Extraction 2 Is The Perfect Call Of Duty Movie We'll Never Get
It's officially game over for bad video game adaptations. After a double-hit combo of both "The Last of Us" and "The Super Mario Bros. Movie," iffy iterations of beloved video games have gone the way of the Atari.
It's been a long journey to get here, though. For every "Werewolves Within," there was a "Doom," "Dead or Alive," or even the original culprit, 1993's "Super Mario Bros." starring Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo. With fails like that, it's enough to make you rage quit from the whole idea of video game adaptations, right? And sure enough, for one of the biggest video game IPs in the world, that's precisely what happened. Since 2015, talk of a "Call of Duty" film has been loading in various iterations, only to freeze at the last second (again and again).
At this point, the project appears to have stalled since 2020. Thankfully, we don't need an actual video game adaptation anymore, because Netflix has given us the best unofficial "Call of Duty" movie we're ever going to get.
Putting the hammer down to become the equally indestructible Tyler Rake, Chris Hemsworth is back for a second round of brutality in "Extraction 2," the sequel to his 2020 streaming success. It's bigger, it's badder, and better in just about every way than its predecessor. And the way it checks all those boxes is by doubling down on all the video game elements of the first movie, and becoming our dream "Call of Duty" movie in everything but name.
Call of Duty ran out of lives trying to make it to the big screen
Back in a not-so-distant era when studios didn't take video game adaptations as seriously as they do now, "Call of Duty" was in the works to not just to get a film, but a cinematic universe (thanks, Marvel). The notion of bringing it to film is easy to understand, given how many of the game's iconic levels are just shameless re-enactments of classic action flicks like "The Rock," "Black Hawk Down," and "Enemy at the Gates."
Pieces were very nearly in place in 2018 when "Sicario 2" director Stefano Solima signed up for the project. This wouldn't be some shoddy cash-in either, as Solima himself revealed that he had his eye on Tom Hardy and Chris Pine to take on lead roles in the film. It wouldn't be some gung-ho outing either, as he revealed to Polygon that it would be a soldier film and not a war film. Unfortunately, that never came to pass, and the last whispers of the project were when Solima explained it had dropped down on Activision's to-do list.
That's okay, though. Because just like the video games mirrored iconic movie moments, the "Extraction" movies have just brought the vibe of the video games back onto film, and it's resulted in a "Call of Duty" non-adaptation that's more faithful to the tone and feel of the games than a real adaptation probably would've been.
Extraction is Chris Hemsworth's Thor of Duty
When Chris Hemsworth first dropped into Dhaka, Bangladesh, as a one-person army, it didn't take long for the comparisons of Activision Blizzard's prized franchise to come thick and fast. Under the stunt work-infused eye of director Sam Hargrave, Hemsworth's Rake felt unstoppable even when he wasn't. Ripping through bad guys like tissue paper and picking up various weapons along the way, the similarities to a certain iconic first-person shooter were impossible not to notice.
Admittedly, "Extraction" isn't the first action movie to feel like a game. "Crank," "Shoot 'Em Up," and even key moments in "Kingsman" scratched a similar itch. "Extraction" hit harder, though. As Hemsworth's hulking hero storms down corridors and cracks henchmen over car windshields, he feeld just like the sort of video game characters we're so used to operating ourselves, brought to life. Rake and his wince-inducing takedowns of bad guys are addictive: like "John Wick," seeing him clear out an area never gets old.
The difference between "John Wick" and these movies, though, is the fighting aesthetic. In "Extraction," a frantic force of rage runs through Hemsworth's veins that don't line up with the elegance of the Baba Yaga. His approach perfectly matches the vibe of being in the middle of an intense "Call of Duty" map — the kind where you're doing anything to finish the level, and clearing emptying cartridges with all the flair of a backyard firework display.
However, while the first "Extraction" felt like a campaign mission, "Extraction 2" ups the ante, and crystallizes this series as the "Call of Duty" movie it truly is at heart.
Extraction 2 is the perfect Call of Duty movie
"Call of Duty: Warzone" is where the video game franchise really peaks, and when Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 was launched in 2022, it took only five days to accumulate 25 million players. The game sees up to 150 players drop onto a small island, filled with all manner of locations to fight, run, and get obliterated until only one is left standing.
"Extraction 2" features variations of all the signature spots that players love from the games. Stronghold escapes, scraps on trains, and attacks in high-rise buildings are crammed into Rake's heroic journey. With a checklist so in sync with the popular shooter, it's a wonder there isn't a loading screen in-between sequences.
"Extraction 2" manages to bring "Call of Duty" to life through details both small and massive. "Call of Duty" influences seep into things like the extremely large guns being found in loot crates, the highly armored boss-like foes who are lumbering around key locations, and the narrow escapes that make you want to drop in on the action yourself. By nailing this style so perfectly, Netflix has struck gold.
With that in mind, it raises an interesting question: seeing how Netflix wants to get into actual gaming, why not put us in control of Tyler Rake?
Extraction should be Netflix's big entry point into gaming
Since 2021, Netflix has struggled to play nice with the gaming world they're so keen to get into. However, less than 1% of their subscribers are giving Netflix Games a go.
So why not send in Tyler Rake? As it happens, this might already be in the works. In 2022, the film's producers, Joe and Anthony Russo, signed a $400 million deal with their company AGBO and Japanese video game developer, Nexon. According to The Hollywood Reporter, an "Extraction" game is already in mind, so we might see (or rather control) Rake punching pixelated goons instead of real ones sooner than we think. It's a good idea, seeing how the big red N already wants to get into this territory, and other studios are doing the same, including the all-new, all-different DC Universe and "Star Wars."
Whether or not "Extraction" rebounds back into video game territory to challenge "Call of Duty" at its own game, though, we should take a moment to celebrate "Extraction 2" as, at its heart, one of the best video game movies to date, and exactly what we would've hoped to see in the "Call of Duty" film that never happened.