“Nobody 2” (2025) is the sequel to “Nobody” (2021), and if you liked the first one, you’ll love 2. Four years later, Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk) is back at his old job to pay back the debt that he accrued taking down the Russian mob, which means that he feels adrift from his family and wants to reconnect. Hutch’s treasured childhood memories inspire them to head to Plummerville, the city where the oldest water park, Wild Bill’s Majestic Midway and Waterpark, is located. When the locals decide to pick on the wrong family, hot headed Hutch cannot get a break and stay out of trouble. Hutch stumbles on a corrupt town where law enforcement is at the command of the legendary Lendina (Sharon Stone), who has kept the area under her rule of terror for generations. Can Hutch help the locals and his family break generational curses and become better than their predecessors? Yes, the sequel is better.
“Nobody 2” hits the ground running establishing Hutch’s new routine after coming out to his family as a former indomitable assassin for the US government. Well, he is back on the job, and Odenkirk does a great job playing a man with anger issues and the skills to release his rage. He also imbues Hutch with an awareness that he is at risk of losing his family if he keeps putting them second to his job. It never gets old watching Hutch seem like an ordinary guy then unleash a can of whoop ass on more fearsome looking foes. His son, Brady (Gage Munroe), resents the hypocrisy of Dad’s lectures against using violence to solve problems. His daughter, Sammy (Paisley Cadorath), is getting older and spending more time with friends. She may get the funniest, unexpected moment related to the end credits. It is a real “cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon” dilemma. Becca (Connie Nielsen) is still an understanding wife, but she also feels as if Hutch is brushing them off and taking her for granted.
Nielsen needs to buy some lottery tickets because she guessed correctly that there would be a sequel and/or made a deal with the filmmakers, who held up their end of the bargain that she would get more screen time. Odenkirk is still the star, but Nielsen started using her physicality and a chilly demeanor to lay the foundation for revealing Becca’s backstory. Nielsen is really locked into selling that Becca adores Hutch, and the pair have great chemistry. It is really cute to see a married couple weather the storm, and both pull together to make it work. Take notes! There is a war between her head and heart, but the heart is winning. Also how does she pull off wearing a shirt unbuttoned to her sternum and still seem like a mom on vacation, not a thirst trap, while still being stunning?
Christopher Lloyd is back as the paternal grandpa, David, but unlike the first movie, he is out and about more. He interacts with the entire family instead of just his sons plus there are more reveals about his parenting style. By revisiting a favorite childhood memory, Hutch gets to realize that he is not the first man in the family trying to develop his relationship with his family while working a demanding, not kid friendly, job. No word about Hutch’s mom though so maybe the next movie. RZA as Harry, Hutch’s brother, gets more screen time, and like grandpa, interacts with the family. Instead of remaining off screen when the brothers are talking over the air waves, “Nobody 2” reveals how Harry spends his free time, which was only heard and discussed before, not shown. He also gets an elegant, memorable fight scene that matches his style more than in the denouement of the first film.
The opposition is more played for laughs than a formidable foe who seems like a plausible victor in a showdown against Hutch. Colin Hanks gets stuck with the least flattering hairstyle as Sheriff Abel, a man with a huge chip on his shoulder who never realizes that he is in over his head and fighting above his weight class. Henry Martin (John Ortiz) is the man who calls the shots and runs the main tourist attraction. If “Nobody 2” has a flaw, he never seems like his sauce matches Hutch’s sauce even though they are supposed to be dad foils engaged in violent careers that could ensnare their sons.
Thank God for Sharon Stone who delivers an over-the-top, stylish, coked out performance without the illegal substances. At last, a woman villain in an action film who wants to hurt kids. If the public does not unconditionally crown Lendina as their new queen after staging a coup against Megan, then Stone should sue. Everyone has been trying to get lighting to strike twice after Christopher Walken’s dance in Fatboy Slim’s video “Weapon of Choice” (2001). As scorchingly hot as Daniel Craig is, the Taika Waititi directed Belvedere vodka commercial featuring Craig tried too hard. Stone wins in an outfit that feels as if Madonna would have worn it to perform at her concert during her glory, golden era and a dance that screams unhinged joy. If there were words to the song, they would be, “I’m going to kill somebody.” She gets flanked with three stylish, individual henchmen, which includes Megan Hui as Mia, Rochelle Okoye as Sue, and Daniel Bernhardt, who played a different character on-screen and served off-screen as the principal fight trainer and fight choreographer in the first film. Usually, henchmen are forgettable or anti-climactic, but this time, it felt slightly unrealistic that the Mansells could take down Lendina and her backup fighters. Lendina’s fatal flaw is Bond Villain-itis where she talks more than she can kill at the wrong time.
Indonesian director Timo Tjahjanto does not disappoint, and even though he does not take the Fred and Ginger approach to capturing the action, he has a great sense of rhythm, composition and pacing. He succeeds at making the boat scene into the new bus scene that will likely go viral. It never gets old when people underestimate Hutch then Hutch makes them regret it. It is also nice to have discernible nighttime scenes where nothing gets lost in the fray. Writer Derek Kolstad, who is most famous for penning the “John Wick” franchise, returned but shared writing duties with Aaron Rabin. The pair succeed at world building and adding to the mythology of this world similar to but distinct from what Kolstad did in the “John Wick” franchise.
“Nobody 2” is the most brutal family friendly and romantic film. It is such a joy when a movie knows what people want then gives it to them. It is extra special when a sequel builds and grows on the foundation that the first film established without performing the same tricks. This franchise is just getting started.
