If there’s anyone who should be listened to when it comes to dishing out advice on what it takes to be an action hero, then it’s Arnold Schwarzenegger.
He’s one of the genre’s most iconic figures for a multitude of very good reasons, with his penchant for dropping just as many bodies as one-liners helping him carve out his own niche that allowed him to secure legendary status. However, despite his own proclivities for a quip in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Chris Hemsworth‘s Extraction isn’t a franchise fond of gags.
Not that Schwarzenegger cares in the slightest, with the recently-appointed Chief Action Officer of Netflix offering words of wisdom to the longtime God of Thunder during an elevator encounter at the streaming service’s HQ that soon becomes incredibly awkward, and not just because it’s blatantly obvious the entire thing was shot without the two of them ever being in the same room.
Would Extraction be better if it was funnier? Probably not, when the staging of the sequences are the major selling point, but it goes without saying that it would be a much different experience were Schwarzenegger playing the lead role. The role of the protagonist in a a cinematic shoot ’em up has evolved over the years, but there’s no harm in seeking sage words of wisdom from one of the best to ever do it.
Hemsworth is obviously no slouch in the ass-kicking department, but he doesn’t quite have that Arnold-sized legacy yet, either.