By: The Cinema Drunkie

Welcome to FOOT FIST FRIDAYS! A weekly dose of fight action where the Action-Flix.com experts share their thoughts on some of the greatest scenes of fisticuffs in action cinema history!

The Cinema Drunkie is Back and this time he’s bringing the heat with a furious clip from the action-thriller Extraction! No, not that Extraction with Chris Hemsworth. We’re talking the 2015 version which was helmed by Steven C. Miller and starring Kellan Lutz, Gina Carano and Bruce Willis. That’s right folks, Lutz brings the pain on this week’s edition of Foot Fist Fridays as he engages in one hell of a bathroom fight. Enjoy!

Ahhh, Extraction. Such an awesome little action movie. Came out of nowhere and entertained the hell out of me. Featuring excellent action set pieces, a great cast, and a solid lead performance from its action hero in the making, Kellan Lutz.

What? Why are you giving me that face? Ohhhh you thought I was talking about the Chris Hemsworth one from earlier this year?? No, not that one. And not the one from 2013 with Vinne Jones, either. I’m talking about 2015’s Extraction.

Directed by the immensely talented Steven C. Miller, Extraction is the tale of Harry Turner (Lutz) a highly trained government analyst who must go rogue and take matters into his own hands when his father, retired agent Leonard Turner (Bruce Willis) is taken hostage by a group of international terrorists.

I’m a fan of Lutz. Not just for his abilities as an actor, but for the potential he houses to become a bonafide action star. While primarily known for his appearances in the Twilight franchise, Lutz has crept up in various action productions, showing that he is more than proficient enough to lead the charge as one of the newest action stars of this generation, at least in my opinion. A self professed Muay Thai practitioner, his skills were utilized very well in features such as The Expendables 3, and Java Heat, but I think that potential shines brightest in Extraction.

It might be due to the direction of Miller. A filmmaker with a great track record (Marauders & his most recent film Line of Duty a really good examples of his talents), Miller employs the best quality action hero capabilities of Lutz within this endeavor, especially in the fight sequences.

The one fight in particular that is the main topic of today’s edition of Foot Fist Friday is a damn fine bathroom battle. For context: Harry is searching for information regarding his father’s whereabouts with the help of fellow agent and former flame Victoria Phair (Former MMA Champion & Action Goddess Gina Carano) in a club when he is ambushed by an assasin in the bathroom.

They have a brief back and forth before Harry defeats The Asset and has to rescue Phair, who’s being attacked after her cover becomes blown. This scene is not only my favorite of the movie, but a good example of what standard fight scenes should look like within the “Bourne Style” era of fight cinematography and editing.

See, due to the popularity of the Jason Bourne franchise, film studios have sought to copy the style of movie fighting contained with that series of films, to a much less successful degree. All shaky cam and quick cuts, but with zero finesse, making for purely miserable experiences. Thankfully, Steven C. Miller is a man of finesse, shooting a fight scene that permeates that aesthetic, but imbues the sequence with a level of quality that has not been seen since that particular series.

Also, it certainly doesn’t hurt that the sequence was choreographed by one Simon Rhee, the legendary action performer/martial artist himself. So coupled with the skills an iconic choreographer, expert director, and more than adept star, you have yourselves a damn fine scene to behold.

And now, without further ado, may I present to you the bathroom brawl from 2015’s Extraction:

About The Aurthor: With his mind utterly intoxicated off of a steady stream of movies, comics and cartoons, a young boy from Brooklyn, New York grew up to become the man known as… THE CINEMA DRUNKIE!!! https://thecinemadrunkie.wordpress.com/