87North continues to keep the action movie genre alive, almost singlehandedly. Following the success of John Wick and its many sequels, its launched a bunch of similar-looking flicks such as Kate, Love Hurts, and the most successful, Nobody. That film saw unassuming funnyman Bob Odenkirk becoming an unlikely ass-kicker and people loved seeing him that way. For me, the film was too generic to be any good. But the sequel, Nobody 2, is far superior in every way, with a better director, a literal amusement park’s worth of explosive, adrenaline-fueled action, and Odenkirk as the ultra-violent hero we all want to see.
Nobody 2 is directed by Indonesian filmmaker Timo Tjahjanto, known for such crazy violent movies as Killers, Headshot, The Night Comes for Us, and The Shadow Strays. No disrespect to previous director Ilya Naishuller, but he’s better suited to lighter stuff like Heads of State. Timo doesn’t hold back; the sequel is harder hitting and gruesome as Hell. Sure, it’s still goofy (Odenkirk punching a bad guy trapped in a duck head is a highlight) but that’s just to make the extreme gore a bit easier to swallow. Not only that, but the maximum carnage is matched by a slew of unhinged performances and a plot that’s so ridiculous you have to love it.
Odenkirk’s Hutch Mansell is in deep debt after torching $30M in Russian mob money. To pay it off, he’s had to work it off by doing what he does best, beating up and killing people. But he’s exhausted, his wife Becca (Connie Nielsen) is getting frustrated by his absence, and he barely sees his kids, Brady (Gage Munroe) and Sammy (Paisley Cadorath). So he packs up the fam and takes them on a vacation to the amusement park that was a rare happy place for him as a child. Unfortunately, the town isn’t as he remembered it. Instead, it’s run by a corrupt Sheriff (Colin Hanks, going against type), a shady theme park owner (John Ortiz), and turns out to be a waystation for a criminal syndicate led by Lendina, played with Walken-esque dancing nuttiness by Sharon Stone.
One of the best things about the Nobody films is that they are fairly lean, packing in tons of cool, creative fights in 90 minutes. Nobody 2 goes balls-to-the-wall almost immediately, with Hutch fighting off hordes of gang members in an elevator, blowing up everything in sight, slicing others with a bandsaw, and more. Odenkir as an action hero was part of the joke last time, but here he’s a lot more credible. You totally lose the idea of him as Odenkirk the comedian and see him totally as this guy who could seriously fuck you up if he wanted to. Fight coordinator Kirk A Jenkins blends styles from the east and west, like John Wick meets Jackie Chan, and combines slick hand-to-hand with prop comedy. Odenkirk nails all of it, whether he’s slugging it out or in a gun battle down a water slide. Yes, that happens, too.
Odenkirk isn’t the only one who gets in on the fun, either. Christopher Lloyd continues to be a blast as Hutch’s father, David, mowing down goons with heavy machine guns and blowing them up with landmines. RZA returns as Hutch’s samurai bro, Harry, and he gets a killer swordfight with genre stalwart Daniel Bernhardt, who was just seen getting his ass kicked in 87North’s Ballerina weeks ago. The company loves him, and for good reason. Bernhardt’s an amazingly punchable bad guy.
There’s also a bit more story this time, too. Hutch is trying to keep his family together while keeping the nature of his work from his kids. He’s worried about Brady, who is showing signs of Dad’s aggressive nature. This gets him into a fight with the bullying son of the amusement park owner, thus drawing the Sheriff’s ire and the unwanted attention of Lendina. Speaking of which, Stone hasn’t had a role this enjoyable in ages. Nor has she been this violent since The Quick and the Dead! She should play evil like this more often.
Nobody 2 is one of the best times at the movies you’ll have all summer. These films have done for Odenkirk what Taken did for Liam Neeson, and I hope this franchise has just as long of a run. Hutch’s story is far from over.
Nobody 2 opens in theaters on August 15th.
