Netflix has released a sequel to the adventures of mercenary Tyler Rake, in the image of which Australian Chris Hemsworth is extremely harsh and ruthless.

After the shootout in sweltering Bangladesh, where the events of the first part of the duology unfolded, mercenary Tyler Rake (Chris Hemsworth) sustains severe injuries, and his loyal assistant Nik (Golshifteh Farahani) saves him from certain death. Rake is placed in a Dubai clinic, where he remains in a coma for a long time, and doctors even suggest disconnecting him from life support, but Nik flatly refuses, stubbornly believing in her partner's iron health.

Living up to her expectations, Rake opens his eyes one fine moment. He is transferred to a quiet village in Austria and wished a happy retirement. However, Rake's well-deserved rest is soon disrupted by a mysterious stranger (), who offers him a new mission: to extract the family of a local mafia boss from a Georgian prison, where he is holding them captive. Rake agrees, and after a short training session in the style of 'Rocky 4,' he embarks on a dangerous mission, also having a personal interest in saving the woman and children.

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The first part of the duology caused quite a stir in its time, becoming, in a way, the younger brother of 'John Wick,' and as befits a younger sibling, director Sam Hargrave of 'Rake' very much wants to catch up and surpass the older one (Chad Stahelski, of course). Both are stuntmen, and both, generally, know their craft. But only the part involving stunts. Plot-wise, 'Rake' is as poor as 'Wick.' And the use of items not intended for fighting in clashes (this time a treadmill, for example) looks like an attempt to measure ambitions: who can do it more inventively. A pencil versus a dumbbell.

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A couple of stunts here can indeed be added to the list of 'coolest fights in cinema,' but they can only be admired in a compilation of the same name, alongside classics from Jackie Chan or more modern fights featuring Iko Uwais, Tony Jaa, Donnie Yen, or Scott Adkins. There is no particular need to rewatch the entire film.

One of these scenes magnetically draws the eye to the screen from the very first frames, not letting you rest for a minute, especially when it comes to the longest segment shot in one take (with cleverly hidden editing cuts). This is truly the most impressive attraction with brisk genre techniques among the new generation of action movies, where Hemsworth looks almost better than in the role of Thor in a cape and with a hammer, while maintaining a stone face even when trying to talk about personal tragedy.

But as for the rest, 'Tyler Rake' is the same testosterone-packed canvas, where the muscular hero is ready to do anything just to avoid staying at home (even a coma is a piece of cake for him), and always and everywhere saves strangers, instead of once trying to help his loved ones. In a couple of scenes, Rake tries to justify this and even sheds a stingy male tear, but it comes off very flat and unconvincing.

But that's not the main point here. The Russo brothers, closely overseeing the filming from the producer's chair, radically changed the plan, betting on the frantic pulse of stunt work, supporting the renaissance of the masculine action movie with another film without delving into reflection or self-irony. The latter was abundant in 'The Gray Man' by the Russos themselves, but what was the result?

And the result is that Hemsworth's character is doomed to a stately inheritance of action heroes of the past, and throughout the viewing, you can't shake the feeling that 'Tyler Rake' seems to have been shot back in the 80s but shelved until the time is right (except for the new filming technologies, of course). The relentless cascade of events on screen does not allow time to fully comprehend the just-finished scuffle, as a new one begins, and so on until the final credits, and the choice of locations for the final battle is strictly limited to a set of rules from the VHS era—either a burning factory or a rooftop. Alas, everything has already been invented before us.