TL;DR:
Bob Odenkirk is still swinging, but this time the punches don’t mean much. Nobody 2 delivers slick, bloody action, but without the heart, humor, or novelty of the original, it’s just noise with bruises.

When Nobody came out in 2021, it felt like a revelation. Bob Odenkirk — our beloved, perpetually frazzled Saul Goodman — punched his way through Russian mobsters with the bruised charisma of a dad who’s had enough. It was funny, mean, strangely heartfelt, and delivered one of the best bus fight scenes in recent memory.

It was also lightning in a bottle.

Nobody 2 tries to recapture that lightning — by way of car batteries, flame throwers, and six-minute fight sequences — but mostly ends up frying its own circuits. Directed by Indonesian action maestro Timo Tjahjanto (who knows his way around a gnarly brawl), the sequel leans all the way into its gonzo violence. Unfortunately, it forgets to bring the charm, story, or stakes that made the first film more than just a blood-soaked novelty.

Welcome Back, Hutch (And the Body Count)

Bob Odenkirk returns as Hutch Mansell, the world’s most emotionally repressed suburban assassin. This time, Hutch is still doing the whole “killing people quietly” thing while halfheartedly trying to reconnect with his neglected family. So what’s his genius idea for family bonding? A vacation to a cheesy old summer resort from his childhood — think log cabins, bad coffee, and the faint smell of old chlorine.

Naturally, the place is crawling with corrupt sheriffs and cartoonishly evil crime bosses, including a scenery-devouring Sharon Stone as the villainous Lendina. Also tagging along is Hutch’s shotgun-wielding dad (Christopher Lloyd, still having fun) and a conveniently adorable dog, meant to pump up the “he’s a relatable family guy!” angle.

Cue: fights. Lots of fights. Knife fights. Axe fights. Fist fights in water parks. Shootouts in abandoned carnivals. It’s not that the action is bad — in fact, some of it is technically excellent — but there’s so much of it, and so little reason to care.

The Timo Tjahjanto Effect (And Its Limits)

Timo Tjahjanto is an action legend in Southeast Asian cinema, with The Night Comes for Us still giving people nightmares (in a good way). He brings that same maximalist energy here, but where Nobody carefully balanced brutality with dry humor and real stakes, Nobody 2 feels like a highlight reel stretched to feature length.

Gone is the clever pacing of the first film. Gone is the “what happens if a regular guy snaps?” tension. What’s left is a lot of grunting, stabbing, and bone-crunching set-pieces, stitched together with a threadbare plot and an emotional core made of cardboard.

There’s no real arc this time — Hutch starts and ends in the same place, just with more bruises and fewer speaking lines. It’s not Bob Odenkirk’s fault; he’s still fully committed. But the script gives him nothing to do but grimace and reload.

The Problem With Sequels That Don’t Grow

The thing about Nobody was that it had surprise on its side. Watching Odenkirk go full John Wick in a bathrobe was fresh. But now we’ve seen it. We’ve seen the bus scene. We’ve seen the basement massacre. Nobody 2 assumes that more of the same — but louder — is enough.

It’s not.

Even the attempts at humor and heart fall flat. The family is still underwritten. The stakes feel nonexistent. The bad guys feel like AI-generated GTA villains. By the time the film reaches its chaotic funfair finale, the only real emotion left is fatigue.

And the dog? Yeah, cute. Totally irrelevant.

Final Verdict

Nobody 2 has all the bones of a solid action movie — great fight choreography, a committed lead, and a stylish director at the helm. But it forgets what made the first film tick: humanity. Without stakes, without heart, and without a story that evolves, all the punches land hollow.

It’s still fun in bursts, and Odenkirk is always watchable. But for a film about breaking out of routine, Nobody 2 feels like it’s stuck on autopilot.