As his horticultural surname suggests, action man Tyler Rake is made of sturdy, robustly practical stuff. 2020\u2019s Extraction culminated with our hero clutching his neck after sustaining an apparently fatal gunshot wound, before plunging ominously into a river.<\/p>\n
However, you can\u2019t keep a good extractor down and this kind-hearted mercenary has been resurrected for a sequel, with Chris Hemsworth returning to fill Tyler\u2019s boots and audacious rescues once again on the agenda.<\/p>\n
Former stuntman Sam Hargrave did a decent job directing last time and he\u2019s back calling the shots, working from a script by Marvel favourite Joe Russo, who also penned the first film (and who produces alongside his brother Anthony).<\/p>\n
As you\u2019d expect with a second instalment, the ante is very much upped. A wilderness training montage bridges the gap between Tyler being \u201cclinically dead\u201d and hurling himself into the requisite heroics, with the assignment this time a prison break.<\/p>\n
Tyler and his team are tasked with freeing the family of incarcerated Georgian gangster Davit Radiani (Tornike Bziava) from the cell in which they are languishing. He\u2019s been hired for the mission by a mystery man played by Idris Elba (who, before you get excited, has very little screentime here).<\/p>\n
To carry it out, Tyler reunites with brother and sister operatives Nik and Yaz Khan (Golshifteh Farahani and Adam Bessa).<\/p>
They\u2019re liberating Davit\u2019s wife Ketevan (Tinatin Dalakishvili) and his children, Sandro and Nina (Andro Japaridze and Mariami Kovziashvili), with the team\u2019s intention to whisk the kids as far away from their controlling father\u2019s clutches as possible.<\/p>\n
Tyler\u2019s efforts pit him against Davit\u2019s menacing brother, Zurab (Tornike Gogrichiani), a powerful crime syndicate boss who throws his considerable resources, and innumerable minions, at the problem.<\/p>\n
Shorn of his Thor locks and laidback charisma, Hemsworth is more of a blunt instrument here, but remains a commanding presence in fights that require him to take on hordes of foes, demonstrating his preposterous physicality in the process.<\/p>\n
![\""Chris\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/06\/extraction-2-chris-hemsworth-8f77d32.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"Chris\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Employing not much more than a furrowed brow, the actor is less effective in emotional scenes that find the film attempting to illuminate Tyler\u2019s tragic backstory by introducing his ex-wife Mia (Olga Kurylenko), though a script stuffed with predictable beats and trite pronouncements doesn\u2019t help.<\/p>\n
A handful of quips and enjoyably silly moments aside (including Tyler watching Dancing with the Stars with his dog and chickens), Extraction 2 largely eschews humour, but it plays up the absurdity of its action in a way that\u2019s very entertaining, with Tyler kicking arse using whatever comes to hand (A box of nails! A dumbbell!).<\/p>\n
And the fluidity of the film\u2019s camerawork can be breath-taking, as one set-piece rolls excitingly into the next. Particularly eye-catching is a 21-minute sequence that gives the illusion of being captured in a single shot, hurtling from prison break to car chase to escape by henchman-infested train.<\/p>\n
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