Extraction 2
(
2023
)
Release Date: June 16, 2023 on Netflix
Directed by: Sam Hargrave
Written by: Joe Russo
Produced by: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo, Mike Larocca, Angela Russo-Otstot, Chris Hemsworth, Patrick Newall, Sam Hargrave
Executive Produced by: Jake Aust, Benjamin Grayson, Steven Scavelli, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Golshifteh Farahani, Adam Bessa, Olga Kurylenko, Daniel Bernhardt and Tinatin Dalakishvili
Starring
Trailer
Overview
About | Chris Hemsworth returns as Tyler Rake in Extraction 2, the sequel to Netflix's blockbuster action film Extraction. After barely surviving the events of the first movie, Rake is back as the Australian black ops mercenary, tasked with another deadly mission: rescuing the battered family of a ruthless Georgian gangster from the prison where they are being held.
Hemsworth reunites with director Sam Hargrave, with Anthony and Joe Russo's AGBO producing and Joe Russo writing. Golshifteh Farahani reprises her role from the first film, with Adam Bessa, Olga Kurylenko, Daniel Bernhardt and Tinatin Dalakishvili also co-starring.
This is a sequel to the first film that was based on the graphic novel 'Ciudad' by Ande Parks, from a story by Ande Parks, Anthony Russo & Joe Russo, with illustrations by Fernando León González. Extraction 2 is produced by Anthony Russo, Joe Russo, Mike Larocca, Chris Hemsworth, Patrick Newall and Sam Hargrave, with Angela Russo-Otstot, Jake Aust, Benjamin Grayson, Steven Scavelli, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely as executive producers.
Additional Details:
Official Site | IMDb
PLOT
We pick up directly from the end of Extraction 1. Tyler Rake is stumbling across the Sultana Kamal Bridge, clutching at the blood-gushing bullet wound in his neck. He seeks support against the bridge’s railing, gazes out into the distance, and then lets himself fall backward into the river below. A tragic end for a tragic figure, who abandoned his family when they needed him the most, and who eventually found a version of redemption in rescuing Ovi from the murderous hold of criminal overlord Amir Asif, but it wasn’t enough to hold on to the will to live.
Tyler, embracing the end of his life, lets himself sink further and further into the murky depths of the Buriganga River. But fate doesn’t let Tyler find peace in death. Amidst the garbage and filth of everyday life, Tyler’s body later washes ashore. A young girl collecting trash spots his unconscious body and rushes over to get a closer look. Just as she does, the rest of the merc team pushes through, discovering that Tyler is still alive! They whip into action, intubating Tyler and pumping oxygen into his near lifeless body. As the broken merc’s life hangs in the balance, we cut to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
As the helicopter touches down on the hospital’s rooftop, thee paramedics pull the gurney out. Tyler, still unconscious, is wrapped in a medical tarp, barely holding on. A doctor pumps oxygen into his lungs as he’s rushed off.
Later, we find a forlorn Nik sitting beside an unresponsive Tyler, who’s hooked up to an oxygen machine. A doctor enters the room to matter-of-factly inform Nik that they’ve done everything they can for Tyler and that all things considered, it might be time for her to consider an end-of-life plan for him. Nik says nothing, merely turning to face Tyler, almost as if she’s trying to will him back into existence with her grief-stricken silence.
We catch up with Yaz and Nik in their apartment. Nik is clearly racked with grief as she stares vacantly out the window. Yaz, assuming a decidedly rational approach, encourages Nik to consider the worst case scenario – that Tyler won’t survive.
Back in the hospital, a nurse dutifully attends to Tyler’s hygiene. She trims his beard with scissors and clips his fingernails. At one point she turns to Tyler and, much to her surprise, finds him slowly waking up, his eyes slowly flicking open. As Tyler returns to consciousness, he immediately flashes to a despairing image of his son at the time of his illness. In this memory pop, we see Tyler’s ex-wife lean over and kiss their son’s head. It’s a tender, yet bittersweet moment that is a small window into Tyler’s still guilt-ridden conscience.
Later, we find Nik sitting at Tyler’s bedside, except this time she’s finally smiling, happy to see her good friend regaining his health. Tyler whispers something, but Nik can’t make out what he says. She leans in closer as he repeats, Fuck Off. Clearly, Tyler’s irreverent sense of humor is still intact. It’s warm moment between the two friends.
As time passes, we see Tyler receive an MRI scan, and then work through physical therapy. We’ve never seen Tyler as weak, reticent, and unsteady as he is now. At one point, Nik finds Tyler in a wheelchair, staring despondently through the window. In a wretched emotional state, Tyler admonishes her for keeping him alive. He sarcastically adds that he’s really excited about the next chapter of his life. Nik isn’t taking the bait. She remains earnest in her response, telling Tyler that she couldn’t let someone she cared about just die. Ever the wise friend, she goes on to say that he fought his way back and now it’s up to him to discover why.
From Tyler’s distant, sorrowful gaze, we find ourselves in a small village situated amongst the sweeping green mountains of Kojori, Georgia. We push in on an unassuming farmer feeding his goats. The menacing farmer’s face is covered in a combination of small symbolic tattoos and deep scars. Yet his menacing image is softened by the hearing aid in his right ear. This is Zurab, a man of few, but decisive words. He’s approached by his uncle Avtandil. Avtandil informs Zurab that the powers that be are extending Zurab’s brother’s prison sentence by ten years. Zurab is shocked to say the least.
Meanwhile, we travel to Tkachiri Prison, a forbidding Georgian prison packed with the country’s most villainous criminals Worst of all, Davit. Zurab’s brother, who has the same tattoo on his face. He’s currently sitting among a huddle of screaming prisoners. They’re all in the middle of watching two grisly men slap one another back and forth. Davit is clearly agitated by the extension of his prison sentence, seemingly unable to participate in the joy of watching grown men inflict harm upon one another with powerful face slaps. Later, he seeks respite in his generously-sized prison cell. He is the boss, after all.
Back in the light of day, a procession of luxury vehicles speeds into Zurab’s compound, passing by guards armed with machine guns. Zurab greets the Governor as he steps out of his vehicle. The Governor approaches Zurab with the smirk and swagger of someone who oozes self-confidence. The slick politician embraces Zurab, asking him how he’s been. Not one for small talk, Zurab matter-of-factly informs the Governor that one of his prize bulls is sick and they have to kill him before he infects the other bulls. The Governor is bewildered by the cryptic non sequitur.
As they walk with one another, Zurab brings up the elephant in the room, the fact that the Governor, just that morning, signed off on extending Zurab’s brother’s prison sentence by ten years. Sensing danger, the Governor is quick to remind Zurab that his brother threw a DEA agent off a roof and because of that the Americans are all over them regarding the sentence. Ignoring the man’s simpering tone, Zurab conveys that when he and his brother Davit were young, it was his responsibility as the older brother to protect Davit at all costs; their father would never let them forget that essential brotherly code. The Governor, starting to panic, emphasizes that he contested Davit’s extradition to the States and fought to keep him in a Georgian prison. Furthermore, he even allowed Davit’s family to be housed in the prison with him. The inscrutable Zurab coolly reminds the Governor that it was he and Davit who put the Governor in office. The humble man apologizes, and repeats that there’s nothing he could have done. Zurab remains silent in response, clearly weighing the pathetic Governor’s desperate attempt at an apology. Then, in one fell swoop, Zurab grabs the handle of a nearby pitchfork and launches its unforgiving spikes right through the Governor’s neck. In the background, Zurab’s men gun down the Governor’s security detail. A satisfied Zurab strides away from the freshly dug grave.
Back at the hospital, a nurse wheels a dispirited Rake to meet with Nik and Yaz. Yet no matter how depressed Rake is, he still has the bandwidth to mock Yaz for his garish designer shirt. As Yaz pushes Rake, the trio continues with their trademark banter, with Nik at one point saying that Yaz wanted to pull the plug on Rake. Rake dryly responds that if Yaz had done so he would’ve been doing Rake a favor.
Nik sets Rake up in an cozy wooden house in Gmunden, Austria. The surrounding snow-capped mountains and the endless expanse of snow-covered fields emphasize Rake’s frigid isolation not only from the rest of the world, but from himself as well. As Rake limps toward the home, he asks Nik if she’s brought his chickens. Nik jokingly responds that they ate them. Rake doesn’t laugh, then asks about his dog to which Nik quips that they ate him too. A quietly desperate Rake asks them what he’s supposed to do now. Nik replies that he can do anything he wants. And Yaz playfully adds that Rake can go on hikes, learn to knit, or try to reach mindfulness. Before they head out, Nik hands Rake a shoebox full of his remaining belongings. A thoughtful Nik says that Tyler’s entire life fits in one little box and that maybe it’s time to change that. Rake asks when he’ll see them again. When they have something to celebrate, she says. As Rake enters the house, he’s immediately greeted by his loyal dog.
