessly cut together. A fact which will blindside audiences with carnage and distract them from a lack of coherent script.
In so many ways, and on so many levels, Extraction 2 feels like a live action Call of Duty. Where an alpha male archetype makes swift work of any tangible threats, while lesser mortals are left cowering behind inanimate objects until the smoke clears.
Not that this distinctive brand of action movie ever fails to deliver the goods where it counts, even if its leading man rarely gets to emote beyond mumbled platitudes. Anyone who hooks themselves up to this particular juggernaut of action excess knows the score. As Tyler Rake cuts a swathe through all comers on his way to action hero greatness, pausing once in a blue moon to offer an offhand quip, audiences just know that an Extraction 3 is on the cards.
High points include a single shot infiltration of one heavily fortified prison, which is reminiscent of that Matt Murdock escape from somewhere similar in season 3 of Daredevil. Seamlessly linking close quarters fisticuffs with a high body count, and gradual advancement through to freedom. Beyond that, Extraction 2 does exactly what it says on the box, confirming Chris Hemsworth as a formidable force of nature on screen – with or without that hammer.
Extraction 2 is available to stream on Netflix now.
