Nobody 2 (2025)

The first Nobody surprised me. I went in with low expectations and walked out thinking, “Wow, Bob Odenkirk just pulled off being a badass action star.” So when Nobody 2 dropped, I was only excited to see Hutch back in action. Sequels can be tricky, sometimes they work and sometimes they feel like cash grabs. Luckily, this one works.

The setup is almost funny in how innocent it starts. Hutch just wants to take his family to a theme park he remembers from his childhood. It feels wholesome and nostalgic. But Hutch can’t have nice things. The park is in a small town run by corrupt locals who think they own everything. Then one of them smacks Hutch’s daughter and at that moment I knew it was over for him. Hutch flips the switch and the movie goes full-on revenge.

Remember when there was this amazing comedy titled "National Lampoon's Vacation"? To this day, it is a true classic of the genre and certainly put a new spin on precisely what KINDS of insanity could occur when taking the fam on the road. Then, like with so many successful films, there was the sequel (which for me was even MORE of a classic than the original!). However, the third film emerged....and then a fourth. Suddenly, the luster was gone and disappointment set in.

While not exclusively, this can often be the trend when it comes to sequels, especially when having established the level of quality the parent film brought about. So, with this Summer's new follow-up to 2021's "Nobody" came around, even with much anticipation and promise, I approached with caution in my heart and mind so as to avoid being let down should the second entry in this newly forming series just somehow fall short. Fortunately, it does NOT do so...with a bang!

Okay, let me just put this out there right away: I absolutely adore Bob Odenkirk. Like, seriously adore him. I've been following this guy since his SNL writing days, watched him completely transform into Saul Goodman in what might be one of the greatest TV performances ever, and cheered when he popped up in The Bear being absolutely perfect at that chaotic family dinner table. This man has built his entire career on playing characters who survive on pure wit and nervous energy, not biceps and six-packs.

So when he had that heart attack on set, I genuinely worried about him. Watching him bounce back and somehow become an action hero at almost 60 in the first Nobody movie? That felt like the most inspiring comeback story ever. That movie was this dark, intense masterpiece that came out during the pandemic when we all needed something cathartic to watch.When they announced a sequel, I'll be honest—I rolled my eyes a little. The trailer made it look like they were just going to throw him into some goofy water park setting, and I thought, "Oh great, here we go with the typical sequel nonsense."I have never been happier to be completely wrong about a movie.Nobody 2 is absolutely bonkers in the best possible way, and I walked out of that theater grinning like an idiot.Here's what's brilliant about this sequel: instead of just repeating the first movie's formula, it completely flips everything. The first one was about a guy whose buried rage finally explodes. This one? It's about a guy who's basically addicted to the adrenaline now and can't figure out how to be a normal dad. He's missing his kid's basketball games because he's too busy being a badass, which is both hilarious and oddly relatable (minus the assassin part, obviously).

Director Timo Tjahjanto had this genius idea to turn it into basically a family vacation movie—if your family vacation involved cartels and creative violence. Picture National Lampoon's Vacation, but Clark Griswold used to be a government assassin and the theme park is run by criminals. The moment they arrive at this hilariously run-down water park called "Splash Valley," you can feel the movie just embrace its own weirdness.

And wow, does it get weird. The whole plot kicks off over a freaking skee-ball game dispute, which is so perfectly absurd I can't even handle it. Colin Hanks shows up as this perfectly slimy local corrupt guy, but he's nothing compared to Sharon Stone, who swoops in like some kind of criminal mastermind queen bee. She's playing this character called Lendina, and Stone is having SO much fun with it—she's like a cartoon villain brought to life, all smiles and switchblades and pure chaos energy.

But the real magic happens during the action scenes. Tjahjanto knows exactly what he's doing here—this isn't the slick, choreographed fighting from John Wick movies. This is messy, improvised, working-class violence using whatever's handy. We're talking harpoons, anchor chains, and yes, a deep fryer gets involved. It's like watching Bugs Bunny direct an action movie, and somehow that works perfectlyThe final showdown at the carnival is just pure visual candy—practical effects, real stunts, and so much colorful mayhem that I found myself actually laughing out loud at how over-the-top it all was.Look, is this movie going to win awards for deep emotional storytelling? Probably not. The family stuff is there, but it's more of a setup for the chaos than anything profound. And you know what? That's totally fine. Sometimes you just want a movie that knows exactly what it is and delivers that with complete commitment.

Nobody 2 gets it. It's 89 minutes of pure, unapologetic fun, and Odenkirk sells every single moment of it. He's not trying to be The Rock or Jason Statham—he's just this regular-looking guy who happens to be incredibly dangerous, and somehow that makes it even more entertaining.This movie feels like the perfect summer day: messy, unpredictable, and absolutely worth every minute. It's not just a sequel—it's proof that sometimes the best thing a movie can do is simply remind you that going to the movies should be fun.'