Over the course of a xt, we see Rake bring logs of wood into the house, sit on the dock fishing, and watching soccer on TV while petting his dog. Later, he receives a package
with the same gaudy shirt that Yaz was wearing when he visited Tyler in the hospital. Needless to say, designer chic is not quite Tyler’s style.
Amidst a contemplative moment on the couch, Rake runs toward the keepsake box on the nightstand. First, he pulls out a stack of envelopes. They’re letters from his ex-wife and deceased son. He swells with pain as he unfolds a drawing from his son. As though from far out in space, we see Tyler standing proudly atop a ball-shaped earth.. It’s obvious how much Tyler’s son admired and looked up to his father as a larger-than-life hero. From another envelope he pulls out a flash drive. In a further attempt to confront his painful past, Tyler inserts the flash drive into his laptop and watches the video of his wife and son on the beach. We remember these images as the ones Tyler would flashback to in Extraction 1. With an expression that lands somewhere between sorrow and fondness, he watches his ex-wife enjoy the blissful day on the beach.
Seemingly inspired by his son’s drawing and the video of his ex-wife, we next see Tyler shoveling snow in the driveway, almost as if he’s trying to clear away his pain and suffering. Later, Tyler hobbles his way through town, his leg still in a brace and his hand clenching the cane for support. He spots a couple of chickens in cages at a local outdoor market. That night, Tyler watches a dance competition on TV in the company of his dog and now his two new chicken friends.
Meanwhile, we catch up with Zurab’s brother Davit in that same high-security Georgian prison. Davit enters the cell and immediately heads toward his sleeping daughter, affectionately wishing her a good night. His wife Ketevan is quick to admonish him, saying that he shouldn’t disturb them because it’s hard enough for them to fall asleep in the prison cell. She goes on to say to her criminal husband that they haven’t seen the sun in weeks. Ketevan bluntly says that they can’t survive living inside of the prison. She acknowledges that Zurab protects them, but she doesn’t want their son to become a Nagazi. As they argue, their son Sandro quietly listens from his cell bed, a neutral expression across his face. We’re left wondering whose side is he on – his violent father’s? Or his defiant mother’s?
The short-tempered Davit grabs Ketevan by the face and threatens her. But a headstrong Ketevan courageously stands up to him. He’s quick to slap her across the face, ominously suggesting that maybe he could raise the children on his own. After Davit storms off, a portly guard approaches and closes the cell door. As he locks it, he and Ketevan share a knowing look.
We stay with Ketevan in the cell as she cradles her head in her hands. A woman on the verge of a breakdown. Her crying draws her son from the bed. He asks how she’s doing.
Ketevan does her maternal best to collect herself, not wanting to appear distraught in front of him. Ketevan takes her son’s hand in hers. As any child of an abusive parent might, he apologizes on behalf of his father. But Ketevan assures him that it’s going to be okay. A frightened Sandro speculates that maybe his father is right; maybe he needs to toughen up in order to become a Nagazi. That cruel reality leaves Ketevan speechless. She embraces her son tightly, holding on to him as if trying to protect him from all the evil looming over his life.
We return to Rake pulling up the driveway of his winter-ensconced cabin. His arm is still in a sling and his leg is still in a brace, but there’s a noticeable change in his bearing and disposition. He seems more alert and confident. Yet, before can fully embrace the positive mood, he finds a mysterious man waiting for him on the porch. As if he’s right at home, the man holds a cup of tea in his hand. It seems like no matter what Rake does to get better and move on from his past, he’s constantly finding himself being dragged back in.
The mystery man casually asks Rake if he’s Rake. Tyler is wary of the stranger, but the man not only knows who Rake is, but the larger-than-life extraction missions that he’s completed. The man refers to Rake as the myth of Mumbai, as the legend who got the journalist out of Congo, and the guy who took down the two gangs to save the mayor of Rio. Despite the outpouring of accolades, Rake isn’t buying the man’s praise and kindly tells him to fuck off.
The man persists, revealing that he and Rake have a mutual friend who’s specifically requested Rake for an extraction job. The man admits that he’s not convinced Rake can even pull off the job in his degraded physical condition. Not one to be put down by doubt, Rake proves he’s still got it by shooting at the teacup out of the man’s hand from twenty feet away. Rake tells the man to tell whoever it was who sent him that he’s not interested. The mystery man reveals that the mutual friend is none other than Rake’s ex-wife Mia. From here on, let’s call this man Alcott.
The two men take their conversation inside. Tyler’s place is veritable pigsty, minus the pig and plus a chicken and a dog. As Rake picks up his chicken from the kitchen counter, Alcott comments on Rake’s dog wearing a Valentino shirt. Alcott informs Rake that Mia’s sister called in the extraction request. Her husband is currently holding her and her kids captive in a Georgian prison... Rake knows the husband – Davit Radiani. Alcott presents Rake with a tablet that displays both Zurab and Davit. He says that the last time Rake likely saw Davit, he and his brother were likely slinging dime bags out of Georgia. But eight years later, the two diabolical brothers are now sitting atop a proper criminal empire. Alcott further explains that the brothers call themselves the Nagazi,
which means shepherd. The brothers were born into war, raised in it. Hardened by it. When they were kids, they fled the civil war in Georgia with only their lives and escaped to Armenia. Their uncle, Avtandil, took them in. To this day, he runs operations for them. But in Armenia, they faced a new kind of war. To survive the streets of Yerevan, they turned to a life of crime. They started running drugs in their teens and then graduated to murder for hire. They believe they were soldiers, chosen by God. By the time they returned to Georgia, they were folk heroes. They offered their recruits a very powerful thing... family. And so the brothers gained a cult-like loyalty. And with that, they basically built themselves a billion-dollar heroin and weapons operation. The brothers have got all the politicians in their pockets. They practically run the country. If it wasn’t for the Americans, Davit would be free.
Alcott explains that Davit is currently being held in the Tkachiri Prison. He further opines that the problem with getting into the prison doesn’t lie with Davit or the guards but rather the two warring gangs that are imprisoned there. He recommends that Rake complete the extraction as quietly and seamlessly as possible because once Davit finds out his family has been taken, Zurab will likely throw everything at Rake to stop him. The whole Nagazi army. He concludes that the job starts in six weeks; they’ll take their cut and, for political considerations, Rake will be on his own. Alcott pats Rake on the back and heads out with a smile.
As we leave Tyler contemplating the latest offer, we catch up with Nik in a luxurious apartment on the Amalfi coast. She’s speaking French with someone on the phone, letting the person know that they can get a shipment of weapons to Seoul by tomorrow night, and that her brother Yaz will fly there to deliver it personally. Yaz half-jokes that he has tickets to the soccer game the following day. Just then Nik gets a call from Tyler, informing her that his whole retirement thing isn’t going to work out because a job just came in. An incredulous Nik stoically jokes that he was clinically dead nine months ago. But Tyler presses forward, saying that the money should be in her account by now. Nik isn’t pleased with Tyler’s break in protocol, reminding him that she’s the one who arranges each job. Tyler retorts that it was Nik who told him to find a reason to fight his way back. As he says that, he looks at his son’s drawing.
We stay with Tyler as he literally hits the ground to finish off a round of push ups. He’s now motivated to do what it takes to restore his strength. All while nursing a diminished shoulder, he chops wood and pushes a sled weighed down with rocks. As his training montage continues, he removes his leg brace. He boxes and does pull ups on ropes hanging from the ceiling. He repeats this intense workout, his strength and resolve growing each round. This man, this myth, this legend is finally ready to get back to work.
At the end of six weeks, we find Tyler in the backseat of a sprinter van as it speeds toward the prison. Inside the prison, the portly guard checks his watch as he scurries down the stairwell. He marks the wall with invisible blacklight ink. Once inside the tunnel, he makes another marking on the wall.
We return to the van where we find Yaz driving as Nik rides shotgun. Yaz, ever the laid back mercenary, discusses his low blood sugar with Nik. Ever the big sister, Nik encourages Yaz to get off medical TikTok. They seamlessly slip into French as the banter continues.
As the vans near the prison, the portly guard makes small talk with another guard. Once that guard leaves, the portly guard shuts off the prison’s security cameras and casually leaves the command station. He eventually makes his way toward a side entrance where he opens the doors to let the merc vans drive in. As Nik, Tyler, and the rest of the mercs get into position, the guard makes his way to a breaker box. As soon as Tyler hands him a wad of cash, the guard powers down the prison, telling him that cell 207 will be unlocked for five minutes.
