'Nobody 2' Review: Short, entertaining, but largely forgettable

Khaleej Times

3 days ago

Can we ever truly be on a break? Not the Ross-and-Rachel 'we were on a break' kind of break, but the real kind where you just switch off, free yourself from responsibilities, and detach from the daily 9-to-5 cycle. I guess not.
At least not in movies. And definitely not in action movies where the lead is a former Baba Yaga kind of a guy trying to live a peaceful life. The genre rulebook is simple: they never stay retired. And if they did, the film would just… not happen. John Wick is the easiest example. You could also throw in Taken, The Equalizer — they all follow that 'once you're in, you're never really out' pattern.
Hutch Mansell, played again by Bob Odenkirk, is no exception. In Nobody (2021), he tried hard to bury his violent instincts and live a quiet suburban life. But when you've been in 'the game' long enough, you can only suppress the itch for so long before something — or someone — forces you back. And when Hutch finally unleashed in the first film, we all saw that he was far from the harmless dad people assumed he was.
This time around, Hutch is living with the fallout. There are debts to pay, enemies still out there, and family tensions to navigate. So what does he do? The same thing a lot of us do when we're burnt out; he plans a family vacation. His wife (Connie Nielsen) is back, the kids are older, sharp-tongued and can swing a fist, and Grandpa (Christopher Lloyd) is tagging along too.
The destination? A nostalgic getaway spot tied to Hutch's childhood.
The goal? Quality time.
The reality? On day one, trouble knocks on the door. And Hutch, being Hutch, answers with fists (and various improvised weapons and booby traps).
The action is still the main draw here. Director Timo Tjahjanto, making his English-language debut, has a great eye for fight choreography. The set pieces are tight, brutal, and cleanly staged, though a little less gory than Part 1, but still enough to make you wince in that 'good' action-movie way. What's nice is that Odenkirk still sells every punch. He doesn't move like a superhero; he moves like a guy who's skilled but human, which makes the fights more grounded.
Story-wise, there's not much to unpack — and that's kind of the point. This isn't a deep character study or a revenge saga with emotional baggage. It's a lean, fast-paced reminder that sometimes all you want from a movie is a dad with a deadly set of skills wrecking bad guys who underestimated him.
The new cast brings some flavour. Sharon Stone plays the big villain, and she's a riot when she's on screen — sharp, fun, and just theatrical enough without going cartoonish. The only problem is that she shows up too late in the game. Should've given her more screen time because she's just simply deserving.
In the end, Nobody 2 is exactly what it says on the box. It's short. It's simple. It's watchable. You don't need to see it in a cinema to enjoy it — it'll work just fine on a Friday night at home with snacks. But if you do watch it in the theatre, it's the kind of film that fills the gap between bigger releases. For 89 minutes, you're entertained. And then, like a vacation that ends too soon, you'll forget the details as soon as you're back to work.