TAGGED AS: Action, First Reviews, movies, reviews
From the creator of the John Wick franchise comes Ilya Naishuller’s Nobody, a similar action movie about a retired family man with a particular set of skills who goes up against the Russian mob. This one gives us comedic actor and Better Call Saul star Bob Odenkirk as the unlikely lead, and according to most of the early reviews of the movie, it’s worth seeing for him alone. That and a ton of brutal action and a tone that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
Here’s what critics are saying about Nobody:
Nobody doesn’t take itself seriously and just wants the viewer to have fun and have a moment to tune out from the real world for a couple of hours.
– Jamie Broadnax, Black Girl Nerds
Is it a good movie? Not exactly. But its 90 minutes fly by, and it’s a canny vehicle for Odenkirk.
– Owen Gleiberman, Variety
Naishuller and Odenkirk prove to be a winning duo of entertaining chaos.
– Preston Barta, Fresh Fiction
An immensely entertaining experience… You’re in for a wild ride that never lets up.
– Meagan Navarro, Bloody Disgusting
Action-movie lovers get plenty to love, from an appearance from 1980s tough-guy actor Michael Ironside to well-crafted two-fisted affairs.
– Brian Truitt, USA Today
Its approach to methodically crafted action will leave you cheering in your seat… This is an action film crafted by action fans with style, love, and the slyest of winks.
– Rob Hunter, Film School Rejects
Nobody doesn’t just exist in the action genre but adds to it.
– Kate Sánchez, But Why Tho? A Geek Community
The combat, while not as flashily shot as the work of [John Wick directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch], is utilitarian enough to get the job done.
– Kyle Pinion, ScreenRex
(Photo by Allen Fraser/©Universal Pictures)
[The bus scene is] one of those movie fights that just goes on and on, the violence moving from brutal to funny through sheer, absurd duration. It’s amazing.
– A.A. Dowd, AV Club
The hyper-stylization and blood-letting are grounded by the gallows humor.
– Meagan Navarro, Bloody Disgusting
Nobody simply doubles down on the genre’s most immoral implication, for unquestioningly equating manliness with brute violence.
– Chuck Bowen, Slant Magazine
With his second feature, Ilya Naishuller has grown as a filmmaker and truly has the potential to be one of the most exciting action directors working.
– Sean Mulvihill, FanboyNation
[He] may be as far as you can get from a psychological realist… but he’s a born filmmaker.
– Owen Gleiberman, Variety
Naishuller stages the action effectively (that bus sequence stands out), delivering visceral thrills even for those of us who are keeping our distance.
– John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter
Naishuller is quite good at directing action.
– Chris Evangelista, Slashfilm
Pawel Pogorzelski’s cinematography is just fabulous in the film… Violence has never looked this beautiful.
– Dewey Singleton, AwardsWatch
Midsommar and Hereditary cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelski brings the same slick camera maneuvers that elevated those movies to dreamlike planes in service of pure entertainment.
– Eric Kohn, IndieWire
Shout out to cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelski, because stylistic flair becomes that much more important as narrative throughlines are straighter than arrows.
– Matt Donato, What to Watch
(Photo by Allen Fraser/©Universal Pictures)
He’s simply awesome and owns this movie.
– Don Shanahan, Every Movie Has a Lesson
A credible Jekyll and Hyde act… It’s a blast seeing the actor in this kind of role, even if Nobody does vaguely play like the nihilistic cartoon version of a Vince Gilligan arc.
– A.A. Dowd, AV Club
The Odenkirk-ness is really all there is… which is enough to keep things interesting, if not make them all that good.
– Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic
[This] may leave you longing to watch Better Call Saul and Odenkirk’s thorny performance as Saul Goodman, a truly piercing dramatization of frustration and failure.
– Chuck Bowen, Slant Magazine
Odenkirk deserves way better.
– Kyle Pinion, ScreenRex
Christopher Lloyd is a special delight as Hutch’s shotgun-toting father.
– Rob Hunter, Film School Rejects
Christopher Lloyd renews his classic mad-science energy with a devious twist.
– Eric Kohn, IndieWire
An appearance by RZA as Hutch’s brother, whose own hidden talents aid Hutch in his quest for vengeance, also adds some comedic flair to this story.
– Jamie Broadnax, Black Girl Nerds
Other than Odenkirk, they have little to work with and don’t leave an impression.
– Chris Agar, ScreenRant
(Photo by Allen Fraser/©Universal Pictures)
With a fearsome magnetism that’s at once authentic and operatic… He’s like the Frankenstein’s monster of hard-partying hooligans.
– Owen Gleiberman, Variety
It all goes downhill once the villain, Yulian, is dropped into play.
– Kyle Pinion, ScreenRex
One of the blandest movie villains in recent memory.
– Chris Evangelista, Slashfilm
That Yulian fails to be compelling or intimidating contributes to the film’s overall low stakes.
– Meagan Navarro, Bloody Disgusting
The plot of Nobody is, in a word, preposterous… It’s just a cardboard fable. But when the ultraviolence erupts, the movie pops.
– Owen Gleiberman, Variety
The plot is absurd and could fall apart easily when looking back on it… Is it trying to say anything? Not really. This is as slight as it gets.
– Aaron Neuwirth, We Live Entertainment
There’s some unwise and unnecessary narration early on, but the already slim exposition is tidily delivered in oft-comedic ways.
– Rob Hunter, Film School Rejects
Nobody seems to think that if it follows a paint-by-numbers Wick formula, that’ll be enough. It’s not.
– Chris Evangelista, Slashfilm
The story lacks the emotional impact for the film to truly connect with viewers.
– Chris Agar, ScreenRant
(Photo by Allen Fraser/©Universal Pictures)
The film also happens to be a masterclass in sardonic humor.
– Sean Mulvihill, FanboyNation
This isn’t a parody, but it offers sly humor on many levels…[and] a couple of well-timed visual gags.
– Brian Truitt, USA Today
I was hoping for more comic relief lines.
– Danielle Solzman, Solzy at the Movies
Kolstad’s script takes a similar idea but finds the different wrinkles to… create a unique film in the similar mold.
– Sean Mulvihill, FanboyNation
Like Kolstad’s John Wick, but it makes its own way with more humor and charisma than the more silent and gritty counterparts.
– Kate Sánchez, But Why Tho? A Geek Community
You could call Nobody Wickian… In philosophy, however, we’re stuck in Death Wish territory.
– A.A. Dowd, AV Club
If John Wick is Buster Keaton, Hutch is Harold Lloyd.
– Aaron Neuwirth, We Live Entertainment
The influence is unmistakable to the point where it keeps Nobody from fully creating its own identity.
– Joshua Starnes, VitalThrills.com
(Photo by Allen Fraser/©Universal Pictures)
Move over John Wick and make way for Hutch Mansell.
– Dewey Singleton, AwardsWatch
[It] leaves you eager to follow the Mansells on any blood splatter-filled journey.
– Meagan Navarro, Bloody Disgusting
Nobody features an instantly iconic action trio that I’d never imagine in a million a years. Now I want spinoffs and sequels with these characters.
– Sean Mulvihill, FanboyNation
The worst thing you can say about it is this: It’s satisfying enough that it could spawn sequels, possibly distracting its star from the plum dramatic roles he deserves.
– John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter
Nobody releases in theaters on March 26, 2021.
