The second low budget thriller I've watched in a week with a similar storyline; the first was FUGITIVES with Dominic Purcell which had a more interesting plot than this one. EXTORTION features a boring family trip in the Caribbean which ends in disaster when the boat breaks and the family are stranded on a deserted island. Help comes in the form of a visiting local, played by the bad guy from CAPTAIN PHILLIPS, but there are twists in store. Sadly, this drawn-out film goes on forever and features very few scenes which are actually thrilling. The main actor is lifeless and dull and although Danny Glover appears it's only in a tiny role. It's a seen-it-all-before type film which simply goes through the motions.

"Extortion" is an American movie from this year (2017),still relatively new and fresh and it is probably the most known work by award-winning filmmaker Phil Volken, who is the writer and director here. His film here probably receives a major boost thanks to the inclusion of Somalian Oscar nominee and BAFTA winner Barkhad Abdi. And Abdi plays a character pretty similar to his career-defining performance, even if this film takes place in an entirely different part of the world. The crime reference is there once again and also once again the connection with water. And his physical presence is equally strong again. It almost felt like the same character and one of his earlier illegal career "achievements". But there is more to this film than just Abdi. Donald Glover around the age of 70 plays a police investigator who was a bit underwritten though and I think there was certainly more potential to the character. And then there is Eion Bailey, who is mostly known for his prolific television work, but also appeared in "Fight Club" for example. By definition, it sounds like a truly baity lead performance, but eventually it feels more like it is all about the thrills and the mission to save wife and son, so I would not blame Bailey that his performance is probably not among the most memorable aspects of the films. It's all about how everything is written.

The movie runs for 110 minutes (including credits),which is fairly long admittedly and I do believe that there are segments that could have been shortened or maybe even left out. I personally felt that the film was really really good until everything escalates at the home of Abdi's character and until that point I was even tempted to give it a 4 stars out of 5 and this include it in my very favorite films of the year by now. When the protagonist wakes up afterward at the hospital, it sadly gets worse and the film loses itself a bit with the lone wolf going out there to save his family and it becomes a bit stereotypical and the way it ends eventually is also a bit unrealistic and feels very much on the forced happy ending side. Makes me a bit sad to see that Volken did not manage to pull through until the very end with his quality filmmaking really. But nonetheless, it is still a fairly decent achievement for a young filmmaker and definitely something to build on for the future. Yes you can say that the topic and premise was dealt with sufficiently in the past and that there was no need to make this film because it does not deliver anything new really. But it's only partially correct. First of all, it may have been done in the past, but it rarely was done as good. And besides with the hundreds of thousands film (maybe millions) made in the past, it is really tough to come up with something entirely new and refreshing, so why not take familiar plots and give them your personal take and ideas. The way it was done here is pretty convincing. I recommend checking it out, especially for the really strong first 70 minutes.

More realistic than most shootem up movies, especially if you have ever known family love or responsibility. After the first half hour it was constant fear or action all the way until the end.