Cert – 15, Run-time – 1 hour 29 minutes, Director – Timo Tjahjanto
Needing a break from his life of high-action ‘auditing’, Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk) takes his family on vacation, only to discover the town is overseen by a major crime boss (Sharon Stone).
Nobody 2 isn’t quite a film you go to for the story. You largely go for a few laughs as Bob Odenkirk mixes John Wick with the Equalizer and pummels some bad guys. Yet, you still need something of a story to bring these sequences together, and sometimes give them more of a push. Nobody 2 lacks the zippy nature of the first film as it builds up tired military ‘auditor’ Hutch Mansell (Odenkirk) taking a break from repaying his debts by setting off with his family on vacation to the theme park he went on his one childhood holiday to.
However, the town which the park sits in is overseen by a wealthy crime boss (Sharon Stone) with influence over the police and numerous locals. After an incident in an arcade sees Hutch losing his temper with park employees after one hits his daughter on the head, the crime ring is uncovered and things properly kick off for the rest of the film. There are action sequences before this with amusing moments and swift attitudes, but as a whack-a-mole hammer and prize machine claw are used to attack others with the feeling of letting loose and having fun with the surroundings is truly on display.
It’s why these action sequences are the highlights of the film, as they were with the first instalment, which for my money was one of the best films of that year. The third act, set across the Plummerville amusement park, may show the weakness of a villain who genuinely feels like they’re on screen for less than five minutes – Stone tries to create a big, campy villain but struggles with how little the script gives her – but when it comes to the creative uses of the attractions and scenery there’s a good deal of enjoyably bloody violence unfolding. Not to mention a fight on a duck boat where the film truly finds its spark, and smirk.
Albeit violence which still has to cut back and forth to other characters as the film feels the need to push a ‘the band’s all here’ feeling that it doesn’t really need. Of course, Connie Nielsen returns as Hutch’s wife Becca – with the script trying to give her more of a past but the details feeling like much of an afterthought – and Christopher Lloyd making an enjoyable return as his father David. But, the inclusion of RZA as brother Harry and Colin Salmon’s The Barber – pushing the John Wick elements with his underworld stylings which don’t entirely fit into the world of Nobody – feel like screenwriters Derek Kolstad and Aaron Rabin saw them as necessary inclusions but had no clue as to how to comfortably slot them in.
Nobody 2 isn’t a disappointment as such. While providing some entertaining action sequences where it allows a messy precision to reign over the explosions and punches, sometimes only the details are heard. One instance takes place with the camera staying outside of the building in which everything takes place before seeing glimpses of the aftermath. There’s a good film in this sequel, and it’s helped by the short 89-minute run-time, it just feels somewhat weighed down by bringing its elements together and a reliance on the characters and elements of the first film rather than a stronger story.
Somewhat bound to the characters and details of the first film, Nobody 2’s story falters meaning that other key details, including a barely seen villain, feel pushed aside. However, there’s still an enjoyable nature, especially in the action scenes which get more creative as they go on.
Just A Little Bit Random 