Netflix’s Extraction was essentially a modern day update on the one-man wrecking crew subgenre of action movies that dominated the 1980s and early 90s when such luminaries as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Steven Seagal needed little more than some weaponry and a pithy one-liner to take down entire armies.
Chris Hemsworth’s Tyler Rake moved through the film like a force of nature, with the bare bones plot revolving around his mercenary trying to rescue the kid at the center of the story while decimating anyone foolish enough to stand in his way. It worked a treat, too, with Extraction becoming the platform’s most-watched original movie ever as first-time director Sam Hargrave put his name firmly on the genre’s map thanks to a string of highly accomplished action sequences and set pieces.
The second installment starts shooting this fall, and we’ve now heard from our sources – the same ones who told us a follow-up was in active development long before it was confirmed by Netflix – that Extraction 2 might shift a little bit to position itself as more of a war film, with the promise of a much bigger budget and more expansive action that’s set to make the first effort look like a minor skirmish by comparison.
An entire shared universe is in the works according to producers Joe and Anthony Russo, so the ante is getting upped regardless, but it’s a smart idea to slightly reinvent the formula to avoid Extraction 2 drawing too many comparisons to its predecessor, which also stops it from being labeled as derivative and uninspired should it retain the hard-hitting action but adopt a new method of telling its story.