Immediately back in his risk-loving, high-stakes element, Tyler effortlessly maneuvers through the dark hallway, tracking the now-visible markings left by the portly guard. He makes his way up the stairs, slipping behind the door as a prison guard walks into the stairwell.
Meanwhile, Ketevan nervously awaits Tyler’s arrival, glancing over at her daughter who’s sleeping peacefully in bed. Tyler reaches the cell, spotting Davit sleeping in his bed. Ketevan wakes Sandro up, telling him to get dressed. A skeptical Sandro asks who Tyler is, but Ketevan keeps her response vague, just saying that he’s going to take them out of the prison. As Ketevan moves quickly to get Nina dressed, Sandro calls out for his father. Ketevan tells him to keep quiet, that his father is waiting for them outside of the prison. Tyler tells them to stay close. As they move along the corridor, Nina drops her beloved teddy bear and when it starts making noise, Tyler stomps the stuffed animal into silence. The slight commotion draws the attention of a monstrous-looking Nagazi in a nearby cell, prompting Tyler and everyone else to quickly get a move on. However, the Nagazi immediately whistles into the atrium of cells nearby. The coded melody lands like chum to a gang of hungry sharks. The Nagazi prisoners commence to slam the bars of their cells in unison, a deafening crescendo of imminent doom.
The guards call in a Code Red as Tyler assesses the increasingly dire situation. He maneuvers the family out of one corridor and into another, this prison a maze of maddening proportions. They reach the basement, finding a group of guards closing in
from one direction. They spin around and find more guards closing in from the other direction. It’s a nightmare scenario, but for Tyler, it’s his time to thrive. They rush back up the stairs and into the corridor of another floor. Tyler pushes the family forward, much to the offense of Sandro, who snaps back at Tyler for pushing him. But Tyler doesn’t have a second for Sandro’s petty behavior. He’s already taken out a retractable club and is effortlessly snapping off the escape door’s padlock. Of course, they enter a room full of lingering prisoners, who quickly encircle them.
Tyler screams at them to back off, but these fearsome ghouls answer to no one. The only thing standing between Tyler and the family is his assault rifle, which he keeps trained on the bloodthirsty monsters. One of the prisoners brazenly grabs at Tyler’s rifle. Tyler efficiently fights off each incoming prisoner, swatting, punching and eventually shooting one of them dead. As Tyler brandishes his pistol at the group of wrathful criminals, he slaps an timed explosive device on the door. And just as the goons charge forward, the device explodes, affording Tyler and the family a smoke-and-rubble-filled opportunity to escape through the door.
They rush through the laundry room, sewing shop, and into another corner. Tyler hits Yaz up on comms asking for a way out. Yaz responds that they’re working on it. Meanwhile, Tyler reaches a gated exit where bloodthirsty prisoners are murdering guards on the other side. Always strategizing, even in the most ill-boding moments, Tyler shoots through the lock of another door, furthering their descent through this hell maze.
Finally, Yaz comes in on comms, directing Tyler to head toward the coal chute. They book it through dark, soot-covered tunnels until they reach the coal chute. Yaz tells them that their exfil ETA is two minutes away. The clock is ticking as Tyler swings open the coal chute and helps Sandro up and out. Ketevan assures Nina everything is going to be okay as Tyler scoops her up and passes her to Sandro. Just as Tyler lifts Ketevan, Davit surprise-attacks them, bludgeoning Tyle repeatedly with a pipe. Charging from behind, Ketevan wraps her arm around Davit’s neck, but he’s quick to spin around and smack her in the face with the pipe, instantly dropping her to the ground.
As Tyler struggles to stand up, Davit bulldozes Tyler back to the ground. The two of them proceed to engage in a brutal hand-to-hand fight. As Davit reaches for Tyler’s rifle, Tyler rolls over Davit’s back and kicks the weapon away. But Davit grabs a piece of charcoal and swings the chunk square into Tyler’s forehead. Davit uses the opening to snatch up a shovel, which he swings at Tyler until it snaps in half against the furnace. Davit eventually pits Tyler against the wall, but it’s not enough to keep the indomitable
Tyler from maneuvering free and slamming Davit’s face into the scolding hot metal furnace.
As Davit reels from the volcanic swell of pain, Tyler grabs hold of the man’s hand and slices it in half, leaving his fingers dangling on either side. Davit is in a world of hurt when Tyler grabs hold of his combat knife and buries the blade into the screaming Nagazi’s neck. Adding insult to fatal injury, Ketevan whacks a shovel across her husband’s head, knocking him to the ground where blood bubbles up from his gaping neck wound. As she catches her breath, Ketevan stares at his dead body and then turns to Tyler, who tacitly shares in her relief. She’s finally free of her husband’s wrath, but there’s no time to celebrate just yet. They still need to make it out of the prison alive. Tyler grabs his rifle and the two make their way back to the coal chute, where Nik swings open the metal cover and tells them they have to leave now.
But before they can exit through the chute, a mob of prisoners races down the corridor, forcing Tyler and Ketevan to find another way out. Meanwhile, Nik pushes Sandro and Nina into the SUV as Yaz fires a rocket at a guard’s tower. Sandro calls out for his father as Nik slams the door shut and orders all teams to move to Charlie, code for their exfil location. Under fire, Nik’s procession of SUVs speeds toward the exit. A guard over the PA system orders a lockdown of all exits in response to the riot in the square.
Tyler and Ketevan rush into the prison yard just as the prisoners crash through the fencing and commence their murderous assault on the prison guards. Yaz confirms that they have no choice but to go through the prison yard in order to reach Charlie. This is practically an everyday occurrence for Rake, a hardened mercenary, but for Ketevan, her face is a knot of abject fear. Rake tells her to keep swinging her shovel as they dive head first into the violent prison yard brawl. Rake effortlessly cracks skulls as Ketevan sticks to his side, clutching her shovel but frozen with horror. But then it clicks. And as soon as a prisoner rushes Ketevan she heroically swipes the man across the face. Don’t mess with this mama bear.
In the aftermath of his encounter with a prisoner, Tyler pulls a shank from his side and tosses it to the ground. It’s then that Nagazi prisoners take notice of Ketevan in the yard. The savage men turn from their individual fights and begin to coalesce around our two heroes. Tyler, never showing an ounce of weakness, brazenly swings his assault rifle back and forth, clearing a way forward. Once they rush him, he doesn’t hesitate to pull the trigger, seamlessly dropping a row of men. Once out of bullets, he whips out his pistol, dropping a few more men. But they’re relentless, finally grabbing hold of Tyler as he wrestles them off one at a time. Ketevan leaps into action, slamming the shovel in their heads.
Tyler takes a hit with a metal pipe but it’s not remotely enough to subdue him. Meanwhile, Ketevan wrestles for control of a gun with a prisoner. Tyler quickly knocks out one guy and as he rushes to Ketevan’s aid, he pulls out his combat knife and slices through the arm of the man grabbing at Ketevan. In a violently skillful knife fight that echoes Tyler’s knife fight with Saju in Extraction 1, Tyler slices through several men in rapid succession. He’s making progress until a giant brute charges through and literally knocks Tyler off his feet. The colossal Nagazi barrel-punches into Tyler. Ketevan attempts to pull the man off, but he effortlessly pushes her to the ground. Yet her assist gives Tyler enough of an opening to grab his combat knife and bury the blade repeatedly into the man’s torso.
The Nagazi onslaught continues. But just like a game of whac-a-mole, Tyler cracks a metal pipe over each of their heads. He then grabs Ketevan and seizes on the narrowest of openings. But the chance to escape closes as fast as it opened. Tyler and Ketevan are knocked to the ground by a phalanx of prison guards marching forward. Protecting Ketevan with his body, Tyler grabs a grenade and commands her to pull the pin. She obliges and he throws it. The explosion upends the prison guards, affording them the chance to stand up. But as soon as they’re on their feet, a Nagazi goon grabs Ketevan away from Tyler. And before he can react, another Nagazi cracks Tyler over the head with a brick!
