Extraction 2: Pure Action

Movie Review: Extraction 2 (2023) on Netflix👌

Here's a great movie for escaping the summer heat: Extraction 2. It pits Chris Hemsworth as Tyler Rake, an Aussie special forces specialist extraordinaire, against Tornike Gorgrichiani as Zurab Rudiani, an operative of the Georgian military underworld. This film is full of action and extreme stunts and special effects with the intensity of a John Wick flick. (See movie trailer below.)

    Extraction 2 picks up where the original Extraction leaves off. He's put back together and left to recover in a remote site then invited by Idris Elba to do a mission only he can accomplish: Rescue the sister and her family of Rake's estranged wife, who is the wife of Rudiani's brother. Rudiani lives in a maximum security prison in the country of Georgia, under the protection of the Ngazi, a paramilitary group. His family lives with him in this bleak, heavily defended facility.

    To break in, to escape, to getaway and live, it's one long, massive fight and gun battle scene in the prison, on a train trip through desolate mountains, on a helicopter trip to Geneva, in a tall skyscraper in Geneva, and on and on. Guns blazing, grenades popping, bombs exploding, glass shattering, furniture disintegrating, pipes maiming, hatchets chopping, knives stabbing, mayhem chasing--you name it, you'll see it.  And to top it off, the wife's husband (Rudiani's brother) has been killed and her teen son wants revenge, in addition to Rudiani. It's a long, hard-fought battle to the end. Boom! You won't even notice the heat anymore.

    Extraction 2 movie trailer from YouTube:

 

The Mountain Between Us: Redeeming Message and Sweeping Vistas, but Plodding Plot

Movie Review: The Mountain Between Us (2017)
Version: Library borrow

It was never going to be an award-wining film, but The Mountain Between Us gets points for having a socially redeeming message and sweeping vistas. The lead actors (Idris Elba and Kate Winslet) are pretty good, too. However, the writing isn't spectacular and the plotting is plodding.

Ben Bass (Idris Elba) is a heart surgeon trying to get back from a conference to do an emergency surgery. Alex Martin (Kate Winslet) is a socialite photographer trying to get home for her pending marriage. A snow storm upends both their flights home so they arrange a private plane flown by aging pilot Walter (Beau Bridges) to take them over a mountain and homeward bound. Only, Walter suffers a debilitating stroke and crashes the plane high in the wilderness. From here on out, it's not a matter of will they get home in time for their important business but will they get home at all. It's them against nature and the cold of winter in the mountains.

Add to that dynamic are the cultural divides. He's a doctor and she's a socialite. He's been married that she senses is keeping a secret from his wife, she's about to be newly married. He's Black, she's White. Multiple conflicts arise as they try to stay alive and find rescue. What they come to find instead is a close relationship that threatens to upend their lives if they ever find a way out of the wilderness.

The Mountain Between Us isn't the most exciting movie ever filmed. It has great scenery, but some of the situations seem a bit contrived and, on many levels, too good to be true. And the ending is eye-roll silly. Die-hard romantics will likely eat it up, but if you're a diabetic, be sure to keep your insulin handy. Fair warning!

The only good thing I can say about this film is, they signed good talent. Ibis and Winslet are good to watch squirming through the dialog and scenes struggling through deep snow and cold water. Sorry to be so negative, but I just need to be honest. This was not a film I enjoyed watching.

The Jungle Book: Third Time Around's a Charm

Movie Review: The Jungle Book (2016)
Version: Library Borrow

There have been three film versions of The Jungle Book, including the 1967 animated Disney original and a 1994 live action version, so you would think making another wouldn't be a good idea. You'd be wrong. This newest version, once again live action and by Disney, using the music from the original animated film, does justice to the original and tells the story in an exciting new way.

Neel Sethi plays Mowgli, the boy raised in the jungle and befriended by the panther Bagheera (voice of Ben Kingsley) and the bear Baloo (voice of Bill Murray), who must now flee his "home" because of the threat of the angry tiger Shere Khan (voice of Idris Elba). There's nothing worse than a tiger with unresolved issues, and that's just what Shere Khan is, hunting down Mowgli through the thick and the thin of the jungle as he tries to find safe passage to the more secure yet uncertain world of humans. It's Rudyard Kipling at his best.

The Jungle Book story hasn't really changed in this version. It's still a coming of age story set in the jungle. It's still the story of friendships and conflicts and seeking your inner strength when confronted by overwhelming odds. Even the music is the same. What has changed, however, is the darkness of the imaging, the danger encountered in nature, and the humanness of the main character, Mowgli.

When the film first came out, some families said younger kids were afraid of the film and couldn't recommend it for younger viewers. Perhaps it was seeing it on the big screen. With that in mind, you might not want this film for your youngest children, although it might be different seen on the smaller screens of TV.

This version of The Jungle Book does provide an opportunity for older viewers, who may not enjoy animated films, or who may not want to see the animated version another time, to see the story updated for their age group. Gone are the sweetness of characters often depicted in cartoons. Present are the more realistic characteristics of animals and the jungle environment, not that Hollywood doesn't have the ability or desire to amp those up for dramatic effect. Easily, this is a more adult-oriented film, although young teens and older can easily enjoy it, too.

This film won an Oscar for Best Achievement in Visual Effects along with 21 other wins and 43 nominations from other industry and film-interest groups.

If you're looking for a movie to gather the family around over the weekend, I'd gladly suggest The Jungle Book. With younger family members, you might try watching it while there's still daylight rather than when it's darker. By all means, give this story one more watch.