Today’s quick review: Extraction. When Leonard Turner (Bruce Willis), a CIA agent near the end of his career, is kidnapped, his son Harry (Kellan Lutz), an aspiring field agent, disobeys orders in an attempt to rescue him. With the help of Victoria (Gina Carano), the agent officially assigned to the mission, Harry hunts down the terrorist group he believes responsible, racing to find them before they can activate a dangerous cryptographic device.
Extraction is an action movie that follows the usual recipe of lone CIA operatives, doomsday devices, and treachery. Its basic premise is just fine by the standards of the genre. However, Extraction’s execution leaves something to be desired. Its strongest feature is its action, a blend of serviceable close-quarters fighting and unconvincing gunplay. Its acting and writing are deeply flawed, making the movie a difficult one to invest in.
Extraction suffers from a host of problems typical of budget action films. The plot has little in the way of depth, and its plot twists feel arbitrary. Several key plot points are never properly explained, making the events of the story needlessly confusing. The dialogue is consistently weak, with uninspired writing and stiff delivery. Extraction also makes very little use of Bruce Willis, giving him only two or three scenes and minimal action.
There are other areas where Extraction falls short. The movie’s soundtrack, opening credits, and treatment of its chase scenes are incongruously intense. The supposed chemistry between Harry and Victoria is close to nonexistent. Harry’s character gets caught between competing action hero archetypes; the movie can’t decide whether he should be an inexperienced rookie or a talented prodigy, and his reckless tactics belie his dream of becoming a field agent.
Overall, Extraction feels half-baked. The movie’s major elements are all ones that other action films have used to good effect, but they are stitched together haphazardly with no real vision. Although the movie has just enough action to be watchable, Extraction offers nothing else of interest. Most viewers would be better off watching The Recruit, Safehouse, or one of the many other action movies out there.
4.0 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 5.0 for a poor plot and barely passable action.