“NOBODY” MOVIE REVIEW — John Wick With A Sense Of Humour
Better Call your friends, cause this is one movie you don’t want to miss.
The comparisions between this film and John Wick is unavoidable. After all both movies features brooding silent men with violent blood soaked pasts - retired legends trying to lead ordinary lives. Nobody was also written by Wick creator Derek Koslad and co-produced by David Leitch, who previously worked on John Wick. Sooooo…it’s basically a John Wick rip off then? I would say it’s been heavily inspired by, yes, but rip off? A very resounding no.
I will be the first to admit that I wasn’t expecting this movie to be any good. Besides the obvious impossibility of living up to the John Wick franchise standards, Bob Odenkirk — same actor who plays Saul Goodman, a lawyer who avoids violence as much as he can in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul — doesn’t exactly ooze menace and machismo, so how convincing could he be as an action hero? Well, two words for you — Liam Neeson.
Much like the way Liam was transformed from a middling genteel character actor into a bonafide action star by the Taken series, Nobody is going to catapult Odenkirk into the unique bracket of the self-deprecating action family man. There is no sexiness to the manner in which Hutch — the character he plays — dispatches the bad guys, just an understated efficiency and directness. Much like the way the film is edited as well, nothing is unnecessary and every shot included has a very direct purpose. There are no lingering shots of dismembered limbs, blown heads, or exploding body parts, and the action sequences are not glorified or stylised, unlike some scenes in John Wick. The blood and the messy gore is there yes, but just long enough for the audience to visualise the result of the violence, and not to romanticise it. No long brooding shoots of the protagonist musing or posing, no overwrought poetic conversations with mysterious characters, just Hutch going about doing what needs to be done with a big dollop of pleasure sprinkled with dashes of wry humor. This film is not interested in building a complicated world of underground crime lords and organisations with sophisticated rules and elaborate backstories. Hutch is just your average former government “fixer” with a special talent & penchant for violence, trying to lead an ordinary family life with his equally unremarkable wife and kid who has no idea about his past. Unlike John Wick, there is no High Table here, no Continental Hotel, no Halle Berry and her dogs.
That said, there are a few obvious homages to the John Wick franchise. For example, the thing that sets Hutch back on the path of violence is, hilariously, a kitty cat bracelet. In John Wick, it was the death of his dog. Also, in both films the main antagonist is of Russian origins, though Yulian here is way more camp than Viggo in John Wick. Fight sequences are similar in style too, though Hutch relies much less on guns, instead using traps and everyday objects like pans to deal lethal damage. Similarly, both movies place immaculate attention to damage details, which I absolutely adore. Things like the direction and amount of blood splatter, trajectory of bullets and the resulting effect on surrounding objects, the speed and impact of every punch and kick, injuries suffered by characters and the effect it has on the way they move, talk and fight, are all important in instilling a sense of realism which helps the audience immerse themselves completely into the action. All strangely ignored in another recent movie release based on one of the most violent video game created. Without paying attention to these details, the action just becomes ridiculous and incredible. There was one shot where Hutch’s brother — played by RZA — shot three baddies in the head with one bullet at point blank range. In any other movie, this would probably be a groan-inducing set piece that would not have been believable. Not so here. John Wick would be proud.
Odenkirk’s portrayal of Hutch also keeps the movie grounded in reality. He plays the everyday family man stuck in a mundane routine with relatable despair and boredom. We emphastise with his struggle to remain nondescript and share in his joy when he finally gets the opportunity to let loose on a bunch of low lifes terrorising the passengers on a bus he is on, something I am sure all of us have dreamt of doing. When he finds out that one of said low lifes happens to be the brother of a sadistic Russian kingpin who is now baying for revenge, we can’t help but cheer him on as he relishes in the excitement he is finally going to get. Not in the sociopathic sense, but like a house husband finally getting the opportunity to head to Vegas sort of way. Getting rid of bad guys violently does for him what looking at strippers does for most other men, and Hutch does it clinically and efficiently. There is this bit where he develops a strange habit of striking an earnest conversation with badly injured bad guys who inevitably dies before he finishes what he wants to say, which was absolutely hysterical.
Talking about hysterics, Christopher Lloyd as his repressed father trying to lead the same mundane ordinary life in an old folks home, was an absolute gem. RZA as his brother was pretty bah, but I have to say the final fight featuring the three of them vs an army from the Russian mafia was just fabulous. I can’t remember the last time I winced (from the violence) and laughed so much within the space of one scene. Absolute comedy and action gold.
“Nobody” does gives audiences a peak into a possible alternate reality where John Wick becomes a family man, but Hutch and the wry humour injected into this film seperates it clearly from the franchise. If Nobody does become a franchise powerhouse on it’s own, I am sure audiences would be baying for a John vs Hutch film further down the road. Now that would be a film Nobody would miss.
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