"Although the novelty and surprise of a mild mannered man of a certain age with 'a particular set of skills' has gone, Nobody 2 follows the first film well"

Nobody 2 is the sequel to the 2021 film Nobody starring Bob Odenkirk as Hutch Mansell, a former government assassin, the sequel and its predecessor were both written by Derek Kolstad, the writer and creator of the John Wick franchise.

The original film was released during the Covid-19 Pandemic and proved to be commercially and criticality successful, especially within the box office limitations of the pandemic period. It also developed a cult following amongst action film lovers.

Although not bringing anything new to the action comedy genre, Nobody successfully combined its array of characters, humour and action set pieces to great effect making for a highly enjoyable film. It also turned Bob Odenkirk into an action star.

The original film begins with Hutch living a mundane life full of routine, he’s married with two children, but the marriage has gone stale. Through a set of circumstances portrayed throughout the film the Hutch’s past has a reawakening and he turns from being a mild mannered man back into man of action.

The film concludes with Hutch having dealt with the impending threat, his children aware of their dad’s other side and with a new spark in his marriage to Becca Mansell played by Connie Nielsen, the pair reignite the flame in their romance.

Nobody 2 picks up sometime after the events of the first film with Hutch trying to balance ‘work’ life with his home life with the main characters from the first film returning; Connie Nielsen as Becca, Hutch’s wife and Gage Munroe as Brady his son and Paisley Cadorath as Sammy his daughter. Also making a return are Christopher Lloyd as his father and RZA as his brother.

Having now returned to his previous life as a covert operative, Hutch is kept busy since he has to pay off large financial dept that he’s accrued with his previous clandestine actions. This again places pressure on the family dynamic. To this end the family decide to take a vacation to Plummerville. A destination where Hutch, his dad and his brother went to in his childhood and he has fond memories of.

Arriving in Plummerville with his family and his dad, Hutch had promised to build new happy memories and escape from their everyday lives, however an incident in a local arcade and an encounter with a corrupt and nasty sheriff played by Colin Hanks starts a chain of events that can only be dealt with in Hutch’s ‘usual style’.

Although the novelty and surprise of a mild mannered man of a certain age with ‘a particular set of skills’ has gone, Nobody 2 follows the first film well, the wife and children characters are given more air time and are central to the plot.

Somewhat derivative of the first film, Nobody 2 successfully follows Nobody within the limitations of retaining the main characters from the original film. It keeps the humour, action and fun solidly going in its short run time of 89 minutes.

Often sequels can be a let down, but this popcorn movie delivers not on the same level as it’s predecessor, but highly enough to be entertaining earning itself 3 and half out of 5 stars.