Oyeyeah Reviews Extraction: An Unapologetic Action Film

Bazillion bullets and rockets, flying cars and trucks, human beings alive and death lying on the streets of Dhaka, a  kidnapped child Ovi Mahajan Sr, (Rudhraksh Jaiswal) and our saviour Tyler Rake (Chris Hemsworth)…in two and a half lines, that is what Netflix’s latest release Extraction offers.

Son of an India drug lord (Pankaj Tripathi) has been kidnapped by a Bangladeshi drug lord (Priyanshu Painyuli) who owns the entire city of Dhaka and everyone who runs it. Randeep Hooda, a deputy to Mahajan Sr. seeks helps from what looks like an international agency of mercenaries run by Golshifteh Farahani.

She asks Tyler to take up the mission. With a dark history, he seems to be the man for the job. Once, he gets the child out of the kidnapper’s hands, it becomes clear that they have been played. Stuck in an impossible situation, Tyler goes on a journey of self-discovery and starts his journey which would obviously lead to a bloodbath.

This is the premise of the story. We have seen this film before…the one-man army. Chris Hemsworth as a brooding grey assassin is equal to the role. However, the Bollywood stars Randeep Hooda, Pankaj Tripathi and Priyanshu Painyuli remain underutilized. Some of the more engaging scenes are courtesy Priyanshu’s Amir Asif. The mafia boss who seemingly a few wives is menacing and snappy with his words.

Given it’s the directorial debut for Sam Hargrave, the man famous for action sequences in mega-hits, we get lots of slick actions. There is one or two exquisite hand to hand fights. The drama in these sequences is thrilling. Out of the blue something new comes up and our hero has to improvise.

But that is what the movie offers. If you are one for characterization and storytelling, Extraction isn’t for you. An Unapologetic action film that offers little else.