I read this week that it is easier to reach old age in Bangladesh than the United States. Skeptical, I looked it up … and it’s bullshit. Much as the life span of your average American has dipped these past few years (especially the last three), Americans still outlive the natives of Bangladesh by a comfortable margin. Damn you for making me look that up … and damn this current American presidential fiasco for being so ill-prepared that I might believe such a fact. Anyway, one such reason Bangladeshis live shorter lives might be mercenary Tyler Rake (Chris Hemsworth), who seems to kill about a dozen of the fellows between coffee and cereal if he’s in the mood. Lord help you if he’s only had a bran muffin for breakfast.
A pawn in drug lord chess, Ovi Mahajan (Rudhraksh Jaiswal) –the son of “India’s biggest drug lord”- is kidnapped by “Bangladesh’s biggest drug lord.” A TITAN AGAINST A TITAN! As we know, of course, drug lords don’t fight their own battles; this one has been outsourced to badass Aussie nihilist Tyler Rake –on the side of Ovi- and equally badass personal bodyguard Saju (Randeep Hooda) – also on the side of Ovi- but, in the stupidest plotpoint of the week, Tyler and Saju are deadly adversaries. The point is getting the kid back safe, dudes; does it really matter who takes the credit?
In fact, there are several scenes in an extended chase in which Tyler and Saju battle one another for the boy while dispensing right-and-left with the ill-trained officers of Dhaka. Time for a “Dhaka that guy’s pay” joke? Maybe not. Even a not-so-seasoned movie fan will ignore the body count and ask, “Aren’t these guys supposed to be on the same side?” If nothing else, I suppose this plays a little like Mile 22 in giving both Anglo- and Asian home viewers a rooting interest. Is that important?
I’m not terribly sold on the starpower of Chris Hemsworth. I think –quite honestly- he needs context to be appreciated. How shall I put this – if he’s not Thor, he’s not carrying the film. In Extraction, Chris Hemsworth is a mercenary, and pretty good one, but that’s not enough for me. And if I’m being honest? It’s not even enough for me that he’s trying to rescue a teenager from horror. You want to impress me? Show more scenes of him being a decent human being to the kidnapee.
Extraction is a film where you stop counting dead bodies. If it wears a uniform, it’s gonna end up on the ground in 3 … 2 … 1… it’s a film so desperately wanting to be John Wick you can’t wait for Hemsworth to make a “they killed my dog” speech. The two major problems with the comparison are 1)The Wick combat scenes are far better. In turn, this makes John Wick appear the superior warrior no matter what the fiction suggests and 2) As we have no true insight into the character of Tyler Rake, our rooting interest is entirely circumstantial. I only care what he does because I want to see him rescue the kid, which he isn’t doing out of altruism. This also makes the best scenes in the film, where he and Randeep Hooda go head-to-head, into a joke. What’s the point, fellas? And aren’t your net efforts actually working against getting the kid back home safely? I can recommend this film for action/combat/Rambo junkies, but I don’t think it serves much purpose elsewhere.
If you peruse many an action flick
You may notice an uncanny trick
It took weapons untold
A bodycount threshold
But now Thor is jealous of Wick
Rated R, 116 Minutes
Director: Sam Hargrave
Writer: Joe Russo
Genre: Distraction
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Action fans begging for John Wick 4 to appear
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: John Wick 4
