Nobody 2, 2025.
Directed by Timo Tjahjanto.
Starring Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, Christopher Lloyd, John Ortiz, RZA, Sharon Stone, Colin Hanks, Gage Munroe, Paisley Cadorath, Colin Salmon, Jacob Blair, Daniel Bernhardt, Lucius Hoyos, and David MacInnis.
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.
Nobody knows what to do with Nobody 2. With Timo Tjahjanto taking over in the director’s chair (a staple of Indonesian action cinema having crafted much more inspired, violent, and exhilarating works than this, some of which you can check out from the comfort of home on Netflix) and handed a potentially fun premise of a family vacation turned into a fight for survival for United States Intelligence Committee assassin/suburban dad Hutch Mansell (a returning Bob Odenkirk), with set pieces in locales ranging from arcades to duck boats to mini-amusement/water parks, what’s here is a severe let-down.
There is a kernel of an idea for a story here in that A: the family needs to spend more time together with Hutch missing lots of quality time from working assassinations and B: his teenage son Brady (Gage Munroe) concerningly starting to take after that violence whether it be at school competing in sports or defending a girl from a cruel boyfriend. It’s not long before much of this is abandoned entirely to focus on a contrived plot involving the tourism town as a friend for drug running, overseen from afar by Sharon Stone’s generically ruthless and crazy Lendina.
Naturally, this thrusts Hutch into action in the above scenarios, except this time around, the violence has no verve. If anything, it comes across as a glorified cartoon that has no concern for human life, which is somewhat disappointing given that the first film (which was also written by Derek Kolstad) took it’s time as a mild character study, building up to that eruption of violence following around a man pushed to his breaking point and unable to hold back what he once was.
Again, given that Brody is developing that same thirst for brutality, there is a solid concept for a movie here (seeing as Holiday Road plays during the TV spots, it wouldn’t be a surprise to learn that this was pitched as Nobody by National Lampoon’s Vacation, which essentially means John Wick by way of National Lampoon’s Vacation given that this is the latest series desperately trying to cash in on that success) that goes to waste. Speaking of that comparison, an infinitely more intriguing approach would have been following through on that, with carnage and disaster on the way to the vacation destination.
Setting that aside and reviewing only what is here, the truly disappointing aspect is that, aside from one painfully creative kill on a slip-and-slide, most of these brawls and shootouts are forgettable. That’s the exact opposite of what’s to be expected from Timo Tjahjanto, an honest-to-goodness modern-day giant when it comes to choreographing such mayhem. In his defense, that script, which seems to be more concerned with finding cheap ways to work in returning characters played by Christopher Lloyd’s former FBI father (coasting off of his lovable personality, doing nothing but sitting in a chair again for the majority of the runtime, which is understandable given his age) and the katana-sporting brother to Hutch played by RZA.
Part of this narrative also gets into Hutch’s supportive wife Becca’s (Connie Nielsen, also returning) distrust over whether or not he came here for rest, relaxation, and family time, and isn’t secretly on the job. That culminates in a crescendo, busting out a Celine Dion song, yet still falls flat.
This isn’t to say that Nobody 2 is boring, as it certainly has more than enough action with a mercifully short running time to make it watchable, but that it’s also impressive how shoulder-shrugging it is. Hutch’s young daughter Sammy (Paisley Cadorath) is also here, but her extent of purpose comes down to getting smacked on the head by an arcade employee to set off her father’s rage, and by extension, the rest of this pointless story.
Nobody 2 is the type of film ideally suited for Timo Tjahjanto that should have put him on the map in Hollywood. Instead, it’s a complete nothing; mildly entertaining, completely disposable. It’s reasonable to confidently say nobody will remember it.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder
