I have to admit, I remembered almost nothing about Extraction the first, only that it didn’t suck. And so remembering, I charged headlong into Extraction 2 heedless of any danger. I still don’t remember anything of the first but as it turns out that wasn’t a prereq for enjoying the second. And boy howdy, I enjoyed it like a ten ticket thrill ride!
Extraction 2 again stars Chris Hemsworth as Tyler Rake, an emotionally scarred soldier of fortune who seems to be just living out his string until death decides to claim him. Extraction 2 literally picks up moments after the ending of the first, which found a mortally wounded Rake plumetting off of a bridge into the river. He is fished out by his partner Nik (Golshifteh Farahani) who gets him to safety and puts him on the mend.

Don’t call it a man-crush

Time passes. Rake is again back to existing in a hell of his own mind when he is approached by Alcott (played by Idris Elba, which was a really nice cameo), an enigmatic figure with another extraction mission. Queue the training montage as Rake begins the the painful process of getting his body back into killing machine form. Once honed to a razor’s edge, Rake rallies up with Nik and her brother Yaz. The band is back together, ready to extract.

Georgia on my mind

The team is off to the eastern European country of Georgia, a former Soviet republic state to rescue the wife and children of a Russian warlord. Pretty much from there, it’s a non-stop John Wick style bloodfest with actual body armor instead of fashionable tactical evening wear. Some assassins get all the love.

Extraction 2 has some of the best – and longest – action sequences I’ve ever seen. And since I’ve seen all the Wick movies multiple times, that’s a really high bar. One might think that prolonged chase scenes would become tiresome in their constant adrenaline push but there is just enough lull along the way to keeps us fully engaged. A fine line that the writers have walked deftly.

Refresh my memory

Since I didn’t remember a single thing about the first Extraction, I’m re-watching it at this very writing. I wanted to see if there was something I should have taken away from it…something I should have remembered. I didn’t even remember that David Harbour was in it. BTW, if you haven’t seen Violent Night, do yourself a favor and cycle that bad Santa into your holiday playlist. After the kids go to bed, that is.

Bottom line: Extraction 2 was better than the first, which was good but not memorable (and I’m just past the halfway mark). Two has some memorable moments (if you can call a 21 minute fight sequence a moment). The final killing stroke was awesome and subtly reminded me of a certain whip-slinging adventurer’s first adventure. A third Extraction is already green-lit and I’ll be happy to see Thor and Heimdall back together again. Extraction 2 gets 4/5 from me. As for Extraction the First…better put some ice on that, Santa. That’s gonna leave a mark.

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