EXTRACTION : MOVIE REVIEW

Over the years, some of the most-loved action films were initially criticized for having a weak, or even a nonexistent story. Some notable examples being DIEHARD, KILL BILL, TERMINATOR, PREDATOR, FIRST BLOOD etc. All these films revolved around an interesting premise (An NYPD cop single-handedly taking on German terrorists, A former assassin seeking revenge from fellow-mercenaries, A cyborg sent back in time to terminate a woman, A team of commandoes fighting an extra-terrestrial warrior in a remote South American jungle, A retired CIA agent trying to save his kidnapped daughter, A war veteran waging a one-man war against a sadistic sheriff’s department respectively) and then capitalized on this premise with a spellbinding screenplay and flamboyant performances.

While some other filmmakers gave us a unique blend of an intelligent plot embellished with high-octane action. THE MATRIX (By the Wachowski brothers), AVENGERS ENDGAME (By Russo brothers), V FOR VENDETTA (By James McTeigue), BLADE RUNNER (By Ridley Scott), DISTRICT 9 (By Neil Blomkamp) being a few epitomes of this category.

Veteran Hollywood stunt coordinator Sam Hargrave’s directorial debut EXTRACTION falls in the former category of action films and has no qualms whatsoever about it. Even the film’s trailer unequivocally inferred that it is not the film that would make you a better person or anything of that sorts. And the film never ever pretends to do so.

The movie starts off in Mumbai and follows the 14-year-old Ovi, son of the biggest Indian drug-lord (Pankaj Tripathi in a blink-and-miss cameo) getting kidnapped by the rival drug kingpin of Bangladesh (played by Priyanshu Painyuli, who played the titular role in Bhavesh Joshi Superhero), who is called Bangladesh’s very own Pablo Escobar, albeit actually a run-of-the-mill antagonist. A fearless Australian mercenary (played by the charismatic Chris Hemsworth) is given his deadliest mission to ‘extract’ the kidnapped boy from one of the busiest towns of the world: Dhaka.

With a total runtime of 116 minutes, this build-up happens in the first 16 minutes of the movie. The remaining 100 minutes is a non-stop roller-coaster ride about how Tyler and Ovi fight their way out of Dhaka, to reach the Indian border, with a corrupt police force and the military, besides an equally dangerous former Indian special forces officer and security chief of the Indian drug-lord Saju (played by Randeep Hooda), on their trail. 

The way Randeep Hooda’s character ‘Saju’ chases the duo and how he places back his broken nose in front of a mirror instantly reminded me of psychopath killer Javier Bardem’s character managing his broken arm in NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN and also brought back memories of Arnold Schwarzenegger fixing his eye in THE TERMINATOR. 

But the highpoint of the film is the breathtaking 12 minutes car-chase—gun-fight—knife-fight—car-chase sequence involving Tyler, Ovi and Saju. This seemingly unbroken scene, which was shot in a documentary style using a handheld camera, lets the audience virtually experience live-action and undergo what the characters experience in real-time. It is something I don’t remember having experienced previously (except perhaps a scene in Atomic Blonde). Full marks to the cinematographer and the director for hitting the bull's eye here.

The action is consistently fast-paced until the principal characters Tyler and Ovi take refuge at Tyler’s retired mercenary friend’s place (played by David Harbour of Stranger Things fame), thereby also giving the audience the much-needed respite from the breakneck bloodshed. Here, Tyler and Ovi get to know each other in this borderline emotional scene, eventually culminating into a brutal bridge-firefight finale.

EXTRACTION is a treat for action film buffs but to enjoy it to the fullest, I urge you to forgive the wafer-thin plot (perhaps a deliberate gamble by the makers for the sake of unadulterated action) and have a willing suspension of disbelief to give a fair chance to this beautifully ‘choreographed’ surreal action film. Haven’t we done that before in the former category of films? 

My Verdict: 7/10 for a valiant effort.