When people talk about modern day revenge action films they seem to go straight to John Wick or Taken. Everybody seems to forget about the little gem called Nobody that landed in 2021. While the other two franchises had Hollywood A-list star power behind them Nobody made the unlikely Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul) an action hero who truly appealed to the everyday audience member.
Not surprisingly the producers behind the film have decided to capitalise on the film’s cult success and now the Timo Tjahjanto (The Night Comes For Us) directed Nobody 2 has just hit cinemas.
The sequel picks up months after the first film. Hutch Mansell (Odenkirk) is working off his debt to The Barber (Colin Salmon – Resident Evil) by putting in long hours doing whatever dirty work he needs to do. That hard work has once again put a distance between Hutch and his wife Becca (Connie Nielsen – Wonder Woman) and their children Brady (Gage Munroe – Tales Of The Walking Dead) and Sammy (Paisley Cadorath – Harland Manor).
In order to repair the damage his work is doing to his family Hutch organises a trip to a place that brought him happiness as a child – a small town called Plummerville that is home to a now very much run-down amusement park.
However work soon follows Hutch to Plummerville and after Brady has a run-in with a local bully at a gaming arcade and he soon finds himself the target of local Mayor Wyatt Martin (John Oritz – Fast & Furious) and the corrupt Sherriff Abel (Colin Hanks – King Kong).
After a couple of skirmishes that latter resulting in Hutch going all out against Abel’s dodgy organisation he finds himself making an even more powerful enemy – a vicious gangster named Lendina (Sharon Stone – Basic Instinct). That then starts an all out war.
Talking about Nobody 2 is kind of difficult because as a film it doesn’t go out of its way to do anything different or break new ground. This is your standard revenge action flick with a storyline audiences have seen a million time before – yet somehow it still does enough to keep you entertained without disappointing you.
Much of the heavy lifting with this film comes from Odenkirk. He takes the basic screenplay by Derek Kolstad (John Wick) and Aaron Rabin (Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan) and boosts it with charisma. It doesn’t matter whether it be a hard-hitting action sequence or a touching scene with his family Odenkirk takes it and makes it something entertaining.
That charisma also seems to wash over his co-stars. Sharon Stone takes the role of a vindictive psycho and runs with it, even though there are close similarities to Charlize Theron’s character from the Fast & Furious franchise, to the point where you wonder whether she is the fearsome foe that will bring Hutch undone.
Likewise, Colin Hanks steps up and becomes a menacing enemy while the great Christopher Lloyd (Back To The Future) steals the show as he manages to mix his usual zany style of comedy into a character determined to not allow anything to happen to his father or grandchildren.
Stylistically it feels like Nobody 2 tries to emulate what made Argylle so special but to be honest it never really reaches those heights as to be honest its screenplay seems a little lazy.
As mentioned previously the script and plot does nothing to make the film standout and at times during some of the action sequences fans of the genre will easily be able to tell what is going to happen next. I found myself waiting for twists and turns throughout the film that may surprise me but they simply never came. This is one of the most predictable movies that you will ever see but somehow Odenkirk still manages to make it enjoyable ride.
Take the premise of National Lampoon’s Family Vacation and mix it with raw, comedic action of The Fall Guy and you basically sum up what Nobody 2 is really about. Connie Nielsen might be wasted here but at least it looks like Bob Odenkirk and Christopher Lloyd had fun blowing away anybody that stands up against them.
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