Shadows on the Wall | Extraction II

Extraction II

dir Sam Hargrave
scr Joe Russo
prd Joe Russo, Anthony Russo, Chris Hemsworth, Patrick Newall, Sam Hargrave
with Chris Hemsworth, Golshifteh Farahani, Adam Bessa, Tornike Gogrichiani, Tinatin Dalakishvili, Andro Japaridze, Idris Elba, Olga Kurylenko, Tornike Bziava, Dato Bakhtadze, Daniel Bernhardt, Justin Howell
release US/UK 16.Jun.23
23/US Netflix 2h02

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Picking up right where the brutal 2020 action hit ended, Chris Hemsworth's fierce Australian mercenary comes back from near dead for another high-stakes operation, this time in Europe. Returning director Sam Hargrave shows even more confidence here, again playing things out in real time at such a rapid-fire pace that the audience doesn't have time to question the story's logic. As a result, this is a breathtaking ride.

After his injuries in Dhaka, Tyler (Hemsworth) makes a long, slow recovery with the help of colleagues Nik and Yaz (Farahani and Bessa). But Tyler isn't happy about retiring to a cabin in Austria. Then a mysterious Brit (Elba) turns up with a job that has a personal connection: extracting Tyler's former sister-in-law Ketevan (Dalakishvili) from a nasty Georgian prison, where she's being hidden with her kids because she's married to mobster inmate Davit (Bziava). Breaking her out is horrific, and then outside Tyler faces the wrath of Davit's even more ruthless brother Zurab (Gogrichiani).

There's an astonishingly vicious edge to the violence, which plays as an escalating life-or-death struggle, filmed in complex long takes that add to the relentless intensity. Fights are staggeringly fierce, choreographed and filmed in a way that avoids even a hint of slick stylising (like John Wick's balletic touches). They are also mind-bogglingly grisly, leading to an over-the-top body count. One particularly outrageous assault on a train culminates in a viscerally jarring derailment. And we're not even to the movie's mid-point. Next up: a full-on assault at a Vienna hospital.

Aside from flexing his considerable action muscles, Hemsworth gets some darker emotionality to play because of Tyler's personal connection to this case. So these events force him to deal with his painful past. There's not much subtlety in the script, but at least this adds deeper interest. As siblings, Farahani and Bessa shine in both the action and the drama, plus welcome comic relief. Dalakishvili brings her own steely presence to the film, and Japaridze shines strongly as her rebellious teen son.

Even without much of a narrative, this gritty action film is made to a very high standard. Set-pieces are expertly shot and edited to throw the audience right into the chaos. Whether or not this amount of carnage is entertaining will depend on each viewer's sensibilities. But fans of action thrillers will get a blast from the adrenaline-pumping mayhem this cast and crew create. And the franchise has plenty of space to grow.

themes, language, violence 13.Jun.23

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