As the world fades out and the ringing overpowers his ears, Tyler collapses to the ground. But he’s quick to rise despite the bleeding head wound. Head still ringing, he pushes prisoners away as he struggles to regain his steadiness. Two prison guards sandwich him between their shields, but Tyler still manages to grab hold of a shield and knock them both out. It’s then that he spots a Nagazi throwing Ketevan over his shoulder. He charges toward her, whacking prisoner after prisoner with the shield. Then, out of the corner of his eye, Tyler spots an incoming Molotov cocktail. He angles the shield upward and the cocktail smashes into it, causing it and Tyler’s arm to erupt into flames. With his adrenaline spiking and his arm on fire, Tyler launches fiery punch after fiery punch into any prisoner bold, or stupid, enough to take him on. He eventually finds Ketevan, who’s doing her best to fight back against a Nagazi dragging her away. Tyler picks up a dumbbell and hammers it into the man’s face. As the man chokes on his own blood, Tyler helps Ketevan up and the two of them make their way to the exit. Nik returns to comms as she blows open the door, providing cover fire as Yaz hands Tyler a loaded gun.
As they reach the alley beside the prison, they come under fire from the police. One of the mercs provides cover fire as they all enter the SUVs. Tyler hops into the driver’s seat and as he accelerates the SUV he fires a grenade launcher from the driver’s side window, blasting his way through the prison gates. Tyler checks in with Sandro and Nina, who are in the backseat. Sandro again asks about his father’s whereabouts but there’s no time for discussion. As Tyler grabs an assault rifle from the backseat, he tells them to put on bulletproof vests. Just then a group of Nagazi sedans block the road ahead. They open fire on Tyler as he banks the SUV left.
The sedans speed up in pursuit. Over comms, Tyler tells Nik to take them out. Yaz fires on them from the passenger seat, taking out one of the cars. The other two cars bypass Nik’s SUV and crash into Tyler’s. However, he slams into one of them, which ultimately leads both sedans to crash into a nearby construction site.
The merc’s SUVs speed down the ragged country road until they encounter a barrage of heavy fire from yet another contingent of Nagazi soldiers. Tyler banks the SUV right, speeding through the forest as Nagazi motorcyclists now converge in pursuit. Using the grenade launcher, Tyler blasts a Nagazi soldier from a motorcycle. The other motorcyclists remain glued to the merc’s SUVs. One soldier tosses a grenade into a merc SUV, blowing it up. Back in Tyler’s car, Ketevan says they must know about Davit. The vague statement catches Sandro’s attention. But there’s no time for follow up questions as the race through the woods continues. Tyler topples a tree with a grenade blast. The pursuing motorcyclist crashes into the felled trunk as his motorcycle explodes on impact.
Speeding into view, a UTV packed with Nagazi soldiers fires on Tyler’s SUV. A panicked Sandro questions why their uncle is firing on them. Meanwhile, the two remaining motorcyclists close in on Nik’s SUV. As one is about to toss a grenade, Tyler plows his SUV into them both. Tyler and Nik resume their formation as they fast approach their next exfil location in a nearby industrial zone. One of the soldiers in the UTV fires a rocket at Tyler’s SUV, but the car withstands the blast. Sandro wonders whether or not they know he and his sister are inside the car. Just as Tyler connects with Bravo team on comms, a rocket strikes the driver’s side of the SUV, blasting it off its wheels. In response, Nik whips her car around as Yaz provides cover fire. But they soon run from the SUV as a rocket blows it off its wheels.
As Tyler carries an injured Nina, the team books it through the industrial labyrinth until they reach a cargo train. Tyler quickly sits Nina down and asks Yaz to get him a med kit. The merc team operates as a seamless whole as Yaz slides over the med kit and Tyler grabs the bandages. As Tyler wraps her arm, he tells Nik that the girl has an open fracture and will need a doctor. As if matters couldn’t get any more dire, one of the mercs comes in on comms, informing them that gunships are en route.
Nik rushes toward the engine car as Tyler heads outside. In a proper David versus Goliath moment, the helicopter fires on the train as Tyler fires on the copter. As the copter evades fire, Tyler steps inside one of the cargo containers where a cache of weapons is located. He flips back a container to reveal a massive belt-fed machine gun that’s practically the size of Tyler himself. He straps it on and kicks open the container doors where the copter greets him with a fresh round of fire. But Tyler responds in kind as he unleashes the machine gun on the helicopter, landing direct fire on the vehicle’s windshield. The helicopter crashes and explodes into the ground just as another helicopter sweeps into view.
Tyler returns to the cargo container where he pulls back its retractable top. He climbs up and fires directly on the helicopter, which launches a rocket at Tyler that sends him toppling to the ground. The helicopter proceeds to execute a near-impossible landing on the roof of the fast-moving train, allowing a team of Nagazi soldiers to disembark. They quickly move to stop the train, taking out one of the mercs as they head toward the engine car.
As soon as the two Nagazi soldiers enter the engine car, the ever-fearless Nik ambushes them. She fires her gun into one of the soldiers as she begins to take them both on. She’s ruthless and relentless, combining hand-to-hand combat with superb knife-fighting skills. She punches, kicks and stabs her way through them. But the Nagazi soldiers don’t back down. One of them manages to stab her just shy of her left shoulder, but Nik battles back. At one point they get the upper hand, but Nik manages to reach for the small pistol holstered at her ankle. As soon as she grabs it, she fires into one of the soldiers who falls limply from the train.
Meanwhile, another Nagazi soldier scaling the side of a cargo car plants a timed explosive that blows the car open. As the Nagazi enters the car, two other soldiers converge as well. The trio makes their way down as a terrified Ketevan cradles Nina just behind a partition. However, Yaz awaits their arrival just across the door opening. Just as the soldiers are about to cross the threshold, Tyler bursts into the car from the other end, firing on them all. He immediately engages all three of them, executing a combination of hand-to-hand combat and firing his assault rifle. He dispenses with two of them but the third pins Tyler down so that his head hangs from the car. Just as his head is about to smash into a fast approaching brick tunnel, Tyler lands a few critical punches into the soldier’s gut and manages to kick him off just as the train barrels into the tunnel.
Tyler takes on the two remaining soldiers, eventually shooting one in the back of the head. The man’s lifeless body topples to the ground as a horrified Ketevan and Nina look on. A frightened Sandro scurries backward just as Yaz slices the throat of another soldier, whose body crashes beside Sandro. More death and more blood. One can only imagine the trauma from this day these two children will carry for the rest of their lives. Yet for one brief moment, Sandro considers grabbing the gun from a fallen soldier. It’s clear that Sandro might not be entirely on board with this extraction. But before Sandro can decide, Tyler lifts him off the floor.
Tyler contacts Nik over comms but it’s radio silence. He rushes out of the car and toward the engine, clearly fearing the worst. But his worst nightmare passes when he swings open the door and finds Nik. She’s critically injured and losing blood fast but what’s a slight stab wound for an indomitable mercenary like Nik. As soon Tyler helps her up, they’re compelled to hit the ground as the helicopter fires on them from the front of the train. Nik covers Tyler as he runs to the roof of the engine car and grabs the massive machine gun, which he unleashes on the Nagazi gunner. He takes out the gunner and the copter, which descends into a fiery explosion. It’s then that Tyler notices the train is reaching the end of the line!
He tells Nik to stop the train, but she can’t. The brakes are out. Over comms, Tyler tells Yaz to secure the family. He and Nik book it back toward the family where they rush to strap everyone in. As he barks orders, the train derails, launching Tyler twenty feet backward. The car hits the ground and rolls, tossing Tyler like a ragdoll. As the train crumbles into pieces and catches fire, we cut to black, wondering if our team has survived the crash.
Back in Georgia, a black luxury sedan speeds down a narrow country road flanked by endless expanses of green fields. Inside we find Zurab and Avtandil, looking worse for wear, as they grieve the death of Davit. As Zurab’s jaw tenses, he reflects on his youth with his beloved brother. He recalls their time together in church, and then running frantically through the woods with their parents, escaping Georgia under threat of death. It’s clear just how much pain, death, and uncertainty these two brothers have been through.
Later, Zurab’s sedan pulls up in a hangar at a private airport located just shy of a sprawling mountain range. He walks in to find a gathering of his elite Nagazi soldiers. Konstantine, an ominous figure with a mohawk and Nagazi face tattoos, solemnly embraces Zurab, offering his condolences. Ivayne offers insight into the extraction operation, stating that it was deeply resourced and led by an A-plus operative. He further concludes that there are maybe four or five guys who could’ve pulled off an operation like this. Zurab asks if it was the Chechens, but Avtandil says it’s not their style; they don’t organize like that. He goes on to say that whoever it was wanted revenge and that Davit had no shortage of people seeking vengeance. A forlorn Zurab declares that this wasn’t a mission driven by revenge, it was something else.
