Nobody 2 (2025) – Review

Nobody 2 thoughts:

• It’s a lot of fun.
• Watch “The Night Comes for Us” and “Shadow Strays.” Director Timo Tjahanto rules.
• Sharon Stone is having the time of her life
• I want more.
• 89 minutes!
• I love a good boat fight
• There’s a moment in an arcade that had the entire audience cheering. You’ll know.

One of the highlights of 2021 cinema was watching a lean-and-mean Bob Odenkirk fistfight his way through dozens of goons in the film Nobody. The $16 million budgeted film directed by Ilya Naishuller (Hardcore Henry, Heads of State) pulled in $58 million worldwide and features one of the best action scenes of this decade. The bus fight between a jacked-up Odenkirk and revered stuntmen Daniel Bernhardt and Alain Moussi is a marvel of close-quartered mayhem that showcases the skills Odenkirk acquired over years of training. Before Nobody, audiences had grown accustomed to watching Odenkirk buy well-priced speakers in Mr. Show, or wheeling  and dealing his way through Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, so seeing him obliterate large men in a public transit bus was a welcome surprise. 

Between the decent box office haul and near-universal praise from audiences and critics, a sequel was inevitable, and I’m happy to say that Nobody 2 is a good time. The film’s quality was never in doubt because director Timo Tjahanto (The Night Comes for Us, The Shadow Strays) is one of the most exciting directors working today and Bob Odenkirk, Sharon Stone, Connie Nielsen, RZA, Christopher Lloyd, John Ortiz, Colin Hanks, Paisley Cadorath, and Gage Munroe are all in fine form. 

After the events of Nobody, former government assassin Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk) is forced to pay off his debts ($30+ million) to his government handler, The Barber (Colin Salmon). To pay off his debts, he’s tasked with “auditing” targets across the country, which keeps him away from his family, who have gotten used to him not making it home for dinner. After a particularly hard job, which sees him battling Corsicans, Brazilians and other various murderers, Hutch decides it’s time for a vacation, so he packs up his family and travels to Plummerville, the home of the world’s oldest waterpark. At first, it seems like a random place to visit, but it turns out that Hutch only went on one family vacation when he was a child, and he wants to return to Plummerville because he has fond memories of the place. 

Aside from hotel rooms that smell like cigars and the lack of real duck boats, the vacation goes well until Hutch’s son Brady (Gage Munroe) gets into a fight at an arcade that ends with a bouncer slapping Hutch’s daughter Sammy (Paisley Cadorath) in the back of her head. This incredibly stupid decision pushes Hutch into killer mode, and he violently assaults the bouncer and the rest of the arcade staff. The brawl puts him on the radar of a quasi-mulleted Sheriff (Colin Hanks) and local druglord/waterpark owner Henry (John Diaz), who tell Hutch to leave the town immediately. Hutch and his wife Becca (Connie Neilsen) ignore their threat and decide to keep their heads down and continue their vacation. It’s a bad idea because after a boat fight and a warehouse explosion (Hutch loves burning money), Hutch is targeted by the biblically evil Lendina (Sharon Stone), an uber-druglord who kills entire families with glee. With Hutch’s family in danger, his dad (Christopher Lloyd) and brother Harry (RZA) come to town, and it all ends with a spectacular action scene in an amusement park. 

Director Timo Tjahanto calls the film a “summer rage outburst” compared to the “moody winter meditation” that was the first film. After 10+ years of moody ultra-violence, it’s fun watching Timo have fun. He and Odenkirk had a lot of discussions about the character of Hutch, and they made sure to give his family more to do so they can all grow together. The film is all about Hutch balancing work and family, while trying not to murder people who annoy him. The idea of a government assassin (who looks like Bob Odenkirk – no offense Bob), trying to subdue his killer spirit so he can exist in the real world, is very interesting, and I think the two films have expertly tackled the unique duality of Hutch Mansell. 

Final thoughts – Nobody 2 is a lot of fun, and it will put a smile on many people’s faces who have gone on good/bad summer vacations.