Extraction's excellently staged, inventive action is ultimately overtaken by a rousing story, in spite of the hundreds of close-quarters gunblasts and the absurd body count. Powerful performances and tight scripting take tired clichés and make them feel like tried-and-true storytelling techniques. (Most of the time.) This could have been just a fun, disposable genre pasttime, but it's significantly better than that.

Chris Hemsworth reveals himself to be a gifted craftsman through an understated, gripping performance. It's refreshingly un-self-conscious, and delivered humbly, without flash or fanfare. It's the mark of a smart director that he was given the space to do that. In those quiet moments, with his fierce, but anguished, weary eyes, he really made me believe his spiritual desolation. On reflection, it reminds me of Denzel Washington, who also elevates more than one action movie with hard-wrung pathos. I hope Hemsworth is allowed to continue on this track and do meatier work than he's been saddled with up to now.

His isn't the only impressive performance. David Harbour is delightful in a thankless, but crucial bit part. What a presence that guy has. Rudhraksh Jaiswal shows up big time in that last act. Most kid actors aren't nearly that good. If there's any justice, he has a good career ahead of him, as does the startlingly adept first-time feature director Sam Hargrave. He doesn't quite sidestep all of the pitfalls of a movie like this (lots of side characters we don't have time to care about, some on-the-nose flashback material, etc.), but the way he choreographs motion, viscera, and heart is impressive.