By: Andrew Wing

Extraction 2 is a 2023 American action thriller film directed by Sam Hargrave and written by Joe Russo, based on the graphic novel Ciudad by Ande Parks, Joe Russo, Anthony Russo, Fernando León González, and Eric Skillman. It is a sequel to the 2020 film Extraction, and Chris Hemsworth (Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Endgame), Golshifteh Farahani (Paterson, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales) and Adam Bessa (Hanna) reprise their roles, with Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace, Black Widow), Daniel Bernhardt (John Wick, Logan), Tinatin Dalakishvili and Idris Elba (The Wire, The Suicide Squad) joining the cast.

Tasked with extracting a family who is at the mercy of a Georgian gangster, Tyler Rake (Hemsworth) infiltrates one of the world’s deadliest prisons in order to save them. But when the extraction gets hot, and the gangster dies in the heat of battle, his equally ruthless brother tracks down Rake and his team to Sydney, in order to get revenge.

Extraction 2 was released by Netflix on June 16, 2023.

THE GOOD

Going into 2023 when it came to Netflix original films that were set to be released, there was not a movie I was more excited for than Extraction 2! The first one, Extraction, was such a pleasant surprise that came out in April of 2020, so just about a month into the COVID-19 lockdown that we all have such fond memories of. That said, Extraction made the lockdown and the quarantine just a little bit better because it instantly became one of the best action movies of the past five years. So what did we get with Extraction 2? Was it a step down from the first film, or was this a step up that left us wanting more from this franchise? Keep reading to find out!

It most definitely was the latter! It wasn’t astronomically better than the first film or anything, but for me, there is no denying that this movie was an improvement from the first one. And a big reason why was because of everything the director, Sam Hargrave, did here. Just like the movie itself, Hargrave himself really improved from the first one. With Extraction 2, he dives more into the character elements which I thought added a lot to how I emotionally connected to the film. Also, the first one felt simpler, and while sequels going crazier isn’t always the best thing (just ask the Fast & Furious franchise, sorry Ted), it certainly worked here. It just felt like Hargrave and everyone else that worked on the film understood the setting, the characters, and the story better this time around and it was just fucking awesome from start to finish.

As great as Hargrave was in the director’s chair, the best part of Extraction 2 is the action sequences that he is primarily responsible for. Simply put, the action scenes in this are as good as anything we have gotten in the last ten years. If you’re reading this, I am sure you have heard about the 22-minute long one-take action scene, and allow me to be the one that tells you, it lives up to the hype! I won’t spoil it, but Hemsworth’s character, Tyler Rake was at certain moments on fire, on a train, in a car, hitting people with free weights, and all of it was just so cool. It was one of the most innovative action sequences I have ever seen, and while that definitely takes the cake for the best action sequence in the movie, I cannot forget to mention the fight that takes place on top of a skyscraper which was so so great! I don’t know how they pulled all of it off because it truly is mind-blowing stuff!

But enough about the action sequences, let’s talk about the cast! It is again led by Chris Hemsworth who somehow continues to just look even bigger on screen than he did in his previous movie. Like the first one, Hemsworth was used perfectly here. While his character of Tyler Rake is an absolute beast, he is also extremely charismatic, and this might be a bit of recency bias, but I enjoy him just as much in this role as I do as Thor in the MCU which says A LOT! Aside from Hemsworth, I again really enjoyed Golshifteh Farahani as Nik, and I was blown away by Tornike Gogrichiani who plays the film’s antagonist, Zurab! There is also a pretty awesome cameo in this movie that I won’t spoil, but let me just say the actor fits perfectly into this and it makes me even more excited for the future of this franchise!

THE BAD

I am sorry if this review is too positive, but what can I say, I am a dude who likes action movies! Give me a break! Seriously though, this is a good, if not great action movie. However, there are certainly some aspects that can be picked apart that keep me from saying it is in the same league as the Mission: Impossible and John Wick franchises. The biggest complaint here is just the script. While I did find it to be an improvement over the first one, the script still isn’t great. I am not asking for something from Paul Thomas Anderson or anything, but the story is simple and very generic, and you just know how it is going to play out beat by beat.

That said, I still had a blast, and I will recommend it to anybody. However, something I did not have a blast watching, and I hate to be overly critical of child performances, was Andro Japaridze who plays Sandro. There is no other way to say this, but he just was not good in this movie and I have a hard time believing they couldn’t have found a better actor for this role, but so be it. Lastly, the real travesty when it comes to Extraction 2 actually has nothing to do with the film itself, but rather the fact that we can’t watch this movie in theaters! I appreciate Netflix for giving Hargrave the platform to make this movie in the first place, but it’s just a shame I couldn’t watch this on the big screen.

THE VERDICT

Thanks to truly some of the best action sequences you will ever see, director Sam Hargrave’s Extraction 2 is an improvement over the previous film that makes me incredibly excited to see what is next for what is becoming one of the more reliable action franchises.

What Hargrave pulls off in this movie is nothing short of incredible as he gives you things you’ve never seen before in an action movie, while also giving you a better and more emotional story, and last but not least, another great Chris Hemsworth performance!