Nobody was an AWESOME movie. This was the most fun I’ve had with a film all year so far. I loved it. I was constantly smiling and laughing during the movie, and watching it in theaters felt so good and so right. I’m glad I made the trip. I wouldn’t say it’s a must-watch in theaters, but it made the experience better.
Please don’t go in expecting this to be a game-changer. This is a story we’ve seen countless times, and it doesn’t provide anything new. However, that’s okay. That’s not what I went into expecting. I knew what this would be, and I got exactly that.
The film follows Hutch Mansell, an “innocent” bystander who intervenes to help a woman being harassed by a group of men and becomes the target of a vengeful drug lord. The main reason to watch this film is this is Bob Odenkirk like you’ve never seen him before.
Forget Mr. Show or Saul Goodman, Odenkirk plays a very believable action star, taking no prisoners and looking like a complete badass. Like I was surprised by how good he did in the role, I would have never thought he had it in him based on what I’ve seen of him on Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul, among other things. While I loved the trailer and we got a taste of it, I still wasn’t sure how it would hold up during the film’s duration but make no mistake, there is nothing to worry about.
He completely nailed the role, and what I loved the most about it is that while he dishes out a lot of violence, he also takes just as many punches. I appreciated that it made it real because it showed he was human and could still get hurt despite being a pure assassin. He did a great job at selling the punches he took. You could sense in many scenes that he was in pain.
Ilya Naishuller directs the film, and this is his sophomore effort after his underrated Hardcore Henry, which I’m in the minority of loving. He does a great job here with the action sequences and how he choreographed them. He really should be on everybody’s radar for action films. I’ll go as far as saying he directed the action scenes just as well as Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, two of the very best action directors working right now with their work on the John Wick franchise, Deadpool 2, and Hobbs and Shaw, among others.
The action sequences had me on the edge of my seat and were the right amount of violence without being too over the top. The bus sequence shown in the trailer especially is a highlight. Naishuller directed it well, and it was full of violent creative moments. Another well-executed series that reminded me of the finale of Rambo: Last Blood with the style it was filmed, and what happens, if you’ve seen that movie, you’ll notice right away. The film also has a killer soundtrack which is a bonus for me as that can make certain action scenes even more memorable.
Christopher Lloyd makes a small appearance as Hutch’s dad. Was it great seeing him? It’s been a while. I won’t spoil anything, but he gets a few great scenes and some of the ones that made me smile the most. I’m a big Wu-Tang fan, so seeing The RZA make an appearance as one of Hutch’s friends was a welcomed surprise. He’s not the best actor, and I’m glad Naishuller knew the right way to use him without exposing his weaknesses.
As I stated before, this isn’t a game-changer. Nobody is written by Derek Kolstad, who created the John Wick franchise and wrote the first three films, and this feels very much like the little brother to that franchise. The script isn’t that strong in the sense that it’s very predictable and by the numbers to what we’ve come to expect from these kinds of films, but what they lack in the originality they make up for it with their world-building. This movie leaves room for this world to be explored more in a sequel that I hope we get because I loved this character and want to see him kick more ass.
There’s also more of his back story we don’t explore aside from a few hints here and there. I had a great time with this one and can’t wait to watch it again; if you’re a fan of films like the first Taken or the John Wick franchise, then I can highly recommend this one.
