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Boston Globe

‘Nobody 2′: Better call brawl

(from left) Max (Lucius Hoyos) and Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk) in Nobody 2, directed by Timo Tjahjanto. (Allen Fraser/Universal Pictures) 15nobody Allen Fraser/Universal Pictures Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The creator of that fireball, Christopher Lloyd, reprises his role in 'Nobody 2.' He plays Hutch's dad, David, whom fans of the first film know is even more lethal than his kids. RZA also returns as Hutch's brother, Harry. In fact, the entire cast of ' Hell, even Michael Ironside shows up again as Becca's father, Eddie. You know what they say: Put the star of 'Scanners' in a movie, and somebody's head is bound to explode. Skip the next two paragraphs if you've seen the first 'Nobody.' Advertisement Bob Odenkirk as Hutch Mansell in "Nobody 2." Allen Fraser/Universal Pictures Hutch Mansell is a mild-mannered office worker whose secret past involves being an assassin. It's a family business that his wife knows about, but his children do not. After beating the tar out of a group of thugs connected to the Russian Mafia, Hutch and his family become targets of Yulian, one of the mob's head honchos. Hutch, Harry, and David take out an near-infinite amount of men sent to kill them after Hutch sets every dollar of Yulian's enormous cash supply on fire. After defeating Yulian and his crew, Hutch returns to normal family life—at least until the final scene sets up a potential sequel that will send him back into action. 'Nobody 2' opens the same way 'Nobody' did, with Hutch sitting in an interrogation room. In the first film, he's holding a cute kitty cat as the cops ask 'who the BLEEP are you?' We then flash back to a montage of scenes of Hutch's daily routine of waking up, riding the bus to work, and putting out the garbage. The days of the week appear in big, bold letters as the montage recounts weeks of the same activities. In 'Nobody 2,″ Hutch is now sitting next to some kind of wolf dog as a new set of cops asks the same question. The montage of mundane daily duties now includes killing people, as Hutch has returned to the assassination game to pay off the money he burned in 'Nobody.' My heart sank at the rehashing of the first film's clever introduction. Thankfully, this sequel isn't as lazy as the folks who came up with its title. Kolstad and his co-writer, Aaron Rabin, create a smart plotline for Hutch that mixes ultraviolence with genuine emotion. The screenplay also gives Hutch a new nemesis, Lendina, played by a very game Sharon Stone. Advertisement Sharon Stone as Lendina. Universal Pictures In addition to paying off his debts through increasingly complicated assassinations, Hutch has to deal with his son's anger management problem. Becca points out that there's a good reason Brady resorts to violence as a means to solve conflict: 'like father, like son.' Hutch's 'do as I say and not as I do' approach just isn't working, either. Becca is also sick and tired of her husband not being home due to his constant string of contract hits. Sensing his marriage is in trouble, Hutch demands some time off for a vacation. He takes Becca and the kids to Wild Bill's Majestic Midway and Waterpark in Plummerville, the site of the one vacation David took him and Harry on when they were kids. Unbeknownst to Hutch, Plummerville is a front for Lendina's nasty dealings. These include running drugs and weapons with the aid of a corrupt police force led by Abel (Colin Hanks) and Wyatt (John Ortiz). When Wyatt's baseball player son Max (Lucius Hoyos) bullies Brady, Brady breaks Max's arm, and Wyatt uses the entire police force to try and off Hutch. Suffice it to say, things do not go well for the Plummerville police force — and that's before Hutch runs afoul of lethal Lendina, her dog, and her endless supply of disposable hit men. The waterpark in this movie is a delightful piece of production design. It looks like a decrepit tourist trap that hasn't changed since the 1970s. Lendina herself is also an awesome visual throwback, a ruthless ice blonde who went to the same stylist Brigitte Nielsen's character used in 1987's 'Beverly Hills Cop II.' Advertisement RZA as Harry Mansell. Universal Pictures Director Timo Tjahjanto is no stranger to outrageous violence. (See his 2016 film, 'Headshot.') He knows what the bloodthirsty audience wants, and that Odenkirk and company are just the right people to deliver it in under 90 minutes. Once again, Odenkirk is lots of fun as filmdom's most unexpected purveyor of brute force. And Tjahjanto gives RZA a scene where he brandishes a gigantic sword, which will certainly delight ★★★ NOBODY 2 Directed by Timo Tjahjanto. Written by Derek Kolstad, Aaron Rubin. Starring Bob Odenkirk, Sharon Stone, Connie Nielsen, Christopher Lloyd, RZA, Gage Munroe, Paisley Cadorath, Michael Ironside, Colin Hanks, John Ortiz. 89 min. At AMC Boston Common, Landmark Kendall Square, Alamo Drafthouse Seaport, AMC Causeway, suburbs. R ('Nobody' knows the trouble I've seen) Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe's film critic.