Extraction movie review: All-out action meets bad writing

‘Biggest drug lord in India versus biggest drug lord in Bangladesh’

EM RATING – 3.5 STARS (OUT OF 5)

Off a cliff and straight into the action, Extraction starring Chris Hemsworth takes viewers into the gruesome underworld of Mumbai and Dhaka where drug lords reign supreme. Based on Ande Parks’ graphic novel “Ciudad,” the movie follows fearless mercenary Chris Hemsworth aka Tyler as he undertakes an extraction mission to rescue Ovi Mahajan (Rudhraksh Jaiswal) the son of Mumbai’s drug lord (Pankaj Tripathi) who’s been kidnapped by a rival drug lord (Priyanshu Painyuli) in Dhaka.

The movie is filled with strong characters, each with their own defined motives. Chris Hemsworth gave it his usual action-star performance and Randeep Hooda’s portrayal of Saju is highly commendable. The choreographic chemistry between the two actors is spot on. Whereas on the other spectrum, Rudhraksh Jaiswal’s performance as Ovi Mahajan was lacklustre and the main villain Amir Asif played by Priyanshu Painyuli could have been much more menacing. Golshifteh Farahani as Nik Khan delivers effectively and her relationship with Tyler could have been explored further as she clearly had a soft spot for the gun-totting mercenary. Sadly, the venerable Pankaj Tripathi gets just one scene in the whole movie.

The movie’s plot lacked finesse in the back story development, which would have given readers more of a connection to the characters. Ovi’s relationship with his father could have been elaborated, and questions about the origin of the bad blood between the gangs could have been answered to give the movie more of a punch. Less action and more contexts were needed. The highlight was the cinematography: By shooting the thunderous movie on location in India and Bangladesh, viewers got a realistic feel of life in the cities, and the pulse of the city was palpable on the screen. It was also refreshing to watch an action movie with no damsels in distress.

Filmmaker Sam Hargrave makes his directorial debut with this film and his experience as a stunt coordinator makes the action sequences in the movie pop. A 12-minute single-take car chase scene is definitely the best action sequence in the movie. A moment of “How did they do that?” will probably be your reaction to that particular scene. The movie also brought up the important issue of involvement of children in drugs and gang-related crimes and made this viewer wonder the worth of human life in the two populous cities.

From the directors of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers End Game, Extraction was bound to be jam-packed with action sequences and unexpected plot twists. During a time when the Covid-19 pandemic has forced people to be confined to the four walls of their rooms, the movie does ‘extract’ the viewers from isolation –at least it makes you forget about reality for 2 hours. Overall, it’s an entertaining movie worth watching.