As those ominous words hang in the air, we return to the flaming pile of metal that was formerly the cargo train. Ever the fearless and resilient mercenaries, Tyler and Nik emerge from the damaged train car, guns up and eyes scanning their surroundings. The coast is clear. Ketevan hands Nina to Tyler as Yaz helps Sandro out. They reach the canal where they link up with the rest of the merc team. But Sandro abruptly stops, demanding to know where his father is. Ketevan insists that there’s no time for this question as his sister is in urgent need of help. Sandro puts his foot down. He needs to know where his father is. Ketevan finally relents, revealing that his father isn’t coming. A crestfallen Sandro asks if he’s dead, leaving Ketevan in a state of tortured silence. Sandro turns to Tyler, asking him if he’s the one responsible for killing his father. Tyler remains silent and stoic. The pain of this truth sends Sandro crying into his mother’s embrace, but he pushes her away and charges Tyler. The merc pushes the distraught boy away, telling him that it was either Davit or Ketevan because Davit was dead set on killing her. Despite Tyler’s appeal to the boy’s sense of right and wrong, Sandro can’t believe what he just heard. He pushes Ketevan away as she attempts to console him further. Tyler watches the boy storm off as he’s once again left to process the ruthless moral ambiguity of his chosen profession.
In the morgue, Zurab stands over his brother’s lifeless body laid out on an exam table. The grief hits him hard as he doubles over and cries, his mind flashing back to memories of their youth. A joyful moment of playing soccer together is interrupted as teenage boys confront them. As some older boys hold back Zurab, the others beat up Davit. Later, the boys return home looking worse for wear. Zurab tries to say he stood up for his brother, but their father accuses Zurab of not protecting him. As their father smacks Zurab across the face, he declares that Zurab has to fight for his brother until his last drop of blood. As their father raises his hand to strike Zurab, it’s here that we learn just when and how Zurab acquired the need for hearing aids. From this haunting flashback, we return to Zurab who starts hysterically laughing as he slams his fist into Davit’s cold, dead body. It’s clear as day what Zurab has to do now.
Meanwhile, the merc team soars across the sky in their private jet. As Sandro listens in, Yaz, in German, coordinates their imminent arrival in Donau-City Strasse. Sandro tracks the satellite phone as Yaz hangs up and places it beside his laptop. Yaz asks Sandro if he’s all right. Sandro, clearly hatching some kind of scheme, says that he’s hungry. Yaz, ever the gracious mercenary, gets up to see what they have in stock. Seizing the moment, Sandro grabs the satellite phone.
Elsewhere on the plane, Ketevan helps Nina drink water, but Nik is quick to caution her, saying that she could aspirate. Ketevan snaps back, telling Nik that she knows how to take care of her daughter. Interjecting in Georgian, Tyler tells Ketevan to calm down, that Nik is only just trying to help. Ketevan isn’t having it, but Tyler doesn’t allow himself to be dragged into a fight. He states matter-of-factly that a doctor will be on-site when they land; in the meantime, she should rest. Naturally, Nik is surprised to learn that Tyler can speak Georgian. Tyler glibly responds that he’s always spoken Georgian. And it’s then that Ketevan reveals an earth-shattering truth. Tyler had been married to her sister. Nik and Yaz are floored at this revelation. In an effort to table the discussion for the time being, Tyler moves to comfort Nina, kneeling beside her and calling her a brave girl. Nina smiles, which cements a warm moment in an otherwise distressing situation.
In the airplane bathroom, Sandro stares at the satellite phone, struggling with a massive decision – make the call or don’t make the call. Back in the cabin, as Nik stitches up the stab wound to her left shoulder, Ketevan and Tyler finally have a moment to catch up. Ketevan claims that she should have stayed behind, thinking that her children would be safer if she were dead. Tyler disagrees, insisting that she and her children are almost free. He promises he’s going to get them somewhere safe. Off of this hopeful moment, we return to the bathroom, where Sandro grabs the phone and makes a call. To his Uncle Zurab.
Zurab asks Sandro where he is, but first Sandro wants to know if his father planned to kill his mother. Zurab demands that Sandro not listen to anything his mother says, further revealing that she was behind the extraction and that she had his father killed. Zurab leans into the lie, stating that for years, his mother wanted to take him away from his father. And on top of that, Sandro is now with the man who killed him. Zurab once again asks where they are before telling Sandro that he’s a Nagazi and that he should be his father’s son. Zurab repeats the question, where are you heading? As that hangs in the air, Sandro stares at himself in the mirror, clearly at pains to decide.
Back in the cabin, Ketevan asks Tyler if he remembers when they first met in Brussels. Mia had been working for Parliament. Tyler nods, he remembers. She had Sandro with her. As she recalls this memory, Ketevan allows herself a moment to smile, saying that at 19 years old she was just a baby. Tyler struggles with a response, stating that he knows what Mia must think of him and that there’s nothing he can do to fix that. But Ketevan is quick to cut him off, saying that watching a child die is the most difficult thing a parent can endure. The words kick Tyler into a fraught memory of Mia and his son. The pain is overwhelming. He leans back in his chair and stares longingly out the window.
Later, their procession of SUVs arrives at a modern glass and steel skyscraper in the Donau-City Strasse section of Vienna, Austria. The merc team and the family link up with the rest of the merc team in one of the tower’s luxury apartments, collectively breathing a sigh of relief as a doctor now attends to Nina. In the meantime, Yaz and a tech ops team member hustle to produce passports and travel documents for the family to get out of Vienna in the next six hours.
As all of this activity buzzes about the apartment, Nik finds a sorrowful Tyler staring out of the window. With nothing but sympathy across her face, she wants to know why he didn’t tell her about his relation to Ketevan. Tyler apologizes, but Nik cuts him off, defiantly stating that she doesn’t need his apology, she needs his trust. She said she wouldn’t have said no if the extraction mission was this important to him. Tyler, never one to speak more than necessary, says that it is.
Nik eventually brings a plate of pastries into Ketevan’s room. She takes a seat next to Nina on the bed and gently loves the hair from the young girl’s face. As much as Nik is a fearsome warrior, she’s also a deeply caring and compassionate person, never forgetting that behind every human is a world of life experiences and complex emotions. She expresses that she can’t imagine what it must’ve been like to raise good kids surrounded by the sadistic men of that prison. In an effort to bolster Ketevan’s spirit, Nik goes on to say that Ketevan survived, kept her kids from harm, and found a way with nothing all while being alone. In a rare moment of opening up, she conveys that she knows what that’s like; in fact, she’s been there. She concludes by saying that everyone deserves a second chance.
Sandro catches up with Tyler as he packs up a case. He presses the mercenary by challenging him to respond as to whether or not Tyler thinks what he did was good. He presses further, asking Tyler if he thinks he saved Sandro or if he’s some kind of hero. Tyler is struck by the questioning, but rather than open up, replies brusquely that it doesn’t matter what he thinks because people pay him to do things that they can’t. Like killing his father, Sandro snaps back. The response stings, but Tyler is quick to interject that what Sandro’s mother did was risk everything to protect him and his sister. To save them from the prison that their father put them in. But Sandro, loyal to his father as any son would be, argues that his father didn’t want to keep them in the prison but that their enemies would have killed them on the outside. Tyler grows frustrated by the boy’s distorted version of reality. It’s his turn to make declarative statements, impressing upon Sandro that his father brought them there to control them. Sandro fights back, replying that his father didn’t trust his mother. Now Tyler’s pissed, telling Sandro to wake up! Davit was afraid Ketevan would take the kids and give them a life outside of the Nagazi rather than stay trapped with him. Sandro defiantly declares that a good son is supposed to stay with his father. Tyler asserts that a good father wouldn’t make him. Backed into an emotional corner, Sandro cuts through the act, stating that at least his father didn’t leave them. That guts Tyler. He steps to Sandro and stares down the teenager, remaining on the precipice of silence before walking off.
Later, we find Zurab addressing his Nagazi soldiers, telling them that this is the most important thing he’ll ever ask them to do. Without mincing words, he speaks of the filth that came to their home and murdered their family. By God’s law, Tyler must die by their hands. Zurab concludes with a declaration that they are his brothers and that his life is theirs. An older Nagazi soldier states that he will follow Zurab until the end. One by one each Nagazi soldier asserts that their life is Zurab’s. As Zurab checks his gun, Avtandil approaches, lighting a cigarette, before saying that Zurab is throwing their lives away; that the path doesn’t end well. Zurab’s initial moment of glaring says it all. He then quotes, “You fight for your brother till your last drop of blood.” He continues that he hasn’t forgotten his father’s lesson, but has Avtandil? Avtandil shakes his head as he reflects on the needless bloodshed that lies ahead.
