Being the first non-Marvel movie involving Joe Russo and starring Chris Hemsworth, “Extraction” makes it clear that once you find your niche, you should stick to it.

On paper, “Extraction” is a classic Hollywood action film, but it fails to offer any depth or unique take resulting in its traditional plot and one-dimensional characters that give viewers a sense of deja vu because of how stereotypical they are. While action fans who are enthralled by dragged-out fight scenes and don’t mind dry dialogue may fall in love, I found the film disappointing and a waste of Hemsworth’s and Russo’s talents.

“Extraction” centers around black market mercenary Tyler Rake (Hemsworth) and his mission to rescue Ovi, the son of an Indian drug lord, from Bangladesh. Rake has enough emotional baggage to make filmmakers portray him as a good guy, despite him murdering half a street of civilians during one portion of the film. The manner in which the filmmakers reveal Rake’s past is disappointing and predictable. They use a mix of flashbacks and a strategic series of questions from Ovi in order to get Rake’s life story across. They don’t try to find unique ways to slowly paint how Rake got to his position, but rather opt for the easy, straightforward and predictable way. 

In contrast, despite spending a good portion of time on Rake’s life, filmmakers fail to establish much backstory regarding Ovi’s father and his feud with his neighboring Bangladeshi drug lord. This lack of development leaves the story one-dimensional. I wasn’t any more excited about the other characters, and even the developed ones failed to make me want to root for them; I just did because they were the only ones that mattered. 

The most defining elements of “Extraction” are the fight scenes and cinematography. The one-shot style cinematography, similar to “1917,” is one of the better elements that make it clear it’s an international action film. The panoramic shots of Dhaka allow viewers to see that some level of artistry went into the production of this film. That amount of artistry should have been present in the fight scenes, which director Sam Hargrave helped coordinate. 

Hargrave has worked on “The Hunger Games” and served as a stunt coordinator for many Marvel films. His ability to make exciting action scenes with emotional depth is evident; however, that talent is not present in this movie. Most likely due to the lack of sufficient character development, the many action scenes feel like prolonged video game sequences that aren’t as exciting as they should be. 

Despite having the full potential to be an incredible blockbuster film, “Extraction” fails to give any depth or create a connection to its characters. To me, the film comes off as lazy, as it only brushes the surface of what could have been a complex and intriguing plot. While Hemsworth has the full potential to pursue this genre of film, this role fell flat and did not take advantage of his abilities.