Netflix film “Extraction 2”, which was released yesterday, does exactly what it is expected to do as the sequel to “Extraction” (2020). Yes, the story and characters usually stand back for its intense and relentless serving of various actions, and I became rather distant to that at times, but I think you may be satisfied if you just want to admire and enjoy its top-notch action scenes.

As briefly implied by the last shot of “Extraction”, Tyler Rake (Chris Hemsworth), a former Australian SAS operator who later worked as a mercenary not long after losing his dear little son, manages to survive despite his serious physical injuries, and the early part of the film takes some time as he goes through a recuperation process in Dubai. Once he is almost recovered, he moves to a remote place in Austria, and it looks like he will just have a plain normal life there with his several pet animals.

Of course, Rake soon finds himself approached by a mysterious figure played by Idris Elba, who brings some welcoming sense of humor during his brief appearance in the film. There is another risky extraction task which absolutely requires Rake’s particular set of skills, and Rake cannot say no because it is requested by his estranged ex-wife. It turns out that his ex-wife has a younger sister who has been married to a notorious Georgian criminal for several years, and Rake is asked to extract his ex-wife’s sister and her two kids from a certain Georgian prison where they have been incarcerated with her nasty criminal husband.

Having been forced to be stuck with her cruel husband by his powerful local criminal organization, Ketevan (Tinatin Dalakishvili) is certainly worried about his ongoing toxic influence on her two kids, and she really wants to get out of the prison along with them as soon as possible – especially after her husband is going to serve another 10 years in the prison. Her brother-in-law Zurab (Tornike Gogrichiani), who is incidentally the leader of that local criminal organization, is surely not so amused by his younger brother’s extended imprisonment, and we accordingly see how brutal and ruthless he can be at one point.

While knowing well that he is going to mess with very dangerous people, Rake embarks on preparing himself within a short period time, and you will be amazed by how quickly he is back in element. At first, he seems to be in the need of more physical therapy, but, what do you know, we soon see him swiftly throwing a hatchet at a tree without much difficulty, and then he goes to Georgia along with several other mercenaries including Nik Kahn (Golshifteh Farahani), a longtime professional partner of his who is surely ready to assist him as before.

What follows next is an impressive extended action sequence which fluidly and seamlessly bounces from one spot to another during more than 20 minutes. As the cinematographer Greg Baldi’s camera smoothly moves around our hero and several other characters, the movie skillfully and impactfully immerses us into the violently chaotic situation surrounding them, and director Sam Hargrave, who worked as a stunt performer before making his directorial debut with “Extraction”, and his crew never get us lost despite lots of bangs and crashes here and there on the screen. Like recent notable action films such as “The Raid: Redemption” (2012) or “John Wick” (2014), the movie seldom flinches from violence and blood, and I must tell you that there are a number of striking moments of remorseless violence which will certainly make you wince more than once.

However, the movie is rather weak in terms of story and characters just like its predecessor. A subplot involved with Ketevan’s adolescent son’s conflict between his uncle and his mother is predictable to say the least while only functioning as a convenient plot device for another big action sequence to come along the story. While the screenplay by co-producer Joe Rosso tries to bring some depth to its hero later in the film, Rake remains to be your average bitter tough guy who does not say or express much, and I doubt whether he will be remembered as much as Jason Bourne or John Wick.

Anyway, Chris Hemsworth, who has been showing that he can do much more than playing Thor in Marvel Cinematic Universe flicks, carries the film as much as required, and several other main cast members of the film hold each own place well around him. As Rake’s dependable partner, Golshifteh Farahani willingly throws herself into lots of actions as demanded, and Adam Bessa is also solid as another colleague of Rake. While she is limited by her thankless supporting role, Tinatin Dalakishvili manages to distinguish herself a bit as her character goes through lots of actions along with Rake at one point in the middle of the first action sequence in the movie, and Tornike Gogrichiani exudes enough menace as the main villain of the film.

On the whole, “Extraction 2” achieves as much as its predecessor, so I gave it 3 stars for that despite some reservation. Sure, I appreciate the considerable efforts and skills behind the screen to some degree, but I have to say that it is relatively less impressive than what I recently saw from “John Wick: Chapter 4” (2023), which handled its hardcore action scenes with much more style and gusto. Considering what is shown at the end of the film, I guess there will be another sequel to follow, and I sincerely wish that the next sequel has more style besides having enough substance.