Title: Nobody 2
Describe This Movie Using One City Slickers Quote:
MITCH: I’m on vacation!
Brief Plot Synopsis: Like an Adam Sandler movie with explosions.
Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: 2.5 Not Mes out of 5.
Tagline: “Nobody ruins his vacation.”
Better Tagline: “Finally, definitive proof that water parks are death traps.”
Not So Brief Plot Synopsis: You might have thought ex-intelligence agency “auditor” Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk) would be happily spending time with his family now that his mobster problems are solved. Not quite, as it seems torching several million dollars of mob money has got him working for the government again. Wife Becca (Connie Nielsen) is pretty fed up, leading Hutch to plan a quiet family vacation at one of the only places he remembers his dad Harry (Christopher Lloyd) taking him as a kid. You can imagine how that goes.
“Critical” Analysis: Derek Kolstad has a John Wick problem.
It’s not a financial one. As creator of the franchise and screenwriter of the first three films, Kolstad is doubtless very comfortable in that regard. He also deserves props for slogging away at scripts for years before finally striking gold. I’ve written two (both terrible, thanks for asking), so I can empathize with the struggle.
No, the problem in question is an inability — by accident or design — to stray from that formula. The first Nobody, which Kolstad wrote and was directed by Ilya Naishuller, bore striking similarities. Instead of a mob hitman, Mansell is an ex-“auditor,” up against a Russian mobster (again) because someone stole his daughter’s bracelet.
That’s also how the Nobody movies work better as comedies: no dead dogs.
Nobody and now Nobody 2 are therefore much looser affairs than their High Table hunting-cinematic counterparts. The downside to this is that, at the end of the second movie, virtually nothing has been added to the character’s lore, and we don’t know anything more about his former career than we did before. And perhaps we can credit Kolstad and new director Timo Tjahjanto with keeping things light.
Maybe too light. Because about the one thing that sticks out about Nobody 2, aside from the obligatory climactic bloodbath, is the brief runtime. Omitting what one assumes were planned scenes illuminating more of Hutch’s past or literally anything about Becca. Specifically, it’s unceremoniously dropped that she just happens to be an expert marksman, and a scene foreshadowing Nielsen-delivered carnage comes to almost nothing.
Thought I was glad they cleared up the reason Hutch was always away from home early on, as a $30 million debt to work off is one of the only acceptable reasons for spending that much time away from Connie Nielsen.
Tjahjanto, director of Headshot and The Night Comes For Us, knows his way around hand-to-hand mayhem. Sure, Odenkirk is no Iko Iwais (who is?), but his hangdog everyman schtick makes up for some of that. Nobody mostly eschews Wick’s double brain pan taps for more creative melee antics (a second act fight on a duck boat is a highlight), but there are only so many ways to body slam a guy.
A few bigger names join the fun this time around (RZA is also back as Hutch’s brother Harry). First up is Colin Hanks, failing to be intimidating in any way whatsoever as the scheming deputy working for John Ortiz’s sheriff. Both are completely eclipsed by Lendina, the insane big boss played by Sharon Stone, whose perfunctory scenes also make you wonder what else ended up on the cutting room floor.
Because on one hand, Nobody 2’s swift pace and threadbare plot are strengths. If we don’t have too much of a break in the action, can we really ask questions? On the other, when there’s barely enough plot structure to hang those action scenes, what’s the point?
A friend of mine referred to this series as “Temu John Wick,” which is a bit unfair. It may not be as flashy, but Nobody 2 will satisfy our country’s apparent fascination with watching old guys whoop ass a little while longer.
Nobody 2 is in theaters today.
