Unless you are a complete film buff (which I, in no way, claim to be), Chris Hemsworth is mainly known to us Thor the God of Thunder or, to a lesser extent, the saving grace of the 2016 Ghostbusters film. In Netflix’s latest action flick, Extraction, Hemsworth reunites with Marvel directors Anthony and Joe Russo (Civil War, Infinity War, Endgame), and stunt coordinator Sam Hargrove (Captain America: Civil War, Endgame). So, with quite a hefty team behind him, can he make his mark as a leading man outside of the MCU?

Hemsworth’s Tyler Rake, a black market mercenary with ghosts in his past and nothing to lose, is hired to retrieve and extract Ovi Mahajan (Rudhraksh Jaiswal), the teenage son of an imprisoned drug lord kidnapped by rival crime boss, Amir Asif (Priyanshu Pairiyuli). Without the full funds to pay Rake’s price, Ovi’s guardian Saju (Randeep Hooda) comes to a decision that makes an already tricky job borderline impossible.

Admittedly, the story’s premise is one that has been done a thousand times before but if we’re completely honest, we don’t watch films like this for the plot – we want to see action and this film delivers it in spades.

There’s a real John Wick/Jason Bourne feel throughout that is welcome in both its familiarity and intensity. In his feature length directorial debut, Sam Hargrove calls upon his experience as a stuntman to deliver some truly brilliant fight scenes, including a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it reload, the best example ever of using a person as a weapon and the beautifully ironic death-by-rake.

The story is well paced and the intensity of the action is increased tenfold by some great shot selection including a high adrenaline continuous tracking shot that lasts for over eleven minutes and offers a movie experience that is far more immersive than I expected it to be. At times it felt like it was going to be a little too predictable but the twists that I was anticipating never came.

Rudhraksh Jaiswal delivered a likeable performance as Ovi, balancing his knowledge of the criminal life his father leads with an innocence that comes from his isolated childhood. He has good chemistry with Hemsworth and helps to explore the softer, more vulnerable side to Tyler Rake. Hooda’s Saju had something of a roller-coaster story are but he was fascinating to watch. I would have loved to see more of David Harbour as retired mercenary Gaspar but if I’m completely honest with myself it probably would’ve disturbed the pace of the film.

Golshifteh Farahani was a little enigmatic as Nik Khan. There was a strong connection and tension with Hemsworth’s Rake that was both intriguing and frustrating in its lack of development. What, where, when and how?? A girl needs answers.

For me, Hemsworth carries the film well, there is a strength and tenacity to his performance that I’ve not really seen from him before but it suits him well. I’m pretty surprised why someone who seems to be such a well rounded and versatile actor hasn’t had more box office success.

If you are not a fan of excessive violence or are a little squeamish then this may not be the film for you however if you enjoyed films like John Wick: Parabellum then you definitely need to check Extraction out.