Nobody 2 Review: More Silly, Slapstick Mayhem That Lacks a Punch

David Leitch and Kelly McCormick’s 87North Productions has left a major mark on action films over the past decade. Even though 87North’s first film wasn’t released until 2019, Leitch and McCormick had previously delivered audiences John Wick, Atomic Blonde, and Deadpool 2, while John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum marked the first official 87North release. Their next original project, Nobody, embraced the frenetic, brutal combat of Leitch and McCormick’s previous films while also delivering its fair share of absurdist humor. With Nobody 2, audiences are delivered yet another thrilling action experience and, while entertaining in its own right, it veers too far into the comedic realm to leave a lasting impact.

With Hutch (Bob Odenkirk) fully returning to his role as an “Auditor,” a ruthless agent who carries out the most violent of government missions, his wife Becca (Connie Nielsen) sees that he might be throwing himself too deep back into his old life, at the cost of missing out on family time. A committed family man, Hutch books a vacation for the whole clan at a water park, only for an inadvertent brawl to uncover a massive conspiracy going on in a small Wisconsin town involving drug lords, corrupt cops, and evil masterminds.

Bob Odenkirk is, as the kids say, a national treasure. For more than three decades, he’s managed to inject even the smallest of roles in either comedies or dramas with a quirky enthusiasm only he could pull off, so while he proved his dramatic chops in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, witnessing his complete transformation into an assassin for the original Nobody was a conceptual delight. Making matters even more thrilling is that his action scenes in the debut movie showcased him holding his own against a variety of thugs, which put a fresh spin on the “assassin coming out of retirement” trope.

With Odenkirk’s Hutch no longer being in retirement, the movie kicks off with more action than its predecessor, all of which is a sadistic delight under Timo Tjahjanto’s direction. Even if the hand-to-hand combat early on in the film is just as pulse-pounding, if not more so, than the original Nobody, there’s no longer the building sense of tension as audiences wait to see what it will take for Hutch to snap. He’s kicking ass and occasionally taking names from the jump, which undercuts the build towards the moment in which Hutch will inevitably release his fury.

Without the dramatic tension building to a boil, Nobody 2 pivots to lean more into the ludicrous nature of the premise. Rather than it being a surprise that Hutch is an assassin, the audience sees how difficult it is for him to reply to dinner plans when his phone is covered in blood and he can’t type correctly. Even if the inciting incident on Hutch’s vacation is an offensive display of aggression towards his young daughter, the ensuing fight scene showcases unconventional uses of a claw from a claw machine and reimagines a much more violent take on Whac-A-Mole. Subsequent bouts on duck boats, in arcades, and throughout an entire water park lean into the juxtaposition of the movie’s brutality with silly environments, though much of this undercuts the impressive fight choreography seen in the original movie.

Sadly, despite the impact Leitch, McCormick, and 87North have had on the action movie genre over the years, their offerings have become so formulaic and derivative, they lack the inventiveness that put them on the map originally. Movies like Bullet Train, Day Shift, The Fall Guy, and this year’s Love Hurts all feel like ripoffs of more successful 87North movies, despite coming from that actual creative team. There are still moments of delight to be found throughout Nobody 2‘s action-leaning scenes, they just don’t land quite as hard as the previous film, or even as hard as action scenes in films that are aping 87North’s house style. The cartoon-level fight scenes are visually engaging, but don’t quite make the audience squirm in their seats anymore.

Even if the combat itself isn’t quite as impressive as the previous movie, Odenkirk is still a thrill to watch. Christopher Lloyd and RZA also return for this installment as Hutch’s dad and brother, respectively, and all three are having a blast. Nielsen gets more to do in this film as the frustrated spouse who knows her husband loves her family yet can’t get him to invest in them, all while avoiding any sort of cliches of being the nagging partner. Colin Hanks taps into his villainous side as the local sheriff out to stop Hutch, leaving audiences to hope this is just the beginning of more nefarious opportunities for the performer. Sharon Stone also shines as the unhinged mastermind Lendina, offering the actor the chance to go completely off the rails in a way that never betrays the reality of the picture.

Fans of the original Nobody will enjoy Nobody 2 – the spirit of the original movie remains largely intact, Odenkirk and Lloyd are just as entertaining as ever, and the core concept of “assassin dad fights other assassins in a water park” is as enthralling as you’d imagine. By veering away from dramatic tension, which is an inherent struggle with the nature of a sequel, the movie gets a bit sillier and, while still entertaining, makes all of the bone-rattling action feel a bit muted.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Nobody 2 hits theaters on August 15th.