Avengers: Endgame's Thor reteams with its directors in Netflix's Extraction, an action-thriller from debut director Sam Hargraves. Based on Cuidad by Ande Parks, Joe Russo and Fernando Leon Gonzalez, Extraction hopes to pummel some excitement in your quarantine viewing, as former SASR operator Tyler Rake (Chris Hemsworth) is assigned to save the kidnapped son of India's biggest drug lord.
Destined to be buried in Netflix's catalogue for an eternity, Extraction offers little you can't find elsewhere. While a generally higher quality of stuntwork can be found here, with Hargraves' expertise in the field bringing palpable energy to an otherwise mediocre action-thriller, an aimlessly level of violence and unearned brutality underwrites the feature. Such a staggering disregard for life and destruction can become exhausting to bear witness, without the visceral strength of its action counterparts (the superior John Wick springs to mind) to justify it. Sometimes, less is indeed more and once the initial shock of the savagery has worn off, a number of the set pieces in the latter half suffer as a result of overexposure.
It's easy to understand why Hargraves was forced to overcompensate visually and stylistically, as the narrative itself leaves a lot to be desired. There's little creativity or inspiration regarding the plot, one which plays out with increasing adherence to genre conventions and trademarks: this is absolutely not the first time we have seen a muscly white man venture into 'dangerous territory' to save the day - heck, it's not even the first time Hemsworth himself has done it, and while he registers an undoubtedly committed and commanding performance, he alone is not quite enough to make this essential viewing. Rudhraksh Jaiswal is a name worth remembering though, holding his own against Hemsworth as the kidnapped son.
Ultimately, even with a higher standard of stuntwork on display, Extraction fails to offer enough to make this worthwhile for anyone but the genre's most ardent fans. It is a promising showcase for director Sam Hargraves, who wrings as much intensity out of a lacklustre screenplay as possible, but the overwhelming violence and generic plot fail to inspire or excite. I give it a week or so until it sinks into the depths of the expansive Netflix library, never to be seen or spoken of again.
Summary: Destined to be buried in Netflix's catalogue for an eternity, Extraction offers little you can't find elsewhere, despite some impressive stunts and Chris Hemsworth's committed leading turn.