Director: Timo Tjahjanto
Cast: Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, John Ortiz, RZA, Colin Hanks, Christopher Lloyd, Sharon Stone
Screenplay: Derek Kolstad, Aaron Rabin
89 mins. Rated R for strong bloody violence, and language throughout.

Nobody was a pleasant little surprise back in 2021. Ilya Naishuller’s original film succeeded in making star Bob Odenkirk (Little Women) an action star and differentiated itself enough from screenwriter Derek Kolstad’s other action hero, John Wick, making for a goofy and consistently entertaining actioner. For the sequel, bonkers filmmaker Timo Tjahjanto (V/H/S/2) takes over directing duties for a sequel that occasionally borrows too much from its predecessor but also functions nicely enough as a follow-up summer spectacle.

Some time has passed since Hutch Mansell (Odenkirk) killed Yulian Kuznetsov and burned the obshchak, and he’s still paying off the debt, secretly performing jobs while trying to keep up his facade as an average nobody. As summer vacation is on the horizon, he knows he’s losing touch with his family, so he decides to pack them up and head off to Plummerville, a vacation destination from his youth. What he doesn’t know is that Plummerville is a haven of drug, gun, and virus smuggling with the police on the take, all overseen by the mysterious Lendina (Sharon Stone, Casino). Now, Hutch has to hide the fact that he’ll be working on vacation when he unknowingly steps into conflict with the local police, the crime boss, and Lendina.

I love the direction that screenwriters Derek Kolstad and Aaron Rabin have taken with this sequel. It has a very familiar National Lampoon’s Vacation vibe to the proceedings, a sunny and entertaining aesthetic, and placing these known characters into that situation provides a number of funny and enthusiastic set pieces to unfold for viewers. Having a lot of the plot come out of a misunderstanding between Hutch’s son and a local bully allows for familiarity between this unusual family and audience, which has always been a strength for Kolstad. Hutch and his family are likable, and we root for them along with their precarious situation. I also think it was smart to write more for Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future) as Hutch’s father, though I still think he’s being sidelined a bit too often.

Timo Tjahjanto is such a visually impressive filmmaker, and his inclusion here showcases his distinct style while also making it feel like he was often shackled to the original film. If you’ve seen Timo’s work on the V/H/S films or his very short piece in The ABCs of Death, it’s clear that his style, while set apart from the previous Nobody film, also could work within the framework, and he’s able to add a bit of it to each of the set pieces, though I feel like he’s still playing it safer than I would’ve expected or hoped for. That along with some elements of the screenplay clinging to similar ideas from the predecessor hinder the experience a tad. Lendina is really just a paler take on Yulian Kuznetsov, the villain from the original, and Stone isn’t given enough to do with the character that really stands out. Opening the film with Hutch back in his boring day-to-day montage feels a little too “been there, done that.” Even with the interesting framework of the summer vacation-turned-hard-actioner, the inner plot machinations still feel a bit too well-tread. Now, none of these issues make it a bad film, but Nobody 2 is a quite good sequel that could’ve been a damn great one.

Odenkirk is still great here, though, and he has tremendous chemistry with Connie Nielsen (Gladiator), who gets more to do as loving wife Becca. Odenkirk’s relatability as an everyman allows him to have those stronger personal moments with his children and extended family while also connecting with even the personal woes of his own enemies, and it’s a thrill to see him continue to evolve Hutch as a unique hero, even in the current landscape of action films.

Nobody 2 isn’t as strong as the original, but it’s taking its characters to new places and experimenting with the formula in some very entertaining ways. I smiled a lot at the comedy and the action, including an excellent climactic finale that I very much didn’t expect. While the bones of this screenplay hit some all-too familiar plot points, Odenkirk and company are still reliably entertaining. I’d watch Hutch and his family in a plethora of different adventures, and if Nobody 2 is any indication, I’m sure there will be more to come.

3.5/5
-Kyle A. Goethe

• For my review of the anthology film The ABCs of Death, click here.