Chris Hemsworth finally gets the post-Marvel franchise that he deserves, giving his all in this no-frills action sequel that is not only infinitely better than its underwhelming predecessor, but which also has some of the most impressive action sequences of the year so far.

Premise: Having barely survived the events of the previous movie, ex-special forces soldier turned black market mercenary Tyler Rake (Chris Hemsworth) is brought out of retirement by a plea for help from someone from his past. Reuniting with his team, Rake must infiltrate a corrupt prison in Georgia to extract the wife and children of a feared crime-lord.

Review:

I need to set some context for my review of Extraction II by saying that I was very disappointed by the first Extraction movie – in fact, it was my Biggest Disappointment of 2020. While it wasn’t awful, I expected so much more from it given the talent of those involved, and it felt like a wasted opportunity on all fronts. Chris Hemsworth is a great action star and deserves to find success outside of the Marvel films, but his character in the first Extraction was a charisma-free, overly dour, walking cliché – and not in a fun way. The plot to the first film was a hodgepodge of action movie tropes, and – perhaps most unforgivably – it was an action film that was quite dull, unengaging and repetitive for long stretches (despite also having a handful of decent set-pieces). Recently, I became worried that my high expectations made my original review unfairly harsh, so I rewatched Extraction in preparation for Extraction II – and I still stand by my original review that Extraction is not a good film, even taken purely as a “mindless action flick”.

I’m saying all this so that you understand the context when I now say that I had a great time with Extraction II from beginning to end, and thought it was one of the most enjoyable no-frills action films that I’ve seen in a long time. If you enjoyed the first Extraction film, I can’t see how you couldn’t enjoy this sequel – but if, like me, you didn’t like the first film, I’d still recommend that you give this sequel the benefit of the doubt.

“…an enjoyable rollercoaster ride of non-stop & inventive action sequences…”

Yes, the plot could still fit on the back of a postage stamp (essentially, Tyler Rake must break into a prison to extract a mobster’s family, and then escape alive), but this time, the film is such an enjoyable rollercoaster ride of non-stop (and inventive) action sequences, that you don’t mind the simplistic plot. What’s more, rather than the script feeling weighed down by its clichés, this time it actually feels like scriptwriter Joe Russo is having fun with them – the tagline for the sequel could literally be “This time, it’s personal”. Similarly, it feels like more of Chris Hemsworth’s natural charisma and playfulness is allowed to shine through his performance as Tyler Rake this time around, so that when he’s delivering some particularly cheesy dialogue, it’s done so with a knowing wink to the audience, as if to say, “we know this is ridiculous, but strap yourself in for a fun ride”.

This sense of fun and spectacle is no more evident than in its action sequences, which (for a movie of this budget) are some of the most impressive I’ve seen. Although the first Extraction film had a couple of decent action sequences, for the most part its repetitive shootouts soon became boring as Rake fought through countless waves of faceless, masked soldiers. Even the 5-minute “one-shot” action sequence in the first film felt quite gimmicky, rather than immersive.

“…the film’s 21-minute “one-shot” action sequence needs to be seen to be believed…”

Extraction II, on the other hand, has some genuinely mind-blowing action choreography. It’s been heavily publicised that the film features a 21-minute “one-shot” action sequence – but really, it needs to be seen to be believed. I don’t want to say too much about it, because part of the joy involves seeing just how far they push the oner – but suffice to say that at one point it incorporates a huge prison riot, and then somehow manages to escalate from there. How they choreographed so many stunt performers to execute such a huge one-shot is beyond me (even knowing that, like 1917, it wasn’t actually shot in a single take), and it’s fair to say that Extraction II may have taken Atomic Blonde‘s crown as the film with the most impressive one-shot action sequence.

If I’m being brutally honest, Extraction II is still effectively putting all of its eggs in one basket – it has little to offer viewers other than its impressive action sequences (unlike, say, the John Wick films which have a whole extended mythology, or even last year’s The Gray Man which had a much breezier, blackly comic tone). But when the action is as impressive as what stunt-coordinator-turned-director Sam Hargrave has achieved in this film (which is still only his second feature length directorial effort), it’s more than enough to carry the audience along for the wide ride. Like the first Extraction film, Extraction II has a real sense of location (this time the action is set in snowy Georgia rather than sweaty Dhaka), but unlike the first film, the sequel gives each major action sequence a very different tone and visual style, which stops the action feeling too repetitive. And while it doesn’t quite hit John Wick levels of inventiveness, it does include action beats that are unlike anything I’ve seen before.

“…Chris Hemsworth brings more heart & humour to the role this time…”

Like last time, one of Extraction II’s strengths is its great international supporting cast. Iranian/French actress Golshifteh Farahani, who was a highlight of the first film, is back as Nik Kahn, the head of Rake’s mercenary crew, only this time she gets far more involved in the action. French-Tunisian actor Adam Bessa is also back as Nik’s brother – to be honest with you, I barely remember him being in the first film, but here he gets much more to do and makes far more of an impression. The main Georgian characters are all played by Georgian actors, with Tornike Gogrichiani striking a suitably intimidating tone as the leader of the criminal cult, and Tinatin Dalakishvili managing to bring a respectable amount of depth the her ”damsel in distress” character, despite her limited screentime.

Front and centre is, of course, Chris Hemsworth as Tyler Rake, but even his performance feels head and shoulders better than he was in the first film. When Tyler talked about his Tragic BackstoryTM in the first film, it felt like a lazy cliché – but when he opens up about his failures as a father in this film, it felt genuinely emotional. Whether it’s because this film is based on an original script from Joe Russo, whereas the first Extraction was an adaptation of an existing story, or whether it’s something else entirely, in Extraction II Chris Hemsworth feels like he’s liberated to bring more heart and humour to the role, which in turn, makes his character infinitely more entertaining. The film also includes a couple of unexpected cameos, which I won’t spoil if you don’t already know about them.

“…rarely is a sequel this much of an improvement on the original…”

All in all, I’m genuinely struggling to think of a sequel which is this much of an improvement on the original. I know some people loved the first Extraction film, but I wasn’t one of them – but having had such a great time with Extraction II, the fact that they have just announced that Extraction 3 is in development has got me very excited. I’m sure Sam Hargrave, Joe Russo and Chris Hemsworth are already planning out their new 80-minute one-shot action sequence now…