Extraction 2 improves upon its predecessor by delivering a sequel to the action film that is bigger in every way possible.
I had not been planning to watch Extraction 2 while in NYC for Tribeca. It was sheer luck that I was even able to fit the film into my schedule. Unfortunately, finding the time to write my review prior to the Netflix release became impossible. That’s festival life for you! In any event, I found myself on the edge of my seat throughout the two-hour film. I’ll discuss it later but my experience in watching this film is very different from watching the original in 2020.
Tyler Rake (Chris Hemsworth) barely got out of the first film alive. And yet, he’s at it again in the film’s sequel. Obviously, he had some time to recover and get his body back in shape before going out into the field again. This time around, he has to extract a Georgian gangster’s family from the prison where said gangster is keeping them. I would dive some more into the why of it but this is a film where you are better off knowing very little. In fact, one of the spoilers made its way into the public prior to my seeing the film. It would have been a bigger surprise had I not known THAT was coming. People need to stop ruining everything before a film’s general release! But I digress.
Tyler Rake was never meant to live. Test screenings changed everything and thus a franchise was launched. I watched the first film in late April 2020 on a 32″ TV screen. Getting to see this one on a big screen makes for a huge difference for my experience. Say what you will about Netflix movies but an action film like Extraction 2 is a big screen movie. The other thing is that my focus was very terrible when watching the first film just over a month into the pandemic. Focus plus screen size can make a big difference! Anyway, the thing I love about the sequel is that we get to know more about who Tyler Rake is as a person and learn more about his background. If you want to know why he does what he does, you need to watch the film.
People might say that bigger and better might not be a good thing but it definitely is a good thing for the sequel. Sam Hargrave is a bonafide filmmaker this time around. Like with David Leitch, Hargrave shows that stunt coordinators can make for sold filmmakers behind the camera. The shaky cam can be a bit much at times but it’s no stranger to the genre. But back to the stunts, they are bigger and better in every way and are practical stunts as much as possible. Again, I’m not going to spoil them for you but they’re rather impressive!
DIRECTOR: Sam Hargrave
SCREENWRITER: Joe Russo
CAST: Chris Hemsworth, Golshifteh Farahani, Tornike Gogrichiani, Adam Bessa, Daniel Bernhardt, Tinatin Dalakishvili, Olga Kurylenko
Netflix released Extraction 2 on June 16, 2023. Grade: 3.5/5
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