Nobody (2021) Review

 

Nobody (2021)

Nobody follows Hutch Mansell, a modest family man, who fails to defend himself or his family after an attempted robbery. The aftermath of the incident however, strikes a match to his long-simmering rage, unleashing a barrage of fists, gunfire, and squealing tires, that ensures he will never be underestimated again. 

Finally!! I’ve been dying to see this latest outing from Bob Odenkirk and it did not disappoint one bit. Written by Derek Kolstad, who also wrote for the John Wick movies, his fingerprints are all over this, feeling like a mix of John Wick and Wesley From Wanted, really building Hutch into an intriguing character with a dark side. Credit has to be given to Odenkirk though, as he artfully sells both halves of Hutch, making both his current family life and his violent past believable in ways that Liam Neeson or Bruce Willis have never been able to pull off (the family man side particularly). It builds him up as this bland, vanilla, family man, just going through the motions of life, using the robbery as the catalyst to let him unleash and really be himself. Already high on the thrill it gave him, he bites off a bit more than he can chew, thus setting up the rest of this fucking killer movie. 

Thanks to it’s John Wick background, Nobody also gets all of the choreography so, so right. It all feels natural, gritty, and makes you feel Hutch’s vulnerability as an older, rusty ‘auditor’ who’s let the comfortable family life get to him. It’s only real drawback lays in Yulian, who is built up as a dude you don’t want to fuck with, but Hutch easily dismantles him throughout, never giving him the chance to feel like a real threat. 

We also get a (shockingly) awesome cast, starring RZA, Connie Nielsen, Aleksey Serebryakov, Christopher Lloyd, and Bob Odenkirk. Odenkirk has really come a long way from his sketch comedy background on Mr. Show and he really sells both sides of the bland family man who is really an action movie badass. It’s an important distinction in a movie like this and watching him go ham on some Russian baddies has never looked cooler. 

Nobody, directed by Ilya Naishuller, is a fast-paced thriller that really utilizes its action heavy background to craft some really stylized and explosive action scenes, that along with a rather hilarious premise, makes a bona fide action star out of Odenkirk, and leaves you wanting much, much more long after the credits roll. 

9.1/10