Nobody 2 is both a lot of fun and very violent. The comedy often comes in tense situations as the Mansell family try to have an enjoyable vacation in peaceful Plummerville. If you saw the first Nobody movie, you know what Hutch is capable of when he finds himself and his family threatened by dark forces.

The movie begins with Hutch (Bob Odenkirk) and a dog in a holding room facing two law enforcement agents. This parallels the beginning to the first picture.

We go to the present day Mansell household, now four years in the future from the first film. We see the family have dinner without Hutch present. He misses his son’s game and can’t keep promises to his wife to make it home in time for a meal.

Because he burned all that Russian money in the previous installment, he is working it off by performing jobs for the Russians via the Barber (Colin Salmon). On one job that ends up being hilarious, he has to fight off multiple gangs at different points in his caper. He relates each battle, which is replayed, to the Barber. Then he segues into another gang he had to fight and so on and on.

While he still owes a fortune to the Russians, he tells the Barber that he needs to take a break so he can take his family on vacation. Things are growing tense in the Mansell household. The Barber tells Hutch he is on his own.

Hutch remembers the one time that his father David (Christopher Lloyd) took him and his brother to an amusement park called Plummerville. He pitches the idea to his family and they agree to go.

At Plummerville they are assigned to their individual rooms. David goes to the Lodge, a somewhat remote cabin. Hutch and his wife Becca (Connie Nielsen) have the Honeymoon Suite. The feel is down-home rustic.

They are enjoying themselves at a restaurant when Hutch gets involved in a memory of him and his brother at the same place. Unfortunately, he has been staring at the local Sheriff, Abel (Colin Hanks), too long. They have words.

At the arcade, Hutch’s son Brady (Gage Munroe) has a run-in with a local boy Max (Lucius Hoyos) over giving free tickets to Max’s girlfriend. Brady slugs him in his pitching arm. The family is ejected but not before Hutch sees the security man whack his daughter Sammy (Paisley Cadorath) on the back of her head.

Hutch tells his family that he forgot something and beats up all of the security detail in the arcade. Later at the jail, Hutch meets Wyatt (John Ortiz), the local head thug, who tells Hutch that Plummerville is his town and to leave as soon as possible.

Hutch refuses to leave and the next day he and his family are boarding duck boats at the park. After his family boards, Hutch sees four goons approaching. He gets on a separate duck boat, as do they. The net result is that all four men receive a beating.

Hutch contacts the Barber who informs him that the smuggling operation is run out of Plummerville by Wyatt at the behest of the evil Lendina (Sharon Stone).

Will Hutch be able to protect his family from this evil woman’s empire?

Bob Odenkirk makes and breaks the whole “Nobody” franchise. His dead-pan delivery and clear love for his family belie the incredible skills his character Hutch wields. He is the ultimate reluctant killer.

I appreciated the change of venue for this second installment. “Nobody 2” could easily have been more of the same, fighting off angry Russians ad infinitum. Instead going to an amusement park gives a light-hearted feel to the action that occurs.

The action is well-plotted. The initial confrontations with the sheriff, at the arcade and on the duck boat are milder versions of what will come.

I was particularly intrigued by how much Becca, Hutch’s wife, has had past training. At the shooting gallery, her son is impressed by what a dead-eye marksperson she is. Later scenes showcase other abilities that she has. This fits in with the wonder of what has kept this couple together after all these years. Does she know what he does for a living? She certainly knows that he has a violent streak.

The amusement park itself is precisely rendered. It is clearly run-down and on the cheap side, but the family does have a good time in the scenes that we see. When later events require a defense inside the park, it is magnificently re-tooled to be a death trap.

The battle sequences, for lack of a better term for mano-a-mano combat, are very well-choreographed. The use of slow-motion and precision editing aid in the effective portrayal of violence. Pyrotechnics play a big role as well, and these are a favorite of mine.

I will say that even with a beginning long action sequence, I found the start a little slow. I felt that things did not really get going until the arcade scene.

I was disappointed that Sharon Stone had so little screen time. She puts on quite the performance, sometimes a little over-the-top, as the crazy Lendina. In the few scenes she has, she is frighteningly cruel.

Colin Hanks is another surprise as the Sheriff Abel. I guess that I never conceived of him as a villain before this picture. He was meant for this role.

RZA as Hutch’s brother Harry is superb. His Zen-like being belies his effectiveness at protecting those he loves.

While I previously praised Odenkirk’s performance above, his counterpart Connie Nielsen adds much in her portrayal of long-suffering Becca. She is great at showing disappointment but delightful in caring for her family. Her range is a welcome addition to this movie.
Christopher Lloyd is underutilized in his role as Hutch’s father. He is a delight when he is present, though.

All in all, this is a movie that is the perfect summer escape film. Tweens and above will enjoy it, even with some of the bloodier killings. I am looking forward to more creative installments in this series. (No dogs die in this movie!)

Four out of five stars

Four years after he inadvertently took on the Russian mob, Hutch remains $30 million in debt to the criminal organization and is working it off with an unending string of hits on international thugs.

Much as he likes the slam-bang action of his “job,” Hutch and his wife Becca (International Emmy nominee Connie Nielsen) find themselves overworked and drifting apart. So, they decide to take their kids (Gage Munroe, Paisley Cadorath) on a short getaway to Wild Bill’s Majestic Midway and Waterpark, the one and only place where Hutch and his brother Harry (Grammy and Emmy nominee RZA) went on a vacation as kids.

With Hutch’s dad (Emmy winner Christopher Lloyd) in tow, the family arrives in the small tourist town of Plummerville (“Plummerville is Summerville!”), eager for some fun in the sun.

But when a minor encounter with some town bullies yanks the family into the crosshairs of a corrupt theme-park operator (John Ortiz; Fast and Furious franchise, Bumblebee) and his shady sheriff (Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Colin Hanks), Hutch finds himself the focus of the most unhinged, blood-thirsty crime boss he (or anyone) has ever encountered (Emmy winning and Oscar® nominated screen icon, Sharon Stone).

Cast: Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, John Ortiz, RZA, Colin Hanks, with Christopher Lloyd and Sharon Stone
Director: Timo Tjahjanto
Screenplay by: Derek Kolstad and Aaron Rabin
Story by: Derek Kolstad, based on characters created by Derek Kolstad