Extraction 2 starts the moment the original movie ends as we see a badly injured Tyler Rake ( Chris Hemsworth ) medivact from India to Dubai. Deep in a coma there's even talk of pulling the plug but this is vetoed by Nik Kahn ( Golshifteh Farahani ) Of course Rake pulls through otherwise there wouldn't be a movie so it begs the question, what was the point of the first half hour of the movie? It also begs the question why would his handlers pay a fortune to save the life of an expendable mercenary? They were more than happy to drop him into a meat grinder in the original so why is his life suddenly valuable to them? It's a very lathargic and illogical start to what is supposed to be a high octane action movie.
There's some rubbish plot about Rake's sister in law being in prison with her two kids and gangster husband so Rake has to rescue her. Why? Who is this woman? Why is she important? Why is someone, in this case Idris Elba willing to pay a huge amount of money to rescue her? Don't know, that's never explained other than some vague hush hush need to know cobblers. Lazy writing right there.
Then the action starts and it's bonkers. Superbly choreographed, fast paced and wincingly brutal. This is what we want to see! However instead of the relentless action of the first movie which gives the impression of a single take the sequel is very much stop start. There's basically three action sequences, the prison break, car chase which ends up on a train and the grand finale in a Vienna tower block. While each action sequence is great the movie grinds to a halt in between the action. This is particularly true after the train sequence and it spoils the immersion. Another thing which breaks the fourth wall is Golshifteh Farahani as a hard as nails mercenary. I'm willing to accept Hemsworth as ex SAS but Farahani? Which special forces trained her?
There's some attempt made to make Rake a relatable character with some soppy back story involving a child's drawing and a wife. This is as nauseating as it is boring and irrelevant and once again slows the pace to a crawl.
So in conclusion, although the action is fantastic the film as a whole is badly flawed.
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