Back in Vienna, Tyler finds Sandro alone on the terrace. He moves beside him, immediately recounting the time that his son had played with Sandro on the beach years back. If his son were alive today, he’d be nearly as old as Sandro is now. The angry teenager continues to stare out over the city. Tyler takes in the boy’s angry silence, but presses forward, adding that the last time he had seen his son he had been drawing while in a hospital bed. The anguished merc recalls how much his son loved to draw. And then how Tyler went to say goodbye before he shipped out to Afghanistan even though he knew there was a chance his son might not be alive when he came back. At the sound of those pain-soaked words, Sandro finally turns his head toward Tyler, who finally admits then that Sandro was right. He had shown up at the hospital and saw his son there drawing, but rather than enter the room, he left. The last thing his son remembered of Tyler was his father walking out on him. But unlike Tyler, Sandro’s mom stayed. She stayed with his father to keep her son safe. Even after all the things Davit did to her, the things that Sandro saw and didn’t see. But she stayed to keep Sandro and his sister safe. Tyler tells the teenager that life is going to get harder from here on out and that his mom is going to need him to step up. Either he can be there for her like she was for him or let his father’s lies consume him. It’s on Sandro to decide. Sandro is moved to speak, replying that his father wasn’t always like that. He then apologizes. Tyler says it’s okay, but Sandro finally admits that Zurab is coming for them. Just then Tyler hears the whir of helicopter blades getting closer. From the skyscraper’s balcony, he looks out over the city, spotting the approaching Nagazi copter.
Calculating the immediate change in circumstances, Tyler turns back into the apartment, shouting that the attack team is closing in from the north side! Nik hustles to get the other mercs prepared as Tyler tells Ketevan that Zurab has found them, they have to get out of there.
As the team moves toward the elevator, Tyler tells them they’ll take the elevator down and calmly exit from the building’s front door. He looks down from the window, tracking an SUV coming to a stop in the building’s front driveway. A car full of Nagazi soldiers, armed to the teeth, exit the vehicle and start moving into their positions. He tells Nik that he’ll get to the garage and use the armored cars to punch through.
Meanwhile, Avtandil pulls his SUV up to the building’s entrance, asking Zurab if they should go up or down. Zurab says they’ll have more options if they stay down. Avtandil asks about the children. From Zurab’s cold silence we cut to Sandro looking at a text message on his phone. It’s from Zurab, telling Sandro to meet him in the back alley. Before Sandro can respond, Ketevan grabs the phone from her son, discovering then that he is the one who revealed their location to Zurab. Ketevan can’t believe what he did, struggling to articulate that Zurab will now kill them all! A terrified Sando, barely able to get the words out, says that the Nagazi are his family. Ketevan is stunned to hear that, insisting that she is his family! Nina is his family!
As Ketevan’s gut-wrenching plea hangs in the air, the air assault commences. The Nagazi helicopter pulls up to the side of the apartment, where a Nagazi soldier unleashes the fury of a massive machine gun. The bullets tear through the apartment, sending everyone for cover. Tyler grabs a grenade launcher, but the copter pulls away before he can fire. He checks the security footage, noting that another chopper is on the roof; they’re pinching them in.
As the team heads down the elevator, the Nagazi soldiers swarm the building from top to bottom. The merc team and family reach the garage, separating into the SUVs. Just as Tyler gets into the driver’s seat, Sandro books it out of the SUV. Nik screams his disapproval, but Yaz chases after him.
An Austrian police car speeds toward the building but immediately takes fire from the Nagazi. Pedestrians scramble for safety. More Austrian police cars race up from the garage, but AKA sprays them with bullets, easily dispensing with them. It’s total mayhem. Nik and Tyler speed through the garage, but a Nagazi SUV cuts Tyler off before he can make the turn. Nagazi soldiers fire on the SUV, but bulletproof glass absorbs the shock of the bullets. A Nagazi soldier jumps a barricade and plants an explosive on the SUV. As Tyler backs the car out of the narrow lane, the explosive detonates, blowing up a portion of the vehicle.
Elsewhere in the garage, we catch up with Yaz still running after Sandro. The teenager rounds a turn into the open when Zurab’s SUV screeches to a halt. Zurab fires on Yaz, who’s forced to seek cover. Yaz calls out to Sandro, doing his best to convince the teenager to return to him. But Zurab makes his own case to the frightened teenager. Sandro remains frozen in the middle, distraught and conflicted. Nik speeds out of the garage, compelling Sandro to finally book it toward Zurab. At the same time, a Nagazi soldier fires a rocket at Nik’s SUV, sending the car flying into the air amidst a massive explosion. Zurab embraces his nephew as Yaz sprints toward Nik, helping her out of the wreckage. Sandro tells Zurab that this wasn’t Ketevan’s fault, she just wanted to get them out of there.
Zurab and the other Nagazi soldiers engage Nik and Yaz in a gunfight across the outer area of the parking garage. Yaz rolls a grenade beneath a car, neutralizing one of the Nagazi soldiers. Yaz tosses another grenade. The explosion affords them the cover to escape back inside the garage and into the stairwell.
We return to Tyler, whose SUV is now cornered with two Nagazi soldiers closing in. As the soldiers near the SUV, Tyler ambushes them, firing his assault rifle as he sprints forward. He shoots one Nagazi soldier dead as shifts his fire toward Konstantine, blasting at the soldier through a car. Konstantine, a highly-skilled and agile soldier, fights back but is no match for Tyler, who knocks him out with the assault rifle. Yet another Nagazi soldier attacks, drop kicking Tyler in the chest and wielding a small combat ax. He and Tyler get into a hand-to-hand fight with Tyler eventually getting the soldier into a hold from behind. Tyler deftly removes a pin from a grenade before tossing the Nagazi soldier over a car. Tyler starts to walk away as the grenade detonates into a blood-filled explosion.
Meanwhile, Yaz and Nik book it up the stairwell, telling the other mercs over comms that they’re heading streetside and need an evac. At the same time, Tyler returns to the SUV and starts driving them out of the garage.
Austrian SWAT SUVs speed toward the building but the Nagazi soldiers stationed on the building’s upper terrace fire rockets at the vehicles that explode on impact. Nik and Yaz emerge streetside but immediately come under heavy fire from a Nagazi soldier. Tyler accelerates the SUV up the ramp and toward Nik’s position. Under orders from Zurab, the terrace-based Nagazi fire rockets at his SUV, trying to pin him in. One rocket eventually sends a car exploding into Tyler’s SUV, forcing it to a stop. Tyler leaps out of the SUV and starts to fire on nearby Nagazi.
At the same time, an Austrian police helicopter arrives on the scene. The helicopter dodges a rocket and positions itself so that a sniper from inside the copter is able to take out the two rocket-launching Nagazi soldiers. Tyler takes out another Nagazi. Zurab now grabs hold of a rocket launcher and fires a direct hit at the tail of the police chopper, sending the flaming copter spiraling into the ground. As the helicopter explodes just shy of Tyler’s position, he orders Nik to get to the roof to take their wings.
Tyler picks up Ketevan and Nina and the three of them run into the building. They enter the elevator just as Zurab and his men reach the lobby. Over comms, Tyler tells Nik to secure their chopper while he sweeps the floor below. Ever the humorist, Tyler jokes with Yaz that they’ll get out of the building and then once they’re safe, they’ll finally get matching shirts. Yaz responds that Tyler will have to wear it this time. Tyler says not a chance.
Zurab commands the rooftop Nagazis to get into positions as he and the other Nagazi mobilize from below.
Nik stops the elevator as it ascends so that she and Yaz can exit through the elevator’s roof hatch. In the other elevator, Tyler, in Georgian, does his best to comfort a frightened Nina. Ketevan apologizes to Tyler for dragging him into this. Tyler assures her that there’s nothing to be sorry about. He’s going to get them out of this and get them back to her sister.
We catch up with Sandro, who meekly asks Avtandil if Zurab is going to kill his mother. Avtandil matter-of-factly replies that if he wanted his mother to live he never should have called Zurab. Sandro trembles against the weight of this horrific revelation.
Nik and Yaz blow their way onto the roof, taking out a couple of Nagazi as they move into position. Elsewhere, two Nagazi soldiers reach the elevator bank, tracking the elevator as it ticks upward. One soldier readies his weapon as the elevator doors open. But all he finds is a dangling grenade. As the doors open, they pull the pin from the grenade. The explosion blasts the Nagazi off his feet. And then right on cue, Tyler kicks open a nearby door, ambushing the remaining Nagazi. He and the family weave their way through the gym locker room, but as they round the corner they come up under fire. Over comms, Tyler calls Yaz for assistance. Back on the roof, Nik tells her brother that she’s got this. Yaz books it down.
