Sam Hargrave has been a familiar name to a majority of the audience for a long time. The Russo Brothers promoted him during Captain America: Civil War from being a stunt double to Chris Evan’s Steven Rogers to Stunt Coordinator, eventually making him Second Unit Director for Endgame. Being a stunt artist, Hargrave is terrific at portraying action sequences with the right amount of aggression and adrenaline rush, and Extraction is a remarkable example of the same.
The film contains some amazing one-shot action sequences performed by none other than the God of Thunder and is built upon a constructive screenplay. Yes there is a hint of tediousness in the narrative, and the story gets predictable as it approaches the end; however, Extraction somehow overpowers that and comes out like a gruesome adrenaline-filled action-thriller, that serves as the best film in months we get to watch while locked up at our homes.
Extraction, as the name suggests, is a story of Tyler Rake, a mercenary hired to extract a kid named Ovi Mahajan, who happens to be an Indian drug lord’s son from Dhaka, Bangladesh, where he is being held captive by drug lord’s rival and Bangladeshi counterpart Amir Asif. However, things take a turn when the extraction turns into deadly combat between Rake and the entire Bangladeshi law enforcement (who works for Asif) within the densely populated capital of Dhaka. Now it’s up to Tyler to deliver his package safely while making his way through an army of corrupt but trained and weapon-loaded officers on his tail.
Extraction is the Russo brothers’ attempt to give Hargrave (their longtime collaborator) to provide an international debut and finally give them a sweet spot to experiment with new stuff while helping them keep their Avengers fame aside. And one can say they have done a great job with it. The years they have spent in making perfect MCU films under the world’s most prominent studio banner has given them a perspective towards enticing action and visual effects sequences, the knowledge of which they have heavily embedded into the screenwriting (by Joe Russo) and the overall production.
The film does a great job of sustaining detailed surroundings. Since the film is set in India and Bangladesh, producers have kept Hindi and Bengali dialogues intact, which comprise at least 30% of the film. Where else you’ll see crazy fighting with a Bengali rap song in the background? The city has been perfectly recreated, the extras are non-white characters, and then, of course, there are trucks, vehicles, narrow street lanes, etc. and the camera moves flawlessly across the city. The film even gave a decent introduction to both our lead characters (Ovi and Tyler) leading two different but equally stressed, complicated, and tragic lives in their own way.
Extraction’s attractive point from the beginning was the daunting blend of its cast and crew. While Russo Brothers have already become a global name, Sam Hargrave was heavily included in promotions since the production on the film began shortly after 21 Bridges, another AGBO Films venture. Then, of course, was the star cast led by Chris Hemsworth along with talented actors famous across India (where the film is partially set) and the East.
This includes Randeep Hooda, who plays Saju, the complicated antihero of the film, which works for Ovi’s father. Randeep practically leads the movie for the first thirty or so minutes with his nasty, no-nonsense attitude, but is later sidelined (but with an attached subplot to his character) to focus on the megastar Hemsworth. This part particularly hit me as a negative point of the film, but it was eventually good to see these two actors going hand to hand on-screen.
While Hooda has an established reputation as an actor who fits mercenary roles in India, it looks like Hemsworth finally knows what type of films he’ll take up once it’s his time to put down the Stormbreaker nears. Besides, Joe and Anthony Russo have managed to perfect their casting duties (thanks to Sarah Haley Finn), who found Rudhraksh Jaiswal for Ovi. The Mumbai-based teen manages to steal the show from Hemsworth in almost every scene where he isn’t shooting, beating, or killing someone. The conversation sequences between the two belong entirely to Jaiswal, and he nails it, given that he has an internationally acclaimed actor in front of him.
The film also features Hargrave himself in a small role along with Golshifteh Farhani, who plays Nik, Tyler’s employer, and handler. I would have personally liked Farhani to play a more significant role in the film. David Harbour’s appearance does leave a decent impact on the film, which further gives room to deepen the chemistry between Rake and Ovi. Sam Hargrave has taken care of the action and hand-to-hand combat as he’ll care for his baby. It’s flawless. The scenes are shot in one-shot sequence style where the camera moves in and out of buildings, down the staircases, and then eventually switching colliding cars in a blink. I particularly always like Hargrave’s work in The Winter Soldier as Evan’s double due to the fight sequences, and he has upgraded that out of the superhero genre in normal living beings.
Since we’re talking about behind-the-camera work, the stunt doubles must be given their due credit as this film is nothing without those people. If Sam Hargrave’s disturbing, bone-crushing, gruesome, killing action sequences look legit and profoundly chilling, that’s because of the work the film’s stunt team has delivered to perfect every action sequence. Thanks to Netflix, nothing has to be censored or kept low when it came to murdering villains. There’s blood pouring out of bullet and cut wounds, there are blown up heads, dead bodies falling like a pack of cards, and occasional swearing along the way.
The film’s one-shot sequences drive it away from being too “John Wicky”; however, after watching 1917 (2019), the technique doesn’t get you that pumped up. Still, that part of the film is what weaves the audience to the screen and shows us the best of Tyler Rake and Saju. Why the John Wick comparison? Well, at a point when Tyler is piling up the streets of Dhaka with dead bodies, you feel like watching Keanu Reeves taking on the hire-to-kill mercenaries across international borders. Fortunately, the presence of other essential characters takes that off your mind.
The film’s minus point lies in the second half of the film, where it loses the grasp over audiences. The story becomes a bit predictable, which sort of takes the thrill out of it. It’s only because of the justice it has done in the first half, you can let those things go and give it your complete attention.
Extraction is an interesting follow up to the Russo brothers’ five-year stint with Marvel Studios. It proves Sam Hargrave’s potential as a director as well as the producer duo’s ability to create excellent and worthy cinematic content without the big pockets of Marvel executives. Yes, it does not pit against the gigantic Avengers films that Russo brothers have blessed us with, but it’s the kind of the medium-stature content-driven film we all needed. Besides such ventures from the Russo brothers is helping Marvel actors to break free of their superhero persona. First, it was Chadwick Boseman in 21 Bridges, now Hemsworth in Extraction, which will soon be followed by Tom Holland for yet to start filming Cherry. Projects like Extraction are going to keep high hopes among audiences for new content produced by worthy and talented collaborations between class actors, directors, writers, and producers.
