NOOB FILM REVIEW - EXTRACTION 2 directed by Sam Hargrave
Laziness. Who are we kidding eh? If you are surrounded daily by lumps of shite, a trash bag will appear as gold.
When the mainstream cinema is bankrupt of ideas there is nothing else to make the audience switch off their brains and cheer for a minute of the spectacles that is not really a new thing.
The character played by Chris Hemsworth might have brought us hope that the serious action hero trope is back. Well not really. Looking back at the genre and the archetype that was a thing of its own back in the 80s and 90s, this one lacked the camera treatment that a stature like Arnold and Sly had back then. A close-up shot together with a striking anthem in the background showcases to the audience that the hero still has a little bit more in him and uses it to defy all odds. We used to cheer for that kind of moment. But that is a rarity nowadays.
One main reason is the size of the screen. No matter how big the TV you have at home, it will never beat the one in the public cinema where a crowd put themselves together and paid to indulge in the story the industry wants to tell you. It was very hard to be disappointed back then in the 80s and 90s but now it is a norm.
And heroes that come to you in the comfort of your homes on a smaller screen will never beat those of the 80s and 90s. Plus they are now being downgraded too. Even Arnold. Back then, it would never have occurred to me that he will be in a TV series. And what Extraction 2 is showing is no more than what Jackie Chan has done so many times back then. And the revival of those octogenarians of past Hollywood stars to continue their long-ended sagas like zombies. The true Frankenstein. All in the name of the 'safe' and 'proven' formula that the investors and stakeholders wanted to make some money back. And they are running out of Frankenstein I am telling ya. It is really 'FUBAR', ain't it Arnie?
We have been around shit for too long. Spectacle with zero substance. Director Sam Hargrave and the Russo brothers know their stuff though, that even this will sell.
In the film Gran Torino (2008), the death of the main protagonist played by Clint Eastwood is symbolic of a bidding farewell to an era. The closing of the 'American Dream'.
Tom Cruise is the last of the lot. He knows his stuff. The opening shot of Top Gun: Maverick is of him flying up to the heavens in past Mach 10. It is a symbol of his screen immortality.
Who are the current upcoming screen 'cultural icons of masculinity'? Dr. Strange? Spiderman? Mat Kilau?
And the icons of intelligence? Elon Musk? Mark Zuckerberg? But that is for another write-up.
"Get off my lawn...."