Bob Odenkirk has known how to capitalize on the success of his roles in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. Being his most celebrated and admired works, he has managed to take on roles that, while not superstar material, allow him to explore his possibilities and do exactly what he wants as an actor. That doesn’t stop him from surprising us in 2021 by showing us that what he wanted to do was his own version of John Wick called Nobody.
Directed by Ilya Naishuller and written by Derek Kolstad, creator of the original concept of John Wick, Nobody was a film starring Bob Odenkirk in which he played an ordinary family man who secretly is a former professional assassin. When he becomes the target of a vengeful crime lord, he must return to his old job and take care of his enemies, proving that despite the years and his family, he has not lost an ounce of his killing ability.
A John Wick for the Home
If it sounds like John Wick, it’s because it draws from John Wick, except that Nobody has a very marked humorous tone, making use of Odenkirk’s more pathetic vein. With a clever script and direction that was nowhere near what the movie it was inspired by achieved, the result was a very enjoyable film that managed to turn its 16 million budget into over 57 million at the box office and a notable response from critics. A resounding success that secured it a sequel, this time with a bigger budget and a more prominent name in the direction.
Nobody 2 follows what happened in the original story, putting our protagonist in the position of having to take on his role as a killer in the middle of a vacation with his family. All of this while he tries to fix his relationship with them after things started to go wrong following the events of the previous movie.
With Derek Kolstad returning to the script, this time with Aaron Rabin, the film is directed by Timo Tjahtanto in his Hollywood debut. Tjahjanto is an Indonesian director specialized in action and horror films who has directed excellent action movies like Killers, Headshot, and The Night Comes for Us, something that is evident in Nobody 2, where the action gains significantly thanks to his fast and vibrant guerrilla style, where the camera never stops shaking and always closely follows the characters. Unfortunately, a weaker script than that of the first film detracts from some of the film’s merits in that regard.
In any case, that doesn’t make the movie worse. Just different. A little worse in terms of narrative, quite better visually. This is reflected in more divisive reviews than the original, although with a very similar box office: having cost 25 million dollars, it has managed to gross a notable 41 million. A more than acceptable figure for an action movie.
If you like action movies and have Peacock, you can now stream Nobody 2. And you should, because there are few fresher and summery movies, now that winter is coming, that you will be able to find streaming.
