Extraction 2

For how much of a crap the first movie was (despite my painful efforts, I couldn't manage to finish watching it, I admit), the sequel was actually a very pleasant surprise! Chris rediscovered at least a tiny bit of his acting talent, the story was, well, okay, and the locations were perfect (an old Georgian prison will always work). The action was comparable, if not better, than in the latest John Wick movie (yeah, I know, I'm going to hell for saying that). Surely, there are moments when the main character survives the unsurvivable, like repeatedly taking cover behind a ladder during a shootout with a helicopter (yes, a HELICOPTER, and yes, behind a ladder), which will probably become a slightly cultish cliché forever. However, prioritizing action over all those empathetic BS, as it's become a good habit these days, proved to be the right choice for an action film, resulting in an incredibly enjoyable spectacle. (09/07/2023)

In a short span he suffers a gash in the arm, a screwdriver stuck in the side, here and there some shrapnel under the skin or a knife stab, multiple falls from various heights, fatalities by heavy blows to the arms and legs, and he just shakes it off and moves on. Silly me, I’ve always though the human body is made of bones, flesh and tissues, like they taught us in biology, my mistake, probably. Even Rambo suffered and blew on his wounds back in the day. Nowadays it’s different, heroes have adamantium bones like Wolverine. And here I was thinking that nothing could top stopping bullets with a jacket like in Wick, but now there's some serious competition. All right. Otherwise, nothing against Hemsworth, he's a charismatic guy and he's found himself in what he does; I wish him well, but modern action flicks are just not for me anymore. (17/06/2023)

It makes me proud that the pumped-up and visually irresistible action scene from the prison was filmed right here in the Czech Republic. The stunts, camera, and other related work are top-notch, making Extraction 2 one of the biggest events outside of traditional cinema distribution. How much more shocking it is, then, that the plot, which only serves as a necessary complement to the first installment, stretches clichés that I thought had been abandoned in the 1990s, and the events on the Georgian side of the barricade suddenly become an unwanted parody. (19/06/2023)

I liked the first film more because of the more exotic setting, they way it builds-up, and the ending, which was so enjoyable, and which the sequel resets, unfortunately. Regardless, Extraction 2 is a more than fine and, despite the various digital crutches, proper action flick that does without hyperbole and still manages to entertain. I’m looking forward to the third one. (26/06/2023)

If Chris Hemsworth is the successor to 1990s Sly and Arnold, I say yes, thumbs up, because that is exactly how straightforward Extraction 2 is. And that's why it is subjectively a notch higher than the overly mythological and monumental John Wick: Chapter 4. Hemsworth gets his hands dirty, bleeds, burns, shoots down helicopters, kills with a screwdriver, and at least half of it is in one take with no cuts. Anyone whining about the bad visual effects should realize that this is not an A-list blockbuster going into theaters and costing 150-200 million, but it’s made for TV and costing barely a third of that. 9 times out of 10 there are more breathtaking scenes than most genre films will allow you to dream of, in fact I haven't seen anything this intense in a very long time – this is how The Grey Man should have looked like! An exemplary tribute to the craft of action, a masterful work of cinematography, editing and fight choreography. Come on, let’s have a threequel because Hemsworth is king. (16/06/2023)