From the team that brought us John Wick comes a brand new action thriller starring Bob Odenkirk. Nobody follows a seemingly passive married man who’s forced to act after getting the attention of a crime boss. As the story goes the truth behind Hutch Mansell begins to unfold.

Nobody is a 2021 action thriller film, it is produced by Perfect World Pictures & 87North Productions, and distributed by Universal Pictures. It’s currently in theaters and VOD now.

Editor’s Note: A screener for Nobody was provided by Universal Pictures in support of this review. Near complete to complete spoilers for Nobody may be present within this review. 

Bob Odenkirk goes from cowardly lawyer to badass action hero in Nobody. Playing Hutch Mansell who on the surface appears to be the every man. He in actuality is experienced in weaponry and combat training. When he accidentally garners the attention of a Russian drug lord Mansell must once again rely on his unique skillset to defend his family.

THE GOOD: The story begins with Hutch Mansell who is a seemingly passive married man with a family. Bored of his daily routine Hutch feels slightly unhinged at work and home. One night his home is robbed by a couple and after having an opportunity to stop them he resists opting to let them escape. This causes a rift between Hutch and his son & wife Rebecca who begin to lose respect for him. Fueled by anger and revenge Hutch is able to locate the couple. Planning to take out the couple with the gun he stole from his father (after hiding the gun he got from his brother-in-law) he once again resists after finding their child. While taking a bus back home Hutch decides to substitute the couple with a group of drunk delinquents after fearing for a young female passenger’s safety. Hutch shows surprising prowess in hand-to-hand combat taking out the group and severely injuring each member. His half-brother Harry whom he frequently communicated with on an old ham radio informs him of the identity of one of the men getting further details from his former handler. 

Hutch returns home with Rebecca taking his appearance rather well. Implying that she is aware of his past they reminisce about the “good old days”. Of which Rebecca apparently has a history of patching up Hutch’s injuries. Sometime later at a nightclub a Russian mafia boss named Yulian Kuznetsov who guards Obshak learns that his brother has been hospitalized with Hutch being responsible. He sends one of his top soldier along with a group of gunmen after him and his family after learning the truth about him. His father David; a retired FBI agent living in a nursing home easily dispatches of two of them. Hutch sends his family into the panic room in the basement as his home is invaded and kills the gunmen and takes care of Yulian’s head gunman. 

Before dying Hutch reveals to the gunman Pavel that he’s a former government assassin who gave it up to start a family. Hutch sends his family away knowing what’s to come and further details his backstory to the invaders who are still alive. He reveals that he once let a target go as he begged for his life testing to see if he could change. He checked in on the target to see if he kept his word expecting him to fail only to be shocked that he not only kept his word but also is raising a family. Hutch states he was proud but also expressed jealously for the target’s success. And decided to give up his career for his own shot at happiness. Setting his home ablaze with the bodies inside Hutch heads off to Yulian’s nightclub.

There he confronts Yulian and tells him that he burned the Obshak cash stash & Yulian’s personal art collection. He tells Yulian to either come after him or take what’s left and leave. This sends Yulian into a rage and he follows Hutch who uses gold to buy the business he works at sending the owner and Hutch’s brother-in-law away. Hutch sets up traps for the enemies and is saved by his father and Harry. The three face off against Yulian and his men killing all but Yulian who shoots Harry in the shoulder. Yulian charges Hutch who uses bulletproof glass as a shield with a claymore attached. A bullet strikes the bomb exploding it and killing Yulian. Harry & David escape as Hutch is arrested. As he’s being questioned the police receive phone calls prompting them to release Hutch immediately. Sometime has passed and Hutch & Rebecca are shopping for a new home. The realtor receives a call which is for Hutch is needed for a job. In a credits scene Harry & David drive off in an RV full of weapons implying they’re following Hutch.

So if you’re a fan of the John Wick franchise then good news! Much of the team behind that series of films has been retained here for Nobody which is also produced by the same studio behind that film series. While the action isn’t as high octane as something like John Wick it’s flavor can definitely be seen throughout. While I normal try to steer clear of comparing characters unless they’re 100% canonical connected I think it’s ok to compare Wick & Hutch Mansell given the circumstances. Both are retired assassins, but in Wick’s case he gets back into the game after his dog is killed. Which was given to him sometime prior to the passing of his late wife. 

Hutch retired of his own free will as well, but went on to have a family which he is able to see grow and prosper. Mitch was also a legal (more or less) government assassin whereas Wick was an illegal assassin. I also found Hutch’s backstory interesting and loved how careful the writing was with not revealing too much too fast despite the super fast pace. The first act you’ll spend most of your time guessing just who exactly Hutch. The second act does a bit of a slow burn in revealing his former occupation. Mainly through the conversations Hutch has with his brother Harry. 

I’ll admit there’s some sequel baiting in this movie, but it definitely feels earned. There’s a lot of potential for growth in this world. The team behind the film has even been teasing Hutch Mansell meeting John Wick in a crossover of some kind. There’s a ton of world building that has a few possibilities for the series to become a franchise and if the team remains as such maybe it could be as successful as John Wick has been. Bob Odenkirk’s acting is also pretty great in this. I’ve spent so much time following Odenkirk’s career as a “cowardly lawyer” that it was pretty surreal seeing him as a believable badass.

THE BAD: There’s some small gore and a ton of ultra violence so if you’re not into that then naturally you should avoid.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: At this stage I think it’s safe to say that there’s no reason to distrust the team involved with Nobody to provide some good entertainment with action films. Though fast paced, the film takes all the necessary steps to completely develop it’s characters and world while also earning the right to give us more from it if they so choose. Otaku Dome gives Nobody a 90 out of 100.