Nobody - Movie Review

Last week I talked about unusual casting choices for a moment and how some films can have a certain actor primarily known for type-casting certain genres to go outside the box and try something new. Sometimes stepping out of your regular typecast can open up a whole new world of possibilities and acting abilities. Who knew silly, laid-back Keanu Reeves could become a badass martial arts master and secret agent? Who knew Heath Ledger, famed for his charm and upbeat attitude, could give an Oscar-winning performance as one of the most iconic villains in comic book history? Who knew comedic and good-natured Brian Cranston could play a ruthless meth dealer mastermind? This year we got another one of these actor twists in a new action film callled Nobody!

Nobody is the story of Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk), a seemingly ordinary man living an ordinary wife. He has a wife, two kids, and works at a metal fabrication company as an office worker. But after two people try to rob his house his life starts to spiral out of control until he's on a bus that gets boarded by a bunch of young, loud-mouth Russians. He gets into a brawl with these punks, gaining a few scars, but ultimately beating the hell out of every one of them to the point that most of them are in critical condition or dead. One of these victims of Hutch has an older brother, Yulian Kuznetsov (Aleksei Serebryakov), who is dangerous Russian mob enforcer. Yulian, learning of his brother's fate, swears revenge on whoever caused this and soon discovers it was Hutch. But Hutch is a lot more than Yulian could ever dream of.

Now yes, this movie is a lot like John Wick. It was written by Derek Kolstad, who wrote all three previous John Wick movies, basically creating the John Wick franchise. Quite a few films since the release of the first John Wick have tried to copy its style of action and story to make a profit, but often lacked a few elements that made the original John Wick film so memorable and epic. From the trailers alone I almost thought that Nobody was set in the John Wick universe since it had the brutality and a few story elements that's trademark of the John Wick films. There's gold currency, a secret organization, Russians, and a few other elements that make the two films similar. But they're not in the same universe.

Let's get to the star of the movie, Bob Odenkirk. Many people know him from the TV shows Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul for his performance as Jimmy Mcgill/ Saul Goodman, a charismatic, scheming lawyer who takes a darker path down life representing criminals and getting involved in underworld activities. Bob is mostly a drama and comedy actor, which he is great at for his excellent timing and his wonderful charm. So when I saw the first trailer for Nobody and saw him beating the shit out of people I was shocked and super excited because it looked like he had been doing fight training for years. That is actually the case because he took two years to train for this film learning fight choreography and doing a majority of his own stunts in the film, the latter of which makes his performance significantly more impressive. Plus, despite of how serious his character is, Odenkirk still has some great comedic timing in this film.

What makes the action in Nobody different from the action in John Wick is that John Wick, as a character, is a basically a power fantasy. He's a perfect killing machine, able to headshot anybody with superhuman accuracy, as well as continually survive continual attacks from other assassins and constantly avoid getting hit by bullets. Yes, Keanu Reeves/ John Wick gets roughed sometimes, but most of the time he's the one laying down the pain and leaving behind rooms of dead bodies. In Nobody though Bob Odenkirk/ Hutch is continually getting the shit kicked out of him while delivering brutal blows and leaving behind his own rooms of corpses. Hutch is basically if John Wick had been retired for several decades instead of two years, rusty at first but always having those killing skills in the back of his mind. When his dangerous side is reawakened he's not as good as he used to be, but is still terrifyingly dangerous. He's getting punched, stabbed, hit with hard objects, and shot, but is always coming back from fights with some ripped clothes and a whole lot of bruises and nasty cuts. He's not a superhero, he's a more grounded character.

Additionally, unlike John Wick, who is mostly just good with guns and with martial arts, Hutch has more skills to him that make him so dangerous. He's not just good with guns and in a fight, but he is also an expert at making home-made weapons and traps, along with electrician skills. It's more of his ingenuity and cunning that should be feared more than his muscles and firearms. That's because he's more of a fixer than a killer, a person who solves those dangerous problems, whether it's killing or setting somebody up for failure. In fact before we even see him do any real fighting we learn how he's able to notice small details and track down people easily such as noticing a tattoo from one of the house robbers and going to local parlors to find out if anybody recently got that specific tattoo. This really made Hutch stand out as a character and made me just love Bob Odenkirk's performance as him. Additionally he doesn't just use martial arts to defend himself, but anything in the vicinity likes bats, golf clubs, and teakettles of boiling water. Hutch utilizes whatever he can to win every fight. Yes, John Wick also does this, but only until the third film do see really see this happening.

