‘Nobody’ Review

Nobody: Directed by Ilya Naishuller

SYNOPSIS: Hutch Mansell, a suburban dad, overlooked husband, nothing neighbor — a “nobody.” When two thieves break into his home one night, Hutch’s unknown long-simmering rage is ignited and propels him on a brutal path that will uncover dark secrets he fought to leave behind.

Let me start by saying that this is a fun film. That is what I signed up for and that is what I got. Is it the most sound when it comes to the writing? No. But would be lying if I said I did not enjoy basically every second it was on the screen. This is John Wick but funny. Being able to go back and forth between the serious moments and the comedy is something that is very difficult to accomplish, but was accomplished here.

The first major good of the film is Bob Odenkirk. Never in my life did I think we’d get someone like Odenkirk doing an action/comedy in the style of suburban dad John Wick, but he did it and I loved it. He brings a sort of, not really fit for the role, to the role and he and the rest of the team involved use it to their advantage. Making someone who is so unthinkably normal and boring, be a top of the line assassin that can mow down a bus of thugs makes it the perfect recipe. The rest of the performances are ok. Having Christopher Lloyd in here was a very pleasant and welcome surprise, but the rest we just ok.

The action in this film is really as close to equivalent to John Wick as you can really ask for. The fight choreography along with the really nice Home Alone like traps turn this from boring begin, to powerhouse end. The final fight in the warehouse is everything you could ever want and really does pay for the price of admission.

This is not a perfect movie however. The major difficulty for me is the writing. I know I continue to compare this film with the John Wick franchise and the major reason why is because of how similar they are. If we were to compare the writing of John Wick to Nobody, we will see a major difference in the quality of the world building, the passion we feel for the characters and feeling satisfied in the action. The world building is weak simply for the fact that they didn’t build any world. We don’t really know anything about our main character and have no reason to root for him. The audience is given very little character development at the end but it is too little too late. With us not having that character, the action is not earned. It is a very fun time at the movies but without caring for the characters I was left just a bit hollow.

FINAL: Nobody is a fun action movie with some jokes that land and fight choreography to rival the likes of John Wick. The film unfortunately lacks in the writing department with weak world building, no character emotion and unsatisfied action. If you are looking for a good time with fun action, this is the film for you. If you’re looking for a character based action/drama, I’d wait for the next John Wick. 

POINT BREAKDOWN:

25 for Entertainment: 25

20 for Performances: 18

10 for Direction: 8

10 for Writing: 7

10 for Emotion: 7

10 for Cinematography: 8

5 for Pacing: 4

5 for Rewatchability: 5

5 for Automatic: 5

Nobody: 87/100