Tyler moves into the gym, firing on Nagazi after Nagazi. As Yaz races down the stairwell he encounters AKA, who grabs onto him and throws them both down the stairs. On the roof, Nik charges at one Nagazi as she fires on another. We cut back and forth between Tyler, Nik, and Yaz as each merc is engaged in a life-and-death battle with these ruthless Nagazi soldiers. Back in the stairwell, Yaz takes a direct chest hit, but he still manages to shoot AKA directly in the head. And back on the roof, a Nagazi soldier charges at Nik, sending the two of them flying over the edge and onto the awning over the gym below. As Tyler smashes a Nagazi’s head against the wall, he notices that an unconscious Nik is starting to slide down the awning.
In an absolutely death-defying move, Tyler shoots his way through the gym window and leaps onto the awning, simultaneously reaching for Nik as he fires through the glass awning so that he can grab hold of its steep frame. As he and an unconscious Nik dangle 75 stories above the ground, Zurab slowly steps out onto the awning. When he reaches Tyler, he simply says that he’s going to enjoy killing him. Never one to back down, Tyler tells Zurab to get in line. The sadistic Nagazi fires a bullet into the hand Tyler is using to grip the frame. Tyler does everything in his power to maintain his grip on Nik, but she’s slipping from his grasp. Zurab says that Tyler must really care for Nik, which means he must know how it feels to lose someone he loves. Just as Zurab raises his gun, Nik shoots the glass out from under Zurab, who now finds himself in the same dangling position. Nik attempts to issue a finishing shot into Zurab but her gun is out of bullets. Tyler asks Nik if she trusts him, but before she can respond he swings Nik back and thrusts her into the gym through a blown out window.
As Tyler and Zurab pull themselves up, we catch up with Ketevan and Nina, who are being hunted by Vakhtang. The giant Nagazi corners them and is about to swing his ax into Ketevan when Nik buries a few founds into his massive torso. But the hulking soldier resists death, spinning around toward Nik, who delivers a precise death blow to his head. Just then a wounded Yaz rounds the corner, calling on them to leave.
We return to the awning where we now find Tyler and Zurab engaging in a fight for their lives. Punches are thrown and shots fired. Eventually, Tyler gets the upper hand as Zurab drops through the glass awning and crashes into the gym floor below, momentarily losing consciousness. But as Tyler moves toward the roof to meet up with Nik, Zurab’s eyes pop open. The soldier lives to fight another day.
As Nik, Ketevan, and Nina run toward the helicopter, Yaz drops a smoke bomb. And just as Yaz steps forward he takes several rounds of fire to the back from Zurab. Yaz drops to the ground, finding cover behind an HVAC unit. Tyler catches up with Yaz and helps him onto the copter. Nik gets them airborne as they come under fire from Zurab.
Inside the helicopter, Tyler races to bandage Yaz’s gunshot wounds. But Yaz can’t breathe and he’s losing a lot of blood. Tyler and Nik watch in horror as their beloved friend and brother succumbs to his wounds. The tragic consequences of this extraction have finally caught up with them and it’s unbearable.
Back at the skyscraper, Zurab furtively exits into Avtandil’s SUV. Sandro, never one for timing, asks his uncle what happened. Ignoring the whiny teen, Zurab removes his hearing aids as his father’s abusive voice rings through his head.
Later, we catch up with Tyler and the team at his remote Austrian cabin. Tyler dabs gauze on a bleeding wound in his left hand. As he winces in pain, he glances over at the TV where a news anchor reports on the violent conflict that took place hours earlier. In the bedroom, Ketevan consoles Nina. And elsewhere in the house, a grieving Nik washes the blood away from the hands of her deceased brother. While the extraction mission was successful, it came at an unimaginable cost to the team. Yaz was a brother, a friend, and a protector. The pain of his loss is bottomless. Nik and Yaz have been a team their entire lives and this moment marks an end to that. Tyler takes a seat beside Nik on the bed and leans his head on Nik’s shoulder, a wordless act of consolation.
Later, Tyler stands before a fire pit outside, staring into the flames as the day’s events consume his inner thoughts. A car pulls up the long, snow-covered driveway. A woman steps out. It’s Mia, Tyler’s ex-wife and Ketevan’s sister. It’s the first time she and Tyler have seen each other in years. The weight of this reunion is broken by Ketevan, who runs from the house and embraces her sister. Tyler watches as the two sisters hold each other tight, a bond of love that he long ago lost with Mia. He turns away as the painful memories resurface. As the two sisters walk into the house, Tyler remains a man without a home, a man without a family.
Meanwhile, we come in on a small airport in rural Austria where we find a defeated, solemn Zurab stabbing his fork into a plate full of rice. Avtandil approaches his nephew, informing him that the whole country is looking for them. Zurab, never one to back down from a fight, especially one of this magnitude, tells Avtandil to get on the plane if he wants to go. Avtandil takes a seat, telling Zurab that they lost ten Nagazi soldiers in today’s attack. Good soldiers. Zurab isn’t deterred by the loss, instead replying that they will be fine. Avtandil’s expression says otherwise. He attempts to encourage Zurab to be an example to Sandro, insisting that he won’t be good for the teenager if Zurab ends up dead or rotting in an Austrian prison. But Zurab calmly replies with a question – how could he be good for Sandro if he runs away? Avtandil suggests they ask God as he reaches across the table and picks up a Bible, turning to a particular verse – “Fear not, for I’m with you.” And then to another one – “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted.” Avtandil recounts that he once thought God took Zurab’s hearing so that God could whisper right into his ear but now Zurab only knows rage. Zurab remains hardened, asking Avtandil if he knows what his father used to refer to him as. The cricket from Pinocchio, always chirping and chirping. Avtandil simply asks Zurab where his father is now. And then where Zurab’s brother is. Zurab responds to Avtandil with a bullet. A bullet that strikes his uncle through his chest. Blood pours from the man’s body, coursing its way over the leather bound Bible that the man still holds in his hand. Avtandil faces Zurab one last time, stating that he always knew a bullet was waiting for him, but never expected it would be from Zurab’s gun. The Bible falls from his hand as he slips into his eternal slumber. Zurab turns to face Sandro, who struggles to hold back tears, perhaps finally acknowledging that his uncle is as savage and merciless as everyone has been saying all along.
Snow drifts over the cabin as we return to Ketevan, Mia and Nina in their bedroom. Mia comments that Nina has grown so big. Ketevan tells her daughter that Mia will be taking them somewhere safe. Nina, ever the innocent, loving sister, asks if Sandro will be coming. Mia shares a sorrowful look with Ketevan as she brings her sister in for a hug.
In the kitchen, Tyler pours a cup of coffee. Mia emerges from the bedroom, a pillar of silence. Tyler says that he’s made her a cup of coffee, milk and two sugars. Mia admits that if she had anyone else to ask to extract her sister, she would have. Unable to face her, Tyler replies that he understands. And then in a moment years in the making, Tyler musters up enough courage to finally look Mia in the eyes and apologize for not being there when she and their son needed him the most. Mia says Tyler is right, she doesn’t want to hear his apology. Tyler turns away in shame. Mia then asks Tyler why he didn’t stay. She asks again. Tyler barely articulates a response that he was needed in Kandahar. But Mia presses forward, saying that they needed him. She asks again why he didn’t stay. Tyler continues to mumble his way through a half-hearted response about deployment and orders... Mia calls it bullshit. Asks him again why he didn’t say. And then Tyler finally faces the searing truth of his betrayal. He confesses that he couldn’t fix it. Mia nods. The revelation doesn’t make the reality any less painful, but at least she’s finally heard Tyler admit the real reason why he left his family. Before anything further can be said, Tyler’s phone buzzes.
Tyler answers the call as he steps outside. Zurab tells Tyler that he’s standing at the airport, looking at his plane but he can’t get on it. Tyler wants to know why. Zurab replies that he could never live his life knowing that Tyler was still around. Tyler asks where Sandro is. Zurab says Sandro wants nothing to do with Tyler, who insists that the teenager is confused. Tyler tells the Nagazi to tell him where they are so they can finish what they started. Zurab accepts the challenge, revealing that they’re at the airfield by St. George’s Church. Tyler decisively states that he’s not coming to negotiate.
In a gearing-up sequence that befits Tyler’s unquestionable mercenary awesomeness, he dons his armor and assembles an array of weapons, big and small. Tyler throws his duffel bag in the truck and gets in. Nik rushes to the passenger window, telling Tyler not to go through with this. Nik tries to open the door, but a defiant Tyler keeps it locked. He speeds off as Nik’s pleas land on deaf ears.
Back at the church, Zurab activates an explosive vest as he turns to face Zurab. Konstantine continues to stand guard.
