Extraction - Light, camera, action and more action !

ASHOK’s FIVE reasons to watch “Extraction” now streaming on Netflix. Starring Chris Hemsworth as Tyler Rake the Australian mercenary, “Extraction” is a fast-paced action thriller. Written by Joe Russo and directed by Sam Hargrave, the film boasts fantastic action sequences. Incidentally, Hargrave worked as stunt director on the Marvel movies and the Avengers-Endgame film as well and clearly the focus on stunt and action shines through.

1.       The film belongs to Chris Hemsworth and is a tribute to his physical prowess as he pulls off mind-blowing stunts. The film opens in Mumbai where the son of a gangster played by Pankaj Tripathi (only one scene) is kidnapped and held hostage by a drug lord in Dhaka. Enter Chris as Tyler who is charged with extracting the kid. Things go wrong when Saju (Randeep Hooda) lands up in Dhaka and Tyler is compromised.

2.       Watch Extraction for a pure video-game like action film. The hallmark of the film is clearly the 12-minute one shot sequence which comprises car chase, foot chase, fist-fight, knife action and a car chase all over again. This is clearly a film where the technique and craft of stunts supersedes the story and the characters. Which is also why a reasonably strong supporting cast that includes Randeep Hooda, Pankaj Tripathi, Golshifeth Fasahani, Priyanshu Painyuli and David Harbour don’t really have too much to do.

3.       The film is set in Dhaka and has a fair mix of Bengali and Hindi dialogues. However, there is no real focus on showcasing the city as such and it is just a crowded, dirty city into which Rake has been injected to do his stuff. To that extent, the potential of showcasing a location that is lesser known is lost.

4.       The emotional scenes are best eschewed. The kidnapped kid Ovi finds a father figure in Rake and opens up to him talking about his own father “He thinks of me …more like a thing than a person”. However, this and the other softer emotions depicted pale in comparison to the heavy-duty action agenda and one often wishes the film could just have focused on the action.

5.       It is interesting to watch Randeep Hoods as Saju match Hemsworth in the action sequences, not withstanding his hair-do that resembles Salman Khan in Tere Naam. One can’t complain about feeling proud to see him completely at ease in a true-blue Hollywood action thriller.

Extraction is for those who love action cinema. The camera is in love with the action and the angles change furiously fast, sometimes in front of the protagonists and sometimes behind them. Sometimes behind a wall and sometimes in front of a window. The action sequences are choreographed brilliantly and one if left wondering what if the movie had been made like “Commando” where Schwarzenegger’s sole mission to rescue his daughter forms the story. Dialogues like that scene where Tyler asks Ovi “Do you trust me kid?” and Ovi replies “No” and Tyler then says “Good” and the next moment both of them jump off the parapet and land on the terrace of the next building are very much in the style of Arnold Schwarzenegger and best left to him. Extraction without the dialogues and the emotion is definitely worth a watch!