Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Willis, Norris, Chan, Van Damme, Hemsworth.

Hemsworth?

Chris Hemsworth joins the ranks of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris, Jackie Chan and Jean-Claude Van Damme, to a name a few of contemporary cinema’s action stars.

The reason?

One word: “Extraction.”

Hemsworth plays Tyler Rake, a mercenary attempting to rescue Ovi (Rudhraksh Jaiswal), son of Ovi Mahajan Sr. (Pankaj Tripathi), a gangster. Ovi is kidnapped in Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh.

Rake is a former member of the Special Air Service Regiment of the Australian Army.

Rake is hired by Saju Rav (Randeep Hooda), who was Ovi’s guard, to extract, or rescue, Ovi.

Ovi is a pawn in the drug war between his father and rival gangster, Amir Asif (Priyanshu Painyuli). Asif demands a $10-million bounty from Ovi’s father for the return of Ovi.

Hemsworth is a one-man army as he takes out one after another gang member, to protect Ovi, the young boy.

Hemsworth gives a muscular performance that puts him right up there with contemporary action movie heroes.

“Extraction” director Sam Hargrave, in his theatrical feature film directorial debut, choreographs fight scenes with brutal realism.

Hargrave, who plays Gaetan, a sniper in “Extraction,” has 80 credits for movie stunts, as stunt coordinator, fight coordinator and stunt performer in movies and TV shows, including some of the best-known action films, including “The Avengers,” “Captain America” (He’s been stunt double for Chris Evans, who plays Captain America.) and “The Hunger Games.”

Hargrave directs from a screenplay by Joe Russo (co-director, with brother Anthony Russo, “Avengers: Endgame,” 2019; “Avengers: Infinity War,” 2018; “Captain America: Civil War,” 2016; “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” 2014).

“Extraction” is based on the graphic novel, “Ciudad” (2014), co-written by Joe Russo, Anthony Russo and Ande Parks, and illustrated by Fernando León González. The graphic novel is set in Ciudad el Este, Paraguay.

The change in location to Bangladesh provides a gritty and startling view of Dhaka, regarded as one of the world’s 10 most dangerous cities.

At times, “Extraction” has the sense of “The Hurt Locker” (2008), as a gritty military procedural; “Sicario” (2014), for its depiction of drug cartel violence, and “The Call of Duty” videogame (2003-2019) for its point-of-view shooting and martial-arts violence.

Hemsworth, best-known for his movie superhero role as Thor in “Avengers: Endgame,” 2019; “Avengers: Infinity War,” 2018; ”Thor: Ragnarok,” 2017; “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” 2015; “Thor: The Dark World,” 2013; “The Avengers,” 2012, and “Thor,” 2011.

“Extraction,” an almost non-stop action film with some incredibly intense and violent scenes, has nuances in the collaboration between Hargrave and Hemsworth.

Hemsworth, in the role of Rake, mourns the death of his young son, shown in flashbacks at ocean’s edge. Hemsworth’s face and deep blue eyes resonate with quiet grief.

Hemsworth bonds with Jaiswal, the young actor who is terrific in the role of the Ovi, the son.

Hemsworth shows flashes of romantic interest with Golshifteh Farahani (“Paterson,” 2016; “The Upside,” 2017; “Just Like A Woman,” 2012) as Nik Khan, Rake’s mercenary partner.

The symbolism of water flows throughout “Extraction,” including a disgusting underground sewer scene reminiscent of a scene in “Trainspotting” (1996) and scenes of Rake jumping off a cliff into a lagoon and Ovi jumping off a diving board into a swimming pool. After each of the jumps, Rake and Ovi hold their breath underwater for a lengthy time period.

Fingers reach out symbolically in “Extraction,” in terms of the trigger fingers of the henchmen, the sacrifice of fingers in the service of criminals and in the tender hand-holding of Rake and Ovi.

The movie’s title is symbolic, representing the removal of something by force. In chemistry, it’s a process whereby a substance is separated out, as in a liquid-liquid extraction.

“Extraction” is worth diving into.

“Extraction,”

MPAA Rated R (Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian. Contains some adult material. Parents are urged to learn more about the film before taking their young children with them.) for strong bloody violence throughout, language and brief drug use; Genre: Action, Thriller: Run time: 1 hr., 57 min. Distributed by Netflix.

Credit Readers Anonymous:

“Extraction” was filmed in Ahmedabad, Mumbai, India; Ban Pong, Ratchaburi, Thailand, and Dhaka, Bangladesh. “Extraction” is said to be the most-watched original film in Netflix history. A sequel is in development.

Box Office,

Aug. 14-16: The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic shutdown continued to shutter most indoor theaters in the United states. AMC and Regal closed its U.S. theaters, totaling more than 1,200 theaters, March 17. AMC was to open some of its theaters Aug. 20.

“The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge On The Run” opened at No. 1 with $865,824, one week, screening in only 300 theaters; 2. “Unhinged,” $601,032, one week, 299 theaters; 3. “The Tax Collector,“ $182,105; $612,528, two weeks, 138 theaters; 4. “The Rental,” $93,618; $1,372,894, four weeks, 144 theaters; 5. “Peninsula,” $79,206; $273,292, two weeks, 45 theaters; 6. “The Silencing,” $53,205, one week, 70 theaters; 7. “The Big Ugly,” $1,589, $502,388, four weeks, 14 theaters; 8. “Made in Italy,” $20,680; $73,012, two weeks, 101 theaters; 9. “Spree,” $20,480, one week, 33 theaters; 10. “American Deep State,” $15,269, one week, three theaters.

Unreel

“The New Mutants,”

PG-13: Josh Boone directs Maisie Williams, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Heaton and Alice Braga in the Science-Fiction Horror film. Five young mutants attempt to escape from a secret facility.

“The Personal History of David Copperfield,”

PG: Armando Iannucci directs Dev Patel, Hugh Laurie, Tilda Swinton and Peter Capaldi in the Comedy Drama. The Charles Dickens’ classic novel is given a modern, ahem, twist.

“Fatima,”

PG-13: Marco Pontecorvo directs Alba Baptista, Harvey Keitel, Joaquim de Almeida and Goran Visnjic in the Drama. Three young shepherds in Fátima, Portugal, have visions of the Virgin Mary.

For a “Behind the Scenes” look at “Extraction”:

https://screenrant.com/extraction-netflix-movie-comic-book-changes/