The insanity that is Extraction 2 is something that seems to have pleased both fans of Chris Hemsworth and the new franchise he’s helped start. With the sequel to what’s considered to be one of the best action movies on the modern market, there was an early temptation to replicate the feat of a seemingly one-take action set-piece from its predecessor. However, the film’s director, Sam Hargrave, revealed that this plan was shifted in a pretty significant way with a reason that was pretty spot on.
During an interview with CinemaBlend’s own Sean O’Connell, Hargrave was on hand alongside his Extraction franchise star to dish on the ins and outs of this budding saga. It’s here that it was revealed that this new showcase of slaughter was originally going to open the movie. Which, if it had happened, would have been a pretty unique statement in the second adventure of Tyler Rake (Chris Hemsworth).
Here’s how Sam Hargrave describes the process that shifted this new action stunner’s calling card a little further along in the running time:
Originally, in the script form, the movie opened with the oner. It was actually a decision made later to change the positioning, because what we found was it was a long, exciting sequence filled with wild action. But if you don’t understand the emotional hook, why it is that we’re following these people, who they are, and why we care, then you got fatiguing. You’re asking a lot of an audience to jump onboard, without any knowledge of who these people are, and why they’re rooting for them.
As alluded to above, “the oner” has become an Extraction tradition. In the previous installment, Chris Hemworth’s Tyler had to endure a continuous stream of action that saw him battling through some crowded streets while trying to achieve his objective. Vehicular chases, hand-to-hand combat and some explosive munitions made the sequence a memorable feat; and Extraction 2’s answer to that scene has a similar aim.
This time out, it’s a massive jailbreak sequence that’s the oner of wonder. We see Tyler Rake breaking mother Ketevan (Tinatin Dalakishvili) and her children, Sandro (Andro Japaridze) and Nina (Miriam and Marta Kovziashvili), out of captivity in a Georgian prison. The ensuing action leads to some crazy set-pieces, like the scene from Extraction 2’s first trailer, in which Chris Hemsworth punches a dude with a fist lit on fire, as well as the stunt that actually scared the Thor actor this time around.
One might not think of the Extraction films as something that would drive a person to sign up for a Netflix subscription through pure emotion. And yet, that’s part of why Sam Hargrave and his team decided on the change up. Without showing us the purpose that Chris Hemsworth and the entire Extraction 2 cast are fighting for, all of the helicopter explosions, fiery fists and creative grenade kills in the world don’t mean a thing.
That much was clear further along in Hargrave’s explanation as the stunt performer turned filmmaker laid out what making that switch entailed. And he did so by sharing with CinemaBlend the promise that was being made to the Extraction fans old and new by pacing the film as he did:
So we kind of reverse engineered a little bit, and said, ‘Hey, let’s front load, and trust the audience that they’ll stay with us.’ We don’t really drop an action scene in the movie, for like 25 minutes or so. We’re trusting the audience to say, ‘Hey, stay with us. We’re gonna get to know these characters, and who they are, and why they’re fighting for what they’re fighting for. And then once the action takes off, you’re gonna be hooked by the emotional core and it’ll ride you all the way to the end.’
Extraction 2 has been crushing on Netflix, much to the delight of Chris Hemsworth and Sam Hargrave. The response from the fans has been so pleasing that Extraction 3 talk has intensified, which means that all involved will need to figure out exactly how and if the series will try to execute a third “oner” wonder. There's certainly no pressure at all, what with fire and helicopters being present in this modern marvel of moviemaking.
If you’re looking to enjoy both of Hemsworth’s streaming adventures, you can watch both Extraction and its sequel only on Netflix. Whether or not watching them both in one sitting counts as a "oner" of its own is up to you, the reader, to decide.
