Nobody

Nobody gets off to a nice start with its concept of an action hero hidden behind the façade of an ordinary dad. The film is fresh and dynamic in its editing, and tastefully entertaining and imaginative in the action scenes (such as the ride in the trunk of a car). Unfortunately, after the initial great entertainment, the exceedingly mechanical, simple and unimaginative settling of scores with the bad guys caused me to knock my rating down to three stars. As the protagonist took punches at the beginning and his stamina made him a hero, at the end he gets jumped by the biggest horde of armed goons in a scene staged like something out of Deadpool. Overall, I found the recent genre competitor Boss Level a half-star better. (08/06/2021)

If you prefer art films and find explicit violence off-putting, steer clear of this movie. I have no idea if the filmmakers were serious or just wanted to have fun shooting a good old action movie, but I was royally entertained. I did enjoy the film throughout, I just won't give it a five because it smacked too much of Home Alone at times. (24/07/2021)

Like Liam Neeson in 2008, another great actor has become an absolutely believable action hero, and someone that we did not expect it from. And Nobody benefits from how great an actor Bob Odenkirk is, just like from the action scenes directed by Ilya Naishuller. We are interested in Hutch's gradually uncovered past, we are interested in how much his loved ones actually know about him, and at the same time we are having fun with scenes such as the huge brawl in the bus, which reminds us that even such heroes get hit. Along with all this we get humor to lighten it up at the right moments, a great song soundtrack, Christopher Lloyd... Although, unlike John Wick, I don't want a sequel all that much, Nobody is still a great film. (24/06/2021)

If you see Nobody and Naishuller's previous Russian pogrom Hardcore Henry on the same day, you'd almost think Ilya had farted a bit. Understandably, though, that's because this young directorial hopeful mainly had to show that he could make a film beyond gimmickry, with characters that were more than just amusing caricatures. While I don't know if it was very successful, but in a genre now dominated by overstylized John Wick spectacles, Atomic Blonde, and Gareth Edwards massacres, we could probably hold that bar a little closer to the ground. But it's a fact that nobody came here for character nitpicking, so let's stop worrying about the film (a dumbed-down mid-life crisis in which Kolstat managed to sell the same script a second time, doctored it with all sorts of picked-over heists from True Lies to The Equalizer, all in the name of small-town values) and address the action scenes. While what I remember most from the film is the awesome one-shot in which the antagonist walks into a bar, still I have to admire in particular the imaginative and joyful disposal of the poor and virtually mentally incompetent bad guys. Perhaps the blood is digital and the night scenes often don't look like they're set on planet Earth, yet most of the fatalities can still be enjoyed with fulfilling relish and the fifty-seven-year-old Odenkirk is simply believable. In the context of a TV movie (as we should approach a VOD production), a nice lunch break that will be fine for talking to your mates about how record companies should make the rights to use songs they own more expensive again, because this movie à la jukebox thing is becoming quite an annoying trend. (16/05/2021)

I vividly remember going to see Hardcore Henry in the cinema a few years back, a film certainly didn't get lost in the glut of action movies with its visual concept and level of violence. Ilya Naishuller’s next film Nobody rides a similar wave of violence and action, only now you see the story from a familiar perspective (the "absent" cameraman). Nobody tries to be primarily an action thriller, but it quite forgots about the story and the continuity between scenes – at least that’s how it seemed to me (Hutch goes on his brutal spree, but why?). I had mixed feelings about the casting of Christopher Lloyd, he's really vital for his age, but the script just made a mockery of his character. Adