New releases

New releases 2020

Extraction Chris Hemsworth, Rudhraksh Jaiswal, Golshifteh Farahani, Randeep Hooda Directed by Sam Hargraves Rating: BN etflix’s latest release “Extraction” is a two-hour, action-packed thriller that came as a surprise among the lack of new releases during this COVID-19 pandemic. Chris Hemsworth leads the story as a mercenary with nothing left to lose. We’ve all seen how fitting he is for the role after playing “Thor” in Marvel’s “Avengers” franchise, but audiences haven’t seen him like this before.

If it hadn’t been for an interview on Jimmy Kimmel days before the Netflix release, I would not have particularly cared to try “Extraction”. The lack of trailers and advertisements for it didn’t excite me but I had enjoyed Hemsworth in “Avengers”, “Men In Black: International”, and “In the Heart of the Sea”. Here, Hemsworth takes on the role of Tyler Rake, a man with a past that haunts him throughout the movie as he takes on a job to extract a kidnapped drug lord’s son, Ovi, from another drug lord in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

In the first hour, there’s barely any dialogue but that doesn’t mean it’s boring. From the moment Rake gets involved, the movie takes viewers on a non-stop action ride that it’s almost hard to keep up. It’s Rake versus the bad guys versus Saju, Ovi’s guardian while his father is in jail. When Rake’s team tells him to drop the kid and leave for his own safety, Rake’s conscience pulls him in another direction. The whole movie offers edge-of-your-seat excitement as bullets fly and a teen’s life is at stake. Rake has to be careful about who to trust to get him out of the guarded city.

While I prefer a movie with a little more substance, I think “Extraction” is one that can easily entertain a wide audience.

Underwater

Starring Kristen Stewart, Vincent Cassel, T.J. Miller, John Gallagher Jr., Jessica Henwick, Mamoudou Athie Directed by William Eubank Post credit scenes: No Rating: C+

Researchers working aboard a deep-sea drilling company fight for survival as something begins to destroy their facility. When the escape pods have all been launched from the main research building, the six remaining crewmembers must walk on the open ocean floor to another structure, which may or may not have more escape pods.

“Underwater” is an intense, breathtaking, and underrated movie that premiered earlier in 2020, yet no one is talking about it. Watching the movie feels like you’re starting a movie halfway through its story, which may irritate some viewers but on the other hand, it’s kind of refreshing. You get to skip the boring build-up of character backgrounds and go directly into the action. That being said, “Underwater” lacks narrative but its strength is its intrigue. The bizarre nature of these deep-sea creatures makes you want to keep watching because unlike some thrillers, “Underwater” shows you the monster, and you don’t want to take your eyes away from it.

For myself, I would have liked to see more story than constant action without it slowing down the pace of the movie. We don’t know what motivated these six survivors to work on a drill six miles deep into the Marianas Trench. We don’t know how long they’ve worked at the drill site or if they’ve ever gotten vacation time above the surface. That’s my only gripe with this movie.

Otherwise, I thought it was exciting, a little weird but something I could watch again. As I mentioned earlier, the movie doesn’t spend too much time giving you character’s backgrounds, but their actions speak louder than words. Each character is worth rooting for as they battle the unknown in the depths of the ocean. Kristen Stewart, although not the captain of the facility, very much takes the lead. As a mechanical engineer, she leads the other researchers through danger while Vincent Cassel, as the captain, is kind of just there for support.

If you’re stuck inside looking for something spooky to watch, you may be pleasantly surprised by “Underwater”. If you’re one to fidget throughout slow movies, this should capture enough of your attention that you won’t realize you haven’t picked up your phone to play with yet.