Hutch Mansell is back but his quest for some quality family time turns into a bloodier mess than fighting off the Russian mob in the first film.
Make no mistake, 2021’s sleeper hit, Nobody existed to count how many ways we could see its star Bob Odenkirk beat up bad guys. It instantly turned the Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul star into an action hero of sorts, a sort of Liam Neeson spinoff with a touch of John Wick. Key to it working was the genuine humor and “Everyman” aspect of this guy, Hutch, whose itchy trigger finger is set off right from the start as low life burglars invade his house, and then battles bigger foes with the Russian mob. His family including wife Becca (Connie Nielsen), son Brady (Gage Munroe) and younger daughter Sammy (Paisley Cadorath) knew nothing of his secret life.
Now four years later in the sequel, Nobody 2, they are all back but resigned to dad being a bit of a workaholic killing and beating up various gradations of the darkest criminal element and in doing so also paying off a $30 million debt he owes the criminal enterprise he works for. We see him doing his Jackie Chan-like kickass thing early on, but the bigger problem is his family life which has gone down the tubes with frequent absences and lack of time and energy to be a husband to Becca, and father to a now-17 year old son and 12 year old daughter. What to do? Well it is summertime and dad announces he is taking everyone on vacation to the one place he remembered from his own youth, Wild Bill’s Majestic Midway & Waterpark in shithole small town Plummerville. A look at the place on the internet does not thrill the family to say the least, but Hutch has fond memories as it was the only vacation his father, David (Christopher Lloyd) ever took him and his brother Harry (RZA) on. So he prevails, picks up Granddad, puts on the Jimmy Buffet-style shirt and sets off for some R&R. Of course you just know this will be a vacation like no other.
The waterpark of his memory is now a shadow of what it once was, the rides not even working at the moment, so the arcade is the only place to go, but unfortunately a teen bully gets into an altercation with Brady, and a security guy even pushes Sammy. The only question is just how, not if this will set Hutch off, much to his wife’s dismay and promise that he would not engage. In no time the brawl begins and Hutch struts his stuff, landing him in the crosshairs of Wild Bill owner Wyatt Martin (John Ortiz) who is also mixed up with Plummerville’s criminal element, a hidden cabal involving Sherrif Abel (Colin Hanks) and his “guys”, and the wickedly evil take-no-prisoners crime boss, Lendina (Sharon Stone) who runs the casino, as well as a secret guns and drugs operation. Hutch will soon be crossing paths with all of them, including a hilarious battle on a tacky Duck Boat water ride that quickly turns lethal. But that is just a sample of what is to come as director Timo Tjahjanto (renowned for practicing New Indonesian Extremism and making his studio debut after success in his home country in the action genre), and returning screenwriter Derek Kolstad (with Aaron Rabin) clearly know the secret sauce of Nobody is to stage one outrageously violent confrontation for Hutch after another and another and another.
Fortunately Odenkirk brings another level to this even if all of it is just silly fun. We just love watching Hutch in action, a beleaugered family man who simply can’t help himself and has better moves than Rambo at his peak. The star knows exactly what audiences expect from Hutch and delivers 100% in a tight 89 minute running time, but miraculously Odenkirk finds some humanity within. Ultimately the inevitable showdown between Hutch and the Queen Bee that Stone embodies also works, not just for the inventive bloodletting, but also the LOL lunacy of it all. Stone clearly relishes getting to play this crazed killer, barking orders to her minions like, “take him out. I am bored with him!” It’s also fun to see the return of Hutch’s brother Harry and their father David, as both RZA and Lloyd bring back the assistance to Hutch, ratcheting up what they offered toward the end of the first film in the franchise. Props also to Ortiz who manages to add some unexpected dimension to Wyatt, and Hanks who appropriately doesn’t for the one- note Sheriff at odds with Hutch right from their first meeting in a coffee shop.
The stunt coordination team of Greg Rementon, Kyle McLean, and fight choreographer Kirk Jenkins deserve a lot of credit as the sheer level of mind boggling action required is over the top. But in the end it is Odenkirk who makes this Nobody somebody to watch.
Producers are Odenkirk, David Leitch, Kelly McCormick, Marc Provissiero, Braden Aftergood.
Title: Nobody 2
Distributor: Universal
Release Date: August 15, 2025
Director: Timo Tjahjanto
Screenplay: Derek Kolstad and Aaron Rabin
Cast: Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, John Ortiz, Colin Hanks, RZA, Christopher Lloyd, Sharon Stone, Paisley Cadorath, Gage Munroe, Colin Salmon, Daniel Bernhardt, Lucius Hoyos
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour and 29 minutes
