The first Extraction movie didn’t really need a sequel, but here we are, four years later, with Extraction 2. It had great action sequences but everything else was just average. Fortunately, Extraction 2 is a better movie than its predecessor in almost every way.

The Return Of The Rake

Extraction 2 pretty much picks up where the last movie left off back in 2020. Even though the end of the first movie effectively killed off Chris Hemsworth’s Tyler Rake, in typical action movie trope fashion, it turns out that he’s still alive and all he has to do is rest to recover from multiple seemingly-fatal gunshot wounds. No one watches action movies for their logical plots, so there’s no surprise there. As a whole, the plot and narrative of Extraction 2 follow the same formula as the first movie; it involves the protagonist “extracting” some people into safety from some dangerous people.

However, the major differences this time around are that the movie takes place in Georgia (instead of India like in the first movie) and it feels like there’s much more to the movie than just its action scenes (though there’s obviously still a lot of that). Despite this being a sequel, Extraction 2 feels very standalone in that you don’t even have to watch 2020’s Extraction to understand anything in this movie. That showcases the weakness of the first movie, which didn’t show much depth in its writing. Extraction 2 improves in that regard, giving us some character development and insight into Tyler Rake’s tragic past, especially because the plot of Extraction 2 involves people from that past, including Olga Kurylenko (who plays Mia, the protagonist’s ex-wife). This time around, without spoiling anything, the mission is more personal for the protagonist, and that makes for a more interesting movie for viewers to feel invested in.

Besides that, the biggest highlight of the movie is its 21-minute-long one-shot action sequence, which is definitely impressive to behold. The marketing for this movie definitely didn’t lie when they kept focusing on promoting this one aspect of the movie. The reason why the 21-minute-long one-shot sequence is so breathtaking is because it involves the characters moving from wildly different locations and settings in real-time; seamlessly escaping from prison (as seen in the trailers) to being on the run on a moving train with helicopters and masked goons chasing them.

Unfortunately, that 21-minute-long one-shot sequence is the best part of the movie, but it also takes place a bit too early on in the movie’s two-hour runtime. That means that the movie peaks early and doesn’t really get as good as that sequence ever again; not even the climax in the third act of the movie. The rest of the movie is as expected, filled with action scene after action scene, but it’s broken by a few emotional scenes here and there, where Chris Hemsworth manages to show off a bit of range.

One-Shot Man

If you liked 2020’s Extraction, you’ll like Extraction 2. Why? Because it essentially offers the same experience, but with action sequences on a bigger scale and some improvements in the form of more character depth for the protagonist, Chris Hemsworth’s Tyler Rake. Extraction 2 has a sequel-bait ending, and if it performs well (it likely will, if the first movie was any indication), then an Extraction 3 is all but confirmed.

FINAL SCORE: 70/100

We received early screeners of Extraction 2 courtesy of Netflix Malaysia. Extraction 2 is slated to premiere exclusively on Netflix on 16 June 2023.