On Netflix this month, there have been a few highlights:

Extraction 2
This sequel to the 2020 original sees Chris Hemsworth return as the ex-mercenary Tyler Rake. Now retired in Austria, he is approached by a stranger and is asked to rescue his ex-wife Mia’s sister Ketevan and her two children Sandro and Nina, who are currently imprisoned along with her gangster husband Davit Radiani at Tkachiri prison in Georgia. It feels like my review for this sequel will be the same as for the original.

The movie is dominated by one astonishing sequence involving the prison break and an escape on a train. That happens in the first half of the running time and despite some well staged action sequences, nothing can live up to that. The story is pretty thin, and Sandro is one of the most irritating characters I have seen in some time. But this is fun stuff and both Hemsworth and Golshifteh Farahani as his friend Niki are perfect for their roles.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10

The Substitute
Lucio (Juan Minujin) works as an interim teacher at a school in a tough Buenos Aires neighbourhood. He decides to get involved when one of his students is threatened by a drug dealer. The teacher turning around a reluctant class story is one that has been loads of times before, and The Substitute does fall into cliché territory at times, particularly at the end. But there is also an uncompromising toughness, the kids give naturalistic performances and Minujin is excellent.
Rating: 7 out of 10

The Mother
The titular character is played by Jennifer Lopez. She is an assassin who is forced out of hiding to protect the daughter she had abandoned years earlier. The first half is pretty good, with one well staged chase scene and an excellent rescue sequence. But after that things really stall and the formulaic story drags towards its inevitable conclusion.
Rating: 6 out of 10

Also this month:
Operation Nation is a Polish satirical comedy that tries to take pot shots at the left and extreme right but does not really land any blows.

Turkish crime drama Chokehold about a couple that move to a small village and find they have enemies there lacks any real thrills.

As does the overly gloomy and stodgy Aka from France.

Kathal : A Jackfruit Mystery is impeded by irritating cartoonish acting and a general frantic nature that becomes tiresome quickly.

High school drama Fanfic lacks any new ideas and is a drag to watch.

A comedy about a young virgin who finds that his penis starts talking, Hard Feelings, is hindered by an unpleasantly coarse air. However, the two leads Tobias Schäfer and Cosima Henman keep it bearable.

I was more of a Tintin reader than Asterix as a kid, though neither have transferred to the big screen well. Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom does not change that as it fails to replicate the anarchic charm of the books.

The Spanish horror movie Tin & Tina has a nice forbidding atmosphere but no real scares beyond that.

The crime drama Operation Mayfair is truly bizarre. It is Indian made but set in London where the police force has a significant number of Indian people who have westernised names (Lisa, Kevin etc) speaking Hindi in briefings despite there being a large contingent of British coppers in their team and the police ‘commissioner’ is wearing a sergeants uniform! All the performances are stilted with Bryan Lawrence and Ankur Bhatia standing out as being particularly awful.

Mixed by Erry is about teenagers in Napoli making pirate mix tapes in the 1980’s and is as boring as that sounds.

Dutch comedy The Wonder Weeks suffers from having characters that are almost entirely vacuous.

A Lot Like Love feels very lumpen, with poor performances.

Billed as a romcom, Missed Connections is much better than you might expect. It feels more like an examination of obsessive love, the effect that has on your mental health and whether a woman can be happy when not in a relationship. Despite being too attractive for the part of a young woman who cannot get a man, Miles Ocampo is excellent in the lead role.

Ratings out of 10:
Operation Nation: 3.5
Chokehold: 3.5
Aka: 4
Kathal : A Jackfruit Mystery: 3
Fanfic: 2
Hard Feelings: 4
Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom: 3
Tin & Tina: 4
Operation Mayfair: 1.5
Mixed by Erry: 2.5
The Wonder Weeks: 4
A Lot Like Love: 3
Missed Connections: 6