Directed By Timo Tjahjanto
Starring – Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, Christopher Lloyd
The Plot – Workaholic assassin Hutch Mansell (Odenkirk) takes his family on a much-needed vacation to the small tourist town of Plummerville. However, he soon finds himself in the crosshairs of a corrupt theme-park operator, a shady sheriff (Colin Hanks), and a bloodthirsty crime boss (Sharon Stone).
Rated R for strong bloody violence, and adult language throughout.
POSITIVES
After the original film elicited one of the single biggest surprise box office runs during the Covid-19 pandemic, which helped bring people back to theaters, it was only a matter of time that our favorite ferocious family man got a follow-up sequel, and with so many of the original’s integral foundational elements still in place for this sequel, “Nobody 2” conjures a fun, albeit safe, secondary installment that proves this series has plenty of air left in its lungs to stand among the best action franchises going today. Most crucial to this objective are the rivetingly intense fight sequences that make the transition seamlessly between two respective directors whose unique visions steered the first two films. Here, Tjahjanto maintains all of the energetic exuberance and freneticism commanded during the first film, but here with a far greater control over the crisp fight choreography and captures of the lens that never sacrifice clarity for chaos, and with some fun and catchy song selections to the assembled soundtrack of the movie’s many conflicts breeding an infectious anxiousness to the tone that keeps them engaging, the film is able to seamlessly exude a naturalistic urgency to these very visceral conflicts that never lose sight of the established stakes continuously hanging overhead, at all times, with an equally vital back and forth dynamic in the give and takes of a fight that refreshingly sees a decorated protagonist legitimately take an ass beating. On top of this, the movie’s much-evolved production values takes ample opportunity to tap into a tangibility with the creative sets that has this movie feeling like an R-rated version of “National Lampoon’s Vacation”, with everything from the presentation to the special effects brandishing a stylistic evolution that makes this sequel feel bigger and bolder. On that element alone, the film’s increased budget from 15 to 25 million between films has articulated appeasing lighting schemes and versatile detailing in set decoration that makes the established setting feel like a character of its own within the many aforementioned physical conflicts of the movie’s many fight sequences, and while we don’t typically expect ocular stimulation from this franchise, it’s nice to witness first hand the money spent from an adoring public feeling utilized in every frame, allowing it to play all the more vibrantly on the silver screen. Likewise, the script is certainly filled with plenty of growing pains in attempting to evade the unpleasantries often associated with sequelitis, however the family dynamic and duality of Hutch is still at play in this secondary installment, with his perfection as a lethally loaded killer being fascinatingly balanced by his inabilities of attempting to be the perfect husband and father. While the movie does feel like one big set piece inside of this rundown and seemingly dangerous amusement park, it does allow Hutch the opportunity to simultaneously satisfy both sides of the double life entendre that are typically left with ones focus far outweighing the other, in turn offering plenty of credible instances for the work of Odenkirk, who still seamlessly captures the softly sensitive side of one, while also tapping into the unforgiving ruthlessness of the other. As previously conveyed in my review for “Nobody”, I could’ve never expected Odenkirk to serve as a capable and believable action hero of any vehicle, but he confidently exudes an intimidation factor in a look and corresponding on-screen presence that echoes the psychology of a vengeful parent forced to resolve the actions of those taken on the ones he holds most dearly, and with Odenkirk pursuing through a means of physicality in the demands of the fight choreography that appraise as much authenticity to these sequences as artistically possible, he proves to be the right man for the job, proving that even at the tender age of 62, his most challenging roles may persist in the twilight of his career. Odenkirk is joined by credible turns by Nielsen, who receives an increased workload in this sequel, as well as Colin Hanks, whom I wish served as the film’s primary antagonist, considering he’s the only one to emulate a screen presence that feels naturally capturing of the role that is asked of him.
NEGATIVES
Unfortunately, “Nobody 2” does become a victim of everything wrong with a majority of contemporary action sequels, with a surface level shallow screenplay that makes this feel like an idea for a movie, instead of one realized in the depths of an adventurous canvas. For starters, the movie feels noticeably hindered by its 84-minute runtime, not only in the development of the characters, which feels abrasively rushed and sometimes even fully unrealized, but also in the assembled various subplots such as Hutch and Becca’s rocky relationship, or a subplot involving the environmental bullying of their children, which feels introduced and resolved within the same scene. In a typical movie, these arcs would be given time to grow and mature within the development of the storytelling, but here they’re resolved just as quickly as they’re introduced, and it makes it difficult to remain faithfully invested to a film that has a grave difficulty establishing uncertainty or adversity to these respective characters, a fact made even more glaringly evident with one of the weakest antagonists to a movie that I have experienced this year. Not to be harsh towards a film veteran such as Sharon Stone, but she’s all kinds of wrong in being the brains behind the muscle that runs this small town scheme of an operation, especially with the dialogue and approach towards her performance that literally is the embodiment of stock villain syndrome, behind every turn. Not only is Stone trying too hard in her manically uneasy deliveries, bringing back the P.T.S.D from her memorably infamous turn in “Catwoman” but her demeanor is distracting in ways that serve as a crucial speed bump to audience interpretation during integral scenes that feel indiscernible, even with unloaded exposition dumps in their favor, and considering her character isn’t even introduced until the film’s midway point in the runtime, a fact that mirrors the film’s two writers creatively clashing, it makes me wish that the writers instead settled on Colin Hanks’ corrupt town sheriff running matters, instead of her, as he feels like the one between the two of them that feels synthetic within the dimensions of this established setting and scope. The script also feels like a creative retread of its original installment, which takes away some of the element of originality or unpredictability to a narrative that never comes close to riding the same level of climatic highs as its predecessor. This pertains not only to Hutch once again obscuring his true identity to an unknowing party, an idea that drove the plot of the first movie, but also a showdown with a dangerously invasive mob leader that sees him having to save his family to make matters right, and while these are just two of the commonalities between films that don’t involve spoilers like the others, they are still proof of the disappointing thought process that went into the four years between films, which should’ve provided an endless array of compelling ideas to allow it to stand apart from its predecessor. Last but not least, while I did appreciate the legitimacy the infectiousness anxiousness that Tjahjanto supplanted to the movie’s many action sequences, his direction here does involve the movie sacrificing the gritty atmosphere of the original installment, leaving this film occasionally feeling like a parody of itself that is drive first and foremost by humor in its display. The humor falling flat almost entirely isn’t even the problem, as I don’t necessarily watch these movies to laugh, but rather the cartoonish chaos assembled from the movie’s underwhelmingly unfulfilling climax, involving another homage to “Home Alone”, with all of the contrivances and convenience of a Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner cartoon. The movie comes so close to jumping the shark in its most defining moments that it nearly sacrifices the fun factor entirely from the fandom, with a far more palpably evident shift towards humor that doesn’t feel half as meticulously measured as its predecessor, allowing a film with so many overwhelming similarities to feel uncompromisingly different in execution.
OVERALL
“Nobody 2” is still a bareknuckle brawl of a good time for fans of the original who were lost in the freneticism of ferocious fight sequences, but one whose ambition is unfortunately squandered by script creativity uncommitted to taking chances to set itself apart from a four-year-old film still fresh in the minds of its adoring audience. While the film is plagued by a condensed and contrived screenplay behind nearly every corner, the stylistically entrancing artistry of its physicality comes out unscathed, eliciting an inferior-but-serviceable sequel that nobody saw coming
My Grade: 6.2 or C