Tag: Chris Hemsworth

Extraction Review (No Spoilers) – Netflix Original

With movie theatres shut down and all of us stuck in our homes, thanks to Covid-19 and the shelter-in-place orders, streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, Quibi(!), etc. have been stepping up their game and releasing a ton of content to keep us entertained.

Extraction is a bit of a mini-Avengers reunion as it is written and produced by Joe Russo (one of the directors of Winter Soldier, Civil War, Infinity War and Endgame), stars Chris Hemsworth (Thor himself), and is directed by Sam Hargrave (stunt-man in the Avengers films).  The premise is fairly straightforward – A group of mercenaries are tasked with rescuing the kidnapped son of a big Indian crime lord but when the mission goes south and the boy becomes expendable, Tyler Rake (played by Hemsworth) has to choose: to protect or to ditch the boy.

Positives

At the risk of stating the obvious, Extraction has some of the best action sequences I have seen in a while, ever since the first John Wick film. Just like that Keanu-led franchise, this movie is also directed by a stunt-coordinator, which is showcased in the fight scenes. The action is brutal, visceral, and is extremely well-choreographed. Rather than relying on shaky-cam or quick cuts, the filmmakers let the action scenes breathe and use a variety of action (car chases, gunfights, knife-fights, etc.) to keep it from getting stale. In fact, there is one 12-minute long-take, which had me at the edge of my seat!

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Action aside, this movie also has solid performances, especially from one Chris Hemsworth. He sells the film’s action convincingly but also does a really job in the one-on-one character moments. Tyler has a very traumatic past, as he lost his 6-year old son to lymphoma, and ends up seeing Ovi (the kidnapped kid) as his surrogate son. Speaking of the kid, played well by newcomer Rudhraksh Jaiswal, he has some good back-and-forth with Tyler and ends up being more than a lad-in-distress (male version of damsel-in-distress?). David Harbour has an extended cameo and he delivers as usual. Lastly, one of the more humanized characters in the film ends up being this elite Special Forces-type assassin figure, Saju. Initially, he’s presented as an antagonistic figure and has questionable motivations but the movie, thankfully, delves deeper into his backstory and makes him a sympathetic character.

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Courtesy of Netflix, AGBO, Thematic Entertainment, India Take One Productions, and T.G.I.M. Films

Negatives

Don’t expect anything Shakespearean from a movie called ‘Extraction.’ The plot is pretty thin and is pretty predictable. Not to mention, the backstories provided feel obligated to appeal to those who want some semblance of a story rather than 100% action. As mentioned before, we learn that Tyler suffered a terrible loss and has been on a suicidal mission ever since. Ovi, the son of the Indian drug lord, talks about his dad and how uncomfortable it gets to, for example, have dinner with him, knowing that his dad kills people. However, the movie just glosses over the duo’s lives to get to the destruction and mayhem, which feels a little disappointing, as they had the set-up to explore these characters more and become more than a mindless action film. Tyler’s popping-pills-and-drinking-alcohol persona is one of the few scenes we get of him suffering from PTSD and as we all know by now, those are absolutely some of the biggest cliches for a hardened-action movie hero.

In addition, the inevitable bond between Tyler and Ovi needed more fleshing out. The pair only have a couple of conversations before a hardened-mercenary like Tyler decides to save the boy at all costs. 

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Courtesy of Netflix, AGBO, Thematic Entertainment, India Take One Productions, and T.G.I.M. Films

Rating – Solid Recommendation

Extraction doesn’t redefine the action movie genre by any stretch of the imagination. The story is boilerplate and is riddled with the genre cliches but more importantly, it delivers on its promise. It has terrific action and just enough character work to make me care for these characters. If you got a couple of hours to kill, I recommend checking out Extraction!

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Men in Black: International Review (No Spoilers)

Men in Black: International is a quasi-reboot of the beloved Will Smith-Tommy Lee Jones space cops franchise from the ’90s. This new, globe-trotting adventure stars Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson. Despite the lackluster trailers, I was kinda looking forward to this film. For starters, Hemsworth and (Tessa) Thompson had wonderful chemistry in Thor: Ragnarok and Endgame! Second, a movie like this, dealing with immigration issues today, could have made this film more relevant and elevated it from becoming just another MiB flick.

Positives

Even though they were a lot better in Ragnarok, Tessa Thompson, and Chris Hemsworth have great chemistry nonetheless. If it weren’t for these 2 leads at the helm, this movie would surely not work. They have delightful back-and-forths and the movie absolutely shines when it lets the duo interact with each other. Even though most of the lines aren’t funny per-say, it’s their delivery that makes it work. In addition, the little, Alita-eyed, samurai alien creature, Pawny (voiced by Kumail Nanjiani) gets the best jokes and is a nice addition.

In terms of humor, this film is a sort of half-and-half. When the movie lets Hemsworth, Thompson, and Nanjiani (Pawny) interact with each other, I genuinely had a good time. But I will say, the references to Hemsworth’s Marvel role, Thor, wielding a hammer made me crack up!

The performances are solid throughout. Even though most of the character arcs are non-existent, the actors do the best with what they have to work with.

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Negatives

Rather than bringing something unique to the table, this film is more or less in the vein of the last 3 but, worse. Hemsworth’s character, agent H, is constantly proclaimed to be one of the best in the organization but that is the opposite of what is actually presented. Throughout the movie, he is messing around, cracking jokes, and frankly incompetent. Albeit a nitpick, Thompson’s character discovering the secret base by putting a hand through the fence is nonsensical.

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It’s hard to imagine that no one’s ever discovered that before. But, I digress. The villains, teased in the trailers, don’t have much to do and their phasing abilities are all they have. And of course, as you’d expect in a MiB movie, there are twists and turns but seriously, they are extremely predictable.

Despite having the likes of Hemsworth and Thompson at the helm, and aliens, this movie had me bored for a good amount of time. About 10-15 minutes could have been cut out, which would have improved the pacing. The plot also gets quite convoluted, once the big reveal happens. Also, what was the point of Rebecca Ferguson’s character? Her character serves absolutely no purpose but simply ends up taking a huge chunk of screen-time.

Rating

It seems like Men in Black: International joins the recent trend of critically-panned yet semi-enjoyable films (Godzilla 2 and Dark Phoenix). Despite 2 charismatic leads and solid performances, this new incarnation of the iconic Men in Black franchise has a messy story, poor characters, questionable directing choices and an unnecessarily lengthy runtime. 2.5/5

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