Review: Netflix's 'Extraction' - The Punisher meets Thor.

I feel like Netflix has always struggled more when it comes to making their own films. Granted they have produced some solid results but in comparison to their success with their homemade TV productions their movies fall behind considerably. Their latest attempt in 'Extraction' is by no means an awful and horrendous piece of film. The problem with these types of Netflix productions is that they are all far too similar. I like Chris Hemsworth. I like Joe Russo. What I do not like so much is seeing the same plot over and over again with different titles. It usually goes along the lines of: (spoilers ahead)

1. Ex special forces member is required to complete objective by pulverising as many grunts as possible.

2. Either there is a damsel in distress ( or teenage Indian boy in the case of Extraction,) or what would have been said damsel in distress is already dead and revenge is subsequently the protagonists driving motivation.

3. Guns. Lots of Guns. The fight scenes also have to be reasonably impressive. Otherwise these movies really do have nothing. We'll get on to the fight scenes in Extraction soon enough.

4. All enemies must be eliminated eventually. Extraction does choose to use the classic 'helpless child soldier has gun taken away from him but is allowed to leave' scene. Some elements here are slightly bizarre. One to pick out is when Chris beats up a gang of older child soldiers sent by the antagonist who does seem to have many many men at his disposal but still chooses to send a gang of semi unarmed teens to eliminate the adult mercenary. Fair enough.

5. Now here comes the fork in the road. Either your far flung American warrior will continue and meet the final boss to complete the objective. Or they will essentially sacrifice themselves for the good of the mission. Extraction chooses the latter. Or so we think. 8 months after Chris Hemsworth has been killed by yes indeed, the main man from the child soldier gang, the end scene leaves us with a blurry image from a pool of a figure that definitely is Chris Hemsworth.

Extraction tries to make you connect with Chris Hemsworth by teasing you images of his tragic backstory. However quite often his persona is drowned out by the sound of Indian Toyotas exploding. This template is not actually limited to Netflix films. In fact Netflix original TV shows like The Punisher and Shooter may be greater examples. Speaking of the Punisher you may be wondering the relevance of the title. Apart from the similar plot template I have just explained between the two productions and that Chris Hemsworth also Plays Thor, some of the hand to hand combat scenes genuinely look like Chris Hemsworth is playing Thor again. The fists thrown in this movie would make Thanos concerned. Maybe it's the way they wanted to shoot it but there is a certain scene in a house where Chris decimates around a dozen unfortunate souls. He literally punches people through walls like Thor. It's actually very hard to explain as it is so unexpected. Joe Russo-Avengers, Chris Hemsworth-Avengers, coincidence.....?

They also try to throw in some metaphorical stuff such as when 'Rake,' (Chris Hemsworth) kills a man, with a rake. (Also happens to be in the Thor vs 12 Bangladeshi men scene previously mentioned.) There were quite a few points when I was only paying 50% attention and that was actually fine as I would say 50% of the movie is engaging. (Not in any specific order) I would say it is a decent watch if you haven't found anything else and you can't be doing much in lockdown anyway. Sort of like a 'yes I will watch this but I will also be on my phone as well,' kind of film. 6/10

#extraction #ChrisHemsworth #thor #thepunisher #filmreview #netflix