Review: ‘Nobody 2’ Levels Up for a Superior Sequel Chock Full of Violence

Vacation spots don’t discriminate: anyone can take a trip to a particular getaway destination provided they have the time and the means. That could mean, in the case of The Sopranos, running into an old mob associate who has entered the Witness Protection Program, or innocently getting into an altercation with the wrong person at a random location. The latter is the basis for a sequel that might not have seemed necessary, but Nobody 2 proves its worth as an improvement on the original, embracing the fact that, try as he might, this protagonist can’t get away from a violent lifestyle.

Hutch (Bob Odenkirk) has been working a lot, and as a result, he’s missing quality family time, including his son Brady (Gage Munroe) getting into fights at school. When his wife Becca (Connie Nielsen) expresses her desperation, Hutch makes the decision to bring his family, including his daughter Sammy (Paisley Cadorath) and his father David (Christopher Lloyd), to a waterpark he visited as a kid. A misstep by Brady at an arcade invites unwanted attention on Hutch when he steps in to defend his children, unknowingly exposing a dangerous criminal operation in this small town that doesn’t look kindly on outsiders who don’t keep to themselves.

Opening four and a half years after the original film, Nobody 2 is the ideal sequel in many ways. There’s absolutely no need to have screened the first entry, with enough context for what Hutch does – going after bad guys and delivering targets to his bosses – providing in this film’s opening moments. It’s also free of the constraints of showing Hutch living a boring life, rectifying his constant missing of the garbage truck each week from the first film with a near-miss that still means he makes it to the truck just in time, demonstrating that he’s got things back on track but is still overworked and in need of a vacation. Trying to relive a positive memory from his childhood provides the perfect setup for this misadventure, which finds a man used to solving problems with violence unable to restrain himself for even a few days when he’s supposed to be soaking in the sun.

This is an action movie but boasts nearly as many laughs as it does punches and gunshots (well, there are quite a lot of those, so maybe it’s still not close). Odenkirk is at his funniest, dryly delivering dialogue but also leaning into the comedy of each takedown and kill. The weaponry he uses, particularly objects that happen to be around him and associated generally with relaxation, is endlessly entertaining and adds to the fun. Best of all, this film reaffirms the original’s tendency to only punish bad guys, or at the very least those who have made bad choices and deserve the punishment coming to them. In a film littered with collateral damage – and so much violence happening in the real world – it’s reassuring to know that everyone who suffers abuse or injury here pretty much had it coming.

Odenkirk fits this role like a glove, and he seems more into it this time, which just makes it more fun. As the film’s key villain, Sharon Stone is all about chewing scenery and playing up the absurdity, but she’s well-cast. It’s fantastic to see Lloyd still going strong at age 86, even if he has a slightly reduced role from the first film, while Nielsen gets a bigger part and doesn’t disappoint. Colin Hanks as a corrupt sheriff who immediately dislikes Hutch and RZA as Hutch’s equally competent and similarly cool brother are also highlights of the cast.

It’s questionable whether those who skipped or haven’t heard of Nobody will find their way to its sequel, but given that theaters are fully open now and most of the population is no longer staying home because of the pandemic, it should find success. It’s great to experience on the big screen, which enhances its set pieces and many explosion sequences. Clocking in at just eighty-nine minutes, this film still packs plenty in to that runtime, smartly emphasizing entertainment over entirely coherent storylines. Nobody is going to this movie to find its plot even remotely believable, and this blockbuster doesn’t waste any time trying to make sense of it, diving fully into the bliss of racking up body counts just for the fun of it when cleaner, less hilarious options surely could have been available at almost every turn.  

Movie Rating: 7/10