Tyler parks the truck just outside of the church and approaches it through the cover of a nearby field. He uses a high-powered telescope to assess the area, discovering the Nagazi soldier Sergo posted on the church’s roof. He fires a grenade on the soldier. The ensuing explosion catches Zurab’s attention. Tyler quickly moves in on the airfield, firing off several grenades that blow up Zurab’s plane. He then proceeds to blow up their remaining SUVs. Tyler advances further, firing off a couple of smoke grenades into the church.
Zurab, Sandro, and Konstantine rush out of the church. As Zurab and Sandro run off, Tyler intercepts Konstantine. The Nagazi soldier makes a valiant effort at fighting off Tyler, but the merc buries a round of bullets into the man’s chest, finishing the Nagazi soldier off once and for all.
Tyler eventually enters the church with his gun raised and blood dripping from a gaping wound in his arm. He finds Zurab calmly seated on a church pew while Sandro stands with a bomb strapped to his body. Tyler declares that this fight is between him and Zurab, and that he should let the boy go. Zurab insists that Sandro remain before saying that God gave him a mission to rain vengeance upon Tyler’s head. That sometimes there’s a great sacrifice in enacting God’s will. Zurab challenges Tyler to shoot him, which would result in Sandro’s immediate death. The blood continues to drip from Tyler’s wound, bringing him ever closer to death.
Zurabs orders Sandro to take the gun from Tyler. The fearful teenager trembles as he grabs the gun from Tyler. Zurab further commands Sandro to point the gun at Tyler’s head. Tyler calls Zurab a coward. Zurab laughs, clarifying that cowardice is killing an unarmed man in the bowels of a prison. Zurab once again tells Sandro to point the gun at Tyler’s head, reminding him that Tyler is the man who killed his father. Fighting back the tears, Sandro raises his gun toward Tyler. The teenager’s hand shakes with terror.
Zurab orders his nephew to pull the trigger. Never taking his eyes off the teenager, Tyler assures him that it’s okay; it’s almost as if Tyler is coming to terms with his death, a death he still feels like he deserves. Sandro aims the gun at Tyler for a long beat, but he finally lowers it. Tyler breathes a sigh of relief while Zurab merely says to the boy that his actions are disappointing.
Zurab now assumes the mantle, raising his gun to Tyler. But just as he’s about to pull the trigger, his hearing aid senses a noise from behind. Nik emerges, rifle raised. Zurab grabs Sandro, holding him hostage as he turns his gun on Nik. He tells her to put the gun down so she can exact retribution for her brother. Nik refuses to oblige, saying that she’s going to blow his asshole face off. Tyler encourages Nik to comply lest Zurab kill Sandro. As Nik lowers her rifle, Tyler nods to Sandro, who pushes away from Zurab, throwing him off balance. Nik fires on Zurab, striking him in the chest. But Zurab lands several rounds into Nik.
Tyler tackles Zurab to the ground, but the two immediately get up. Tyler lands several punches directly into Zurab’s face, but the Nagazi is undeterred. The two exchange punch after punch. Zurab eventually gets the upper hand, pinning Tyler against a stack of concrete bags. The fiendish Nagazi grabs a saw and goes to strike the merc, but Tyler absorbs the jagged blade with his wrist. And does so again when Zurab makes another attempt to slice through the merc. Tyler grabs a screwdriver and stabs Zurab repeatedly in the torso. The two men, each fighting for their life, wrestle each other to the ground. Zurab grabs a box of screws and swipes it across Tyler’s head. Zurab then grabs a ring of metal brackets. Just as Tyler is about to grab a nearby hammer, Zurab slams the metal brackets into his wrist.
Tyler manages to get up, but Zurab charges at him, delivering blow after blow into Tyler. But it’s going to take more than a few punches to stop Tyler, who slams Zurab into the ground. As the two men crash to the floor, Sandro manages to remove the explosive vest from his body. Nik, meanwhile, is losing blood fast as she props herself up on a pew. A remorseful Sandro hands Nik the detonation device as he apologizes to her. He presses his hand against her bullet wound, doing everything he can to stem the bleeding.
Tyler grabs a metal spike as the bloodied and injured Zurab stumbles toward the gun. Just as Zurab pulls the screwdriver from his torso, Tyle plants the metal spike into Zurab’s calf. As the indefatigable Nagazi elbow crawls forward, Tyler stabs the man again and again. He stabs him in the back and turns him over and finally stabs him in the chest.
Tyler rolls off the man’s body so that the two men lay side by side. Tyler declares that he will not stop and then, without even turning his head, raises his gun and fires the final death blow through Zurab’s head. As blood pools around the dead Nagazi’s head, Tyler gets up and rushes off to Nik. He cradles Nik in his arms while the traumatized, blood-covered Sandro looks on. Tyler nods at Sandro, who nods back. The ruthless, tyrannical reign of Zurab is finally over. Nik clings to life as the Austrian police move into the church and surround them.
Later, we find Nik handcuffed to a bed in the medical ward of Schwarzau Prison. She stares vacantly into the distance, coming to terms with the horror of what just transpired. She might have her life, but she’s lost her brother. The visceral, soul-crushing pain of that is unbearable.
In Graz-Karlau Prison, we find prison guards leading a resigned Tyler, handcuffed and in an orange prisoner uniform, down a hallway. He takes a seat in a visitor cubicle where he finds Mia on the other side. As soon as he picks up the phone, he asks Mia how Ketevan and the children are. She tells them that they're safe; they’re in witness protection. She helped broker a deal with the Americans. Ketevan had given them trade routes, bank accounts, and names. But the Americans froze Ketevan’s assets, taking everything they had. Tyler tells her that if she goes to his cabin, beneath the third floorboard back from the fireplace, there’s a million in cash. She can give it to them. Mia nods, then says that she came to the prison because she wanted... But before she can complete the sentence, Tyler thanks her. He says he knows he never said thank you to her for doing what he couldn’t. Mia tacitly accepts his gratitude then says that their son’s last image of Tyler wasn’t of him walking out on him but rather Tyler going off to save people. She reveals that their son was so brave when his life ended. He said, “I want to be brave like Dad.” Tyler remains impassive, but is clearly overcome by the emotion of hearing that. He flashes to his son’s drawing, the one of Tyler in his army uniform standing on top of the world. Mia says that’s how their son saw him. Tyler sheds a tear, the first time we’ve ever seen the inscrutable mercenary express his true grief over the loss of his son. Mia says goodbye to Tyler as the two share one last loaded look.
The prison guards lead Tyler out of the visitor center, but when they reach the main hallway, they point in the other direction. He’s led outside of the prison and into an awaiting SUV.
Later, the procession of SUVs pulls into a vacant lot on the rural outskirts of town. Tyler steps out of the vehicle and finds Alcott, the mystery man who hired him for the extraction job. As Tyler approaches, Alcott, looking out at the mountains, says it’s like the goddamn Sound of Music out here. Alcott faces Tyler and sarcastically says that he told him not to get caught. Tyler glibly responds that shit happens. Alcott proposes that he can get Tyler out of prison if he does another job for them. Tyler says he won’t do it without his team; he’s not going to leave Nik behind. Alcott laughs, saying that he thought Tyler might say that. Just then another SUV pulls up. Nik, also in an orange prisoner uniform and her arm in a sling, steps out of the car. She and Tyler share a look, the sight of one another clearly bringing them a modicum of comfort and solace. Alcott calls Tyler “Rake”, laughing as he tells the downtrodden merc that it’s such a fun name to say. Tyler says that Alcott never told him his name to which Alcott responds that his name doesn’t matter. Tyler asks what does. Alcott matter-of-factly replies, what matters is who I work for. Tyler asks who that is. Alcott simply replies, a gnarly motherfucker. As Alcott steps away he assures Tyler that he’ll love him. We leave Tyler looking out into the distance, ready for his next extraction mission.
Characters
Locations
Tech and weapons
organizations
Set Pieces
Timeline
2023
Tyler Rake rescued from the banks of the Buriganga River
Tyler receives life saving care at Dubai hospital; undergoes rehab
WEEKS LATER
Tyler moves into a cabin in rural Austria
WEEKS LATER
Tyler is offered a new extraction mission to rescue his sister-in-law Ketevan and her two children, Sandro and Nina
SIX WEEKS LATER
Tyler regains his strength and is ready for the mission to extract Ketevan and her children from Tkachiri Prison
ONE DAY LATER
Tyler and Nik finally kill Zurab and his Nagazi Soldiers
DAYS LATER
Tyler and Nik are imprisoned by Austrian Law Enforcement
Tyler and Nik are released from prison with help from Alcott
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