Extraction (2015) Reviews

• Is the old Bruce Willis back in an exciting action movie? Nope, damn ....

  peterp-450-2987162016-01-26

  The makers of "Extraction" use the same marketing gimmick as used in films such as "The Cold Light of Day", "Fire with Fire", "The Prince" and "Vice". It's the famous Bruce Willis magic trick. Actually, it's dead simple. Make sure this star actor of yesteryear (I have to say I was always a big fan of BW) participates in an upcoming B-movie. However, the length of time you can admire him is limited and his presence is evenly spaced. You let him turn up at the beginning of the movie as an appetizer and give the impression that this might be a real Willis movie once again. Eventually, he disappears for most of the film and pops up again in the end for the big reveal. Then place him centrally on the cover so future viewers will get the feeling that he's playing an important part in it. I'm convinced that this is the biggest marketing trick that ensures the necessary revenues. As a viewer, you feel cheated though. Yep. The "Die Hard" star adds just another B-movie to his record of achievements. I must admit that the beginning of the film provided a momentary enthusiasm. For a moment, I had a feeling the old Bruce Willis was back and I was getting ready for some cool one-liners and beaten up opponents. Yippie kai yee! The result was a short-lived excitement, because before you know it the Willis marketing trick reveals itself and he disappears like a white rabbit during that well-known magic trick. Not in a black hat, but in the murky world of terrorists who captured a device called CONDOR. When activating this device, telecommunications will be disabled worldwide. Or something like that. Time for Kellan Lutz to show up. He plays Harry Turner, a CIA analyst who would love to follow in the footsteps of his father, but his application is always refused by the respective services. Until the day comes when someone kidnaps his father Leonard (Bruce Willis). Despite the explicit prohibition of his superiors to get involved, he still heads out to defuse that CONDOR. And this with the help of this other field agent Victoria (Gina Carano). And what a surprise, she's someone Kellan had a brief relationship with before. Who would have thought of that? What follows is just a cheap Secret Service action movie with the necessary fight scenes. And with of course the obligatory locations such as a biker bar (starring some billiard balls and a broken jukebox) and a trendy nightclub. Carano showed already in "In the Blood" that she can stand her ground in such dark clubs. The story brings nothing new and is full of familiar clichés. Even the denouement at the end was predictable. Not quite a good movie, you might say. The same can be said of the performances. Willis plays another comatose role and looks quite pathetic and uninterested in the few moments when he's on screen. Lutz and Carano make the best out of it and during the action scenes, the entertainment level rose a bit. And then there's the fact that Carano's curves are certainly a feast for the eye. I wouldn't date her though. Not with this testosterone-filled chunk of energy. Before you know it, you're stuck in a stranglehold that can be fatal. For now I've lost all hope for another brilliant Bruce Willis movie. Yippie kai ... yeah yeah yeah!

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• totally disappointed in this

  MattyAndAnnika2015-12-24

  Extraction (2015) is probably the worst film of this genre put out in the year 2015 that featured a well respected actor. I'm quite stunned to see that out of so many producers on this project that it looks as if not one of them done anything to make the film worth watching. Extraction is a film which is riding the coattails of Bruce Willis, knowing that with his name on the picture a lot of people would go check it out. I've always been a fan of Bruce Willis and what I saw in this movie truly upset me to see, the film is horrible. The movie has hardly any script or direction, the acting from 90% of the actors is at TV Commercial level; what were they thinking? I was really hoping this film would've at least been entertaining to some level.

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• Simply awful

  peo-192015-12-20

  This is one of the worst movies of the year, if not the decade. If this doesn't end Carano's and Lutz' career, nothing will. Dull, boring, totally inconsistent and full of gaffes. They seem to have shot this for a low budget and then had to finish it off in 2 days. There are so many holes in the plot that the viewer is expected to write half the script of the movie. Action scenes are okay, but they look incredibly choreographed and lack credibility. After a 5 minute fight, the actors look as fresh as having come out of the shower. Lackluster performances from all main characters, even DB Sweeney who usually us pretty solid. This movie is a waste of time.

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• By the numbers action thriller

  panik652015-12-22

  Nothing wrong with this film, it's what it is: very formulaic and predictable with high production values and action scenes. CIA Dad, who is villainous and murderous himself, get's caught in a sticky situation as CIA son, who is an institutional failure, must rescue him, as CIA son is of course the only one who knows what's going on and where CIA dad is being held captive. CIA son of course inadvertently uncovers a deep institutional betrayal in which his tattered, nuclear family somehow wins and becomes transcendent. A murdered mother is avenged but it has zero dramatic power, but it's excusable as they didn't take it too seriously. Does it deliver? Not really, but then it isn't boring either. Nevertheless It's being dissed as "straight to DVD" (which is true) but compared to the junk released in theaters, it's probably above average, really. Nothing special, nothing terrible, perhaps worth a watch on a rainy day. Not bad enough to be funny, not good enough to pay 100% attention to, it's more or less "just there".

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• I'm okay with a simple mma and tits action flick, but....

  skantea-155-1134872015-12-19

  But you have to stick to the formula for making what's at heart a C movie actually entertain the target audience, drunk dudes. That formula? Simple storyline, bare bones dialogue, and expertly choreographed fight scenes that come no more than five minutes apart. The script was terrible from beginning to end. Bruce Willis tells a bad guy "Don't you ever threaten my family", just before delivering the kill shot. Immediately I got a bad feeling, because the line should have been "Nobody threatens my family" in order to make sense as far continuity. That may seem like a small detail to someone who isn't a writer but trust me, words matter. The dialogue never gets better and though most of the fight scenes are okay, enough of them are badly staged that it detracts from the only thing that makes the film worth seeing. The acting was below average with the exception of Bruce Willis, who phoned it in but is still a veteran. Gina Carano was under utilized, which seems to keep happening to her. There are too many bad movies that are still a lot of fun for you to waste time on this one. 4 out of 10.

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