Nobody though has a few problems that make it lower quality than any John Wick film to date. The first of these is the villain. They are incredibly weak. Not physically, but emotionally and for the story. They're not very intimidating, having tantrums whenever anything goes wrong and mostly singing karaoke being their character traits. The first villain in the John Wick movies wasn't the most frightening of characters, but they had control over their emotions and their criminal empire, along with having class and an air of importance to them. This villain in Nobody is just pitiful, really only able to use a gun pretty well and not much else. That lack of control especially made them just so unimportant in a sense of rank because the best villains in any media are ones that have a sense of control or importance that makes us go, "You don't want to mess with this person."

Another flaw of Nobody is the development of the world and its characters. It had the potential of developing a really grand world as more of Hutch's backstory reveals itself, but it by the end of the film I was still craving for more information. It isn't like John Wick where we actually get a glimpse of the Continental and the type of people that run the criminal underworld John used to be a part of. There just isn't enough to keep memories of this movie staying in my head. Additionally, besides Hutch I don't think I can name a single character in this movie. I mean there is Hutch's wife, his father (played very well by Christopher Lloyd), and Hutch's brother, but I can not, even after seeing the film yesterday, put a name to these characters. Not only are their names barely said, but we don't get to dive into or interact with these characters much to get to know them. I was eager to know more about Hutch and his wife met or more on the origins of Hutch's skills. But there just isn't enough for me. The actors are great in their roles, but I wished for more depth to them.

These two flaws together have the possibility of making Nobody a film people aren't going to remember very long or well. I personally have had years watching Bob Odenkirk be Saul Goodman and I've gained great respect for the guy, but that's me. Some people might not know this actor as well and so might not be as invested as I was in Nobody. When don't have much development of the story or characters, as well as a terrible villain, you're setting up a film that might not stick with some people. You can have incredible highlights, but if the film isn't balanced enough, especially in qualities that define the film, it leads to something I'm not certain will last long in our memories.

The story was mostly good though, I was invested in Hutch and what was going to happen to him. What Hutch does to defend his family and friends is shown well and I could tell a lot was happening in a short amount of time. There was also great setup at the start to show how Hutch has gotten used to his normal life while hinting that it's not an entirely happy life. The story did have a few hickups though. For instance, after Yulian discovers his brother in the hospital he has a hacker try to find out more on the assailant, to which she responds she has connections in the Pentagon. We cut to a scene where an office worker suddenly has pictures of himself in a gimp suit doing sexy things to a lady with a threat saying to get this hacker information or the photos go public. While that was a pretty funny moment it also felt very weird and forced. While this flow of story wasn't as bad as in Chaos Walking I felt it could have been a bit smoother.

But on a final note I was very pleased with a cinematography and direction. I wasn't able to mention this yet, but the director of this film, Ilya Naishuller, previously made Hardcore Henry, another unique action film that I find a guilty pleasure not because of the quality but more because how bonkers it can get. The guy knows how to helm an action movie that makes people get invested in the story and the fights. He knows the films won't be recognized as the next Mad Max or The Raid, but he knows what audiences are eager to see and delivers. Plus he captures it all so well, heightening the excitement we're all feeling. I winced so many times from some of the blows people got and injuries sustained. It was just so brutal and captured so well on camera!

Nobody, despite having a weak villain and mostly uninteresting characters, is absolutely worth watching. Bob Odenkirk alone is a reason to see this film because he is incredible in his acting, his action scenes, and the fact he does almost all his own stunts. Along with great cinematography and direction I found Nobody to be a fun thrill ride that'll delight any action enthusiast. Hopefully my worries of it being not memorable will be foolish and it'll be remembered as an epic action movie with some really damn good and unique casting. So yeah, definitely go see Nobody because it's definitely something that should be known.

Tentative Score: 7.75/10

Definitive Score: 7.5/10

I have heard rumors that there might be plans of having a crossover between this film and the John Wick series. That would be awesome, especially since the two feel so connected with each other.