Man on a little bit of fire
No. 1 on Netflix right now is a movie about a soldier of fortune who cuts an absolute goddamn warpath through a foreign capital to rescue a child kidnapping victim.
This mercenary, he drinks too much, he’s suicidal even. But sober him up, put him on a proper mission, set him on that redemption arc, there’s no bigger badass.
This kid, rich. Dad’s a real scumbag (can I interest you in a substitute father figure?). Still: sensitive and wise, so wise.
This rescue, there’s a serious body count. Double taps, blowing shit up. Hand to hand combat, if it comes to that. I mean, he’s getting that kid back if it’s the last thing he does!
“Man on Fire” is one of the most underrated movies of the 2000s, not just shoot-em-ups, and on the Rushmore of Action Hero Denzel performances.
“Extraction,” which is based on a different book believe it or not, is an acceptable colored-in-the-lines knockoff. But when it ends with our rescued kid diving into a pool, I laughed out loud.
OK, Mexico City isn’t spooky anymore. Everyone I know just went there on vacation. “Extraction” takes place in Dhaka, Bangladesh. There’s still brown randos dropping like flies.
The heart of “Man on Fire” is the bodyguard John Creasy’s friendship with Pita (Dakota Fanning putting in a shift), the restorative bond they form, the lessons they teach each other. In “Extraction,” Tyler doesn’t have a relationship with Ovi, he’s called in specifically for the, you know, extraction. The pathos is supposed to come from Tyler mourning his son and transferring that guilt/obligation to this new boy. It’s a nope, and that’s not even blaming Chris Hemsworth. You end up kind of agreeing with everyone telling him to ditch the kid when the mission goes sideways.
There’s alternative, maybe better, movie floating in here about Ovi’s bodyguard, Saju, also ex-special forces, also extremely badass, with clearer motivations. He does just as much as Tyler to save Ovi, even fights Tyler to a draw when it gets down to that. He’s not the hero because … he doesn’t have a sexy-dangerous death wish? He’s not as handsome? [whispers] He’s not white?
The action sequences in “Extraction” are better, I guess, if you enjoy that brand of shaky, up-close camera work that’s meant to convey the suddenness and brutality of fights to the death, all the better if it’s in a stairwell or some rattrap with endless connecting doors. Tyler’s injuries and fatigue are more visceral than Creasy’s, less like a vague and gradual loss of life points.
And then there’s the end — spoiler alert, if you will. John Creasy is JC, he dies so that she (we) might live, and gets carried out on his cross. Tyler is rather baptized, regenerated for a sequel we don’t especially need.