Review of Extraction

I have a good idea that Bruce Willis fans - if there are any left after him doing dreck like this for the past few years - will be especially disappointed by this movie. Although he is top billed, he's not in the movie that much at all. I would guess that his (limited) footage was shot in two or three days at most. I kind of expected this was a quick money grab for Willis before watching it, so his limited appearance didn't bother me. But there was sure a lot else about the movie that I didn't like. The inadequate script was a big issue, for starters. The story was pretty familiar and predictable, including the "surprise" twists that happen near the end. The characters were also very familiar, except maybe for the young protagonist played by Kellan Lutz - and not in a good way. I though his character was pretty irresponsible and kind of a bully at times. The direction by Steven C. Miller is also inadequate. While I could see he was somewhat confined by a low budget (limited set dressing and few "wide" shots, among other tell-tale signs), I am sure he could have even under the circumstances directed the action scenes a lot better (a lot of the fisticuffs are near incomprehensible to follow). He could also have had the movie photographed better; many shots are filled with really ugly colors. What the movie ends up being is product, and nowhere near the heart- pounding action/suspense thriller it wants to be. Though if you saw in the opening credits that the movie was produced by the notorious schlock duo of Randall Emmett and George Furla, you probably knew what to expect.