The action comedy Nobody 2 — in which Bob Odenkirk reprises his role as a family man with violent secrets — improves on its predecessor, but that’s a low bar to clear. Incoming director Timo Tjahjanto adds flair to the action scenes, which have a bouncier and more comedic verve than Ilya Naishuller’s Nobody, while taking some amusing character-centric swerves. It’s fun, until it isn’t. The longer the sequel goes on, the more it comes apart, thanks to physical and emotional setups that aren’t adequately paid off, and a tale of fatherhood left in suspended animation.
Penned by Nobody scribe (and John Wick creator) Derek Kolstad, along with co-writer Aaron Rabin, Tjahjanto’s sequel spends the first half hour of its scant 90 minutes re-treading familiar ground, albeit with a purpose. Like the first entry, Nobody 2 opens in medias res, during the police interrogation of bruised and bloodied Hutch Mansell (Odenkirk), priming us to expect brutality once again. This time, there’s a dog present for his questioning. It’s another distinctly Wick-like flourish, in a series that already feels like an alternate-take on the material — What if Keanu Reeves’ Baba Yaga had a family? — but don’t expect the movie to fulfill its canine promise.
