By Raymond Morris
Extraction was released on Netflix on April 24. The film is produced by the Russo Brothers, written by Joe Russo, directed by Sam Hargrave, and stars Chris Hemsworth. It is rated R.
A few years ago I heard a podcaster refer to a sub-genre of films he called "competency action," a sub-genre that can be used for any main genre whenever the story is about people who are great at their jobs being great at their jobs while going up against people who are also great at THEIR jobs. For instance, West Wing is "competency drama," Predator is "competency action-horror," and so forth. While it's great to follow someone we can personally relate to as average Joe's, it's awesome to sit back and watch characters who are great at what they do be great at what they do for 2 hours.
Extraction is a terrific "competency action" movie that does exactly what it needs to: no more, no less.
The film follows Chris Hemsworth as Tyler Rake, a "fearless black market mercenary" as he is hired by one drug dealer to retrieve his son from another drug dealer. What follows is an incredibly lean, bare bones, sometimes brutal action film on his quest to fulfill the mission.
Story wise, we get enough information through visual clues and a few quiet scenes throughout to flesh out who Tyler Rake is and why he takes this particular mission to heart, but the exposition throughout is scarce, to the film's benefit. They use the idiom of "show, don't tell" to a full extent throughout the film. One of my favorite action scenes that I won't spoil here (even though it's not REALLY a spoiler...ok you can watch it here. Believe me, it's really good) is used to infuse the film with some humor, some action, but in general helps reiterate the "Save the Cat" moment from earlier in the film and why we are ok with rooting for the mercenary throughout. That's excellent action movie storytelling. No need to look at the camera and tell me what limits you have in your killing when you can show me.
Speaking of action...
The film's director has been the stunt director for: Captain America: Winter Soldier and Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and End Game, and Atomic Blonde (you know, the film directed by one of the stunt wizards behind John Wick), so the action is definitely top form and does not disappoint. You want head shots? We got them. You want a 10 minute one shot? You got it. You want an epic finale on a bridge with explosions and tension? Your wish is our command.
Coffee connection: Death Wish Coffee.
Have you ever woken up in the morning and thought "I just need a coffee that's bold enough to wake me up, taste good enough, and has enough caffeine to get me through"? That's Death Wish coffee. My sister sent me a bag a month ago and whenever I needed an extra jolt, a solid boost, I'd get a cup of this. It's solid, bold, and you definitely do not regret having it.
That's definitely what Extraction does for the action movie fan. It's new, presents enough story to justify the fun action, and the characters are all experts at what they do and they show it off. One friend called it "Call of Duty: the movie", and I'd agree that that's what this is, but in all the right ways.
Check it out this weekend with some Death Wish coffee!
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