Nobody 2 (2025) Review!!

Synopsis – Suburban dad Hutch Mansell, a former lethal assassin, is pulled back into his violent past after thwarting a home invasion, setting off a chain of events that unravels secrets about his wife Becca’s past and his own.

My Take – Without a doubt, the big draw of Nobody (2021), an 87North production, the makers of the ‘John Wick‘ franchise, was watching Bob Odenkirk beat up criminals in different ways. After all, the former sketch comedian and Breaking Bad & Better Call Saul star was playing against type as a grizzled, ruthless and badass killer you really don’t want to mess with.

The key to the narrative working was the genuine humor it found in the whole situation and the “Everyman” aspect of this particular guy whose itchy trigger finger set off a chain of events that eventually leads him to take on the Russian mob.

Now four years later, Odenkirk is back again in a sequel that functions well enough as a same-but-different entertainer in a suitably satisfying and crowd-pleasing way. At 92 minutes, it’s a solid, breezy flick for a one time watch. Sure, the element of surprise is inherently missing this time around, but screenwriters Derek Kolstad and Aaron Rabin’s simple but ingenious premise ensures to provide plenty of amusement.

While embracing a lighter vibe than its predecessor, the film is just as violent and action-packed as the last one, and serves as a tightly paced shot of adrenaline that’s guaranteed to please action fans. Odenkirk’s commitment to the role and director Timo Tjahjanto’s flourishes make this a fun follow-up that proves that there is a lot of joy to still be found in watching a legendary comedian turn into a one-man army when he’s pushed too far.

Set after the events of the first film, the story once again follows Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk), a former government assassin, who after torching $30 million of the Russian mob money, finds himself in an impossible debt to his former handler, The Barber (Colin Salmon) and has to return to his violent ways in order to work it off. A result of which he’s constantly away from his wife, Becca (Connie Nielsen), and children, Brady (Gage Munroe) and Sammy (Paisley Cadorath), missing the quality time he should theoretically have with them.

Tired and in desperate need of a break, Hutch plans a holiday with his family and father, David (Christopher Lloyd), to the resort town he went to with his brother, Harry (RZA), when they were children.

Though the destination is now a shadow of what it once was, Hutch & the family seem satisfied in their own ways, that is until a teen bully gets into an altercation with Brady, and a security guy pushes Sammy, flipping Hutch off in ways that eventually lands him in crosshairs of the owner Wyatt Martin (John Ortiz) who is also mixed up with town’s criminal element, a hidden cabal involving Sherrif Abel (Colin Hanks) and his men, and the wickedly evil take-no-prisoners crime boss, Lendina (Sharon Stone) who runs the casino, as well as a dangerous criminal syndicate.

Surprisingly, the script initially seems like it primarily wants to be a character study of Hutch Mansell, on the surface, a journeyman father who, in actuality, was secretly a former government assassin. But the evolution of relationship dynamics in the screenplay is disappointingly shallow.

A recurring theme about sons being better men than their fathers ends up being little more than a platitude, resolved with the minimum amount of fuss. Meanwhile, Hutch’s wife Becca is understandably upset at her other half’s inability to keep his promises and rage issues in check, well, until she isn’t.

Thankfully, the action helps to smooth over some of the ineffectual storytelling, with the vacation simply being a framework for director Tjahjanto, a skilled and seasoned director of Indonesian cinema, to bathe in a succession of action set-pieces, each excitingly with its own distinct flavor.

Taking over for the first film’s Ilya Naishuller, he brings a slightly more stylized feel to the film that meshes well with its more heightened approach. This time out, the extreme violence gets pushed into more farcical and viscerally cartoonish places. It’s still brutal and intense and at times it’s even more graphic and bloody than the first film.

But it’s now doing so in a bigger than life way that ditches the gritty and grounded feel used to house the humor last time. Body parts get blown up and sliced off while cannon fodder henchmen frequently die in nasty, darkly funny ways. It’s all quite entertaining. Yes, the formula admittedly wears thin over the course of its running time, but he keep things moving at such a brisk pace that you just go along for the ride.

The film’s third act finale showdown is especially fun and cleverly conceived, taking place inside an amusement park that offers a lot of well incorporated locations like a fun house, ball pit and water slide for its many confrontations, all of which are escalated violently by the inclusion of notably lethal booby traps that would make the ‘Home Alone‘ franchise envious.

Performance wise, Bob Odenkirk continues to be the most inspired choice as perhaps cinema’s most unlikely action hero, and he seems remarkably proficient with the choreography, while also giving the fights and shootouts a more ragged edge that suits the part. The film gets a lot of mileage out of multiple scenes where Hutch tries to not get violent, only for someone to cross a line he just can’t abide.

Connie Nielsen, Gage Munroe, and Paisley Cadorath continue to be the likeable members of the Mansell family, while Christopher Lloyd and RZA once again look like they’re having a lot of fun. Among the newcomers to the cast, John Ortiz and Colin Hanks are genuinely solid.

However, Sharon Stone’s chief villain is a letdown. Though she is clearly aiming to make this a bigger than life, cackling, unhinged character, she isn’t afforded the screen time to leave her mark. On the whole, ‘Nobody 2‘ is an entertaining sequel that delivers on the promised violent delight.