Nobody 2

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://movieswetextedabout.com/nobody-2-movie-review-bob-odenkirk-returns-in-an-action-sequel-that-knows-its-audience/ "Nobody 2 isn't going to redefine the genre or make anyone's top-ten lists of the year, but it fulfills its mission perfectly: entertain its target audience for ninety minutes with inventive, stunt-driven action, sharp humor, and a charismatic lead. It's one of those cases where the formula, even worn out, still works thanks to competent execution and the collective enthusiasm of cast and crew. If the formula is here to stay, so be it - just keep the smile on my face. As long as that balance between violence and lightness remains, along with the commitment to creative, stunt-led set pieces, bring on the third one." Rating: B

I must admit, I’d completely forgotten “Nobody” (2021) when I sat down to watch this, but once it picks up an head of steam it’s actually quite a good fun, entirely senseless, stream of violence that does raise a smile. Still beholden to “The Barber” (Colin Salmon) after his first outing, “Hutch” (Bob Odenkirk) has been carrying out some dangerous tasks to try and reduce his $30 millions debt. After this most recent task, though, he declares that he is going to take an holiday with his wife (Connie Nielsen), his kids and his dad (Christopher Lloyd). They decide to return to one of his childhood haunts but aren’t there very long before “Hutch” sees red and is smashing up the people, the furniture, the fruit machines - even a duck-boat, and that earns his the attention of the menacingly ruthless “Lendina” (Sharon Stone) whose drug-smuggling enterprise is being interfered with, and she’s none too happy about that. When the pyrotechnics manage to destroy a fairly massive shipment of her cash and her “product” she is just going to have to come and settle the score herself - and that’s the denouement this builds to, quite entertainingly, for an hour and an half. The only thing it is missing is an alligator as noses and bones get broken left, right and centre; there is loads of betrayal and some new friendships made before the wonderfully hammy Stone and the underused Lloyd make their presence felt: the former more in the style of something from “John Wick”, the latter more from “The A-Team”. If their is a moral, well it’s probably never to give your arcade tickets to the girlfriend of the son of the local kingpin, otherwise maybe they’d just have eaten candy floss and gone home more rested.

If I'm recalling George Orwell's 1984 correctly, one passage in the book talked about the blandness and general awfulness of the food offered by the authoritarian state. Cabbage that stank and coffee that wasn't real coffee. I have to say I've come to feel the same way about a lot of Western entertainment in recent years. It lacks vibrancy, individuality, it lacks flavour. The latest and I have to say unwanted iteration of "Nobody", the unimaginatively titled "Nobody 2" meets that definition. What made the first film work is precisely why the second film fails. It was a little original the first time around, with a reveal, that is, the suburban father being a talented assassin, no one had expected. With that out of the way whats left is anti climatic, repetitive exposition, that's as uninspiring as its tired, 1970's theme park, setting. I know people starved for any kind of action film will like it. I get that. Speaking for myself personally, I'd like a little more. A dash of creativity, a spark of inspiration, not just more of the same beige entertainment, off the lazy Hollywood production line. In summary, "Nobody 2" is alright. Its a basic action flick that fills the entertainment gap but still leaves you craving something more substantial. A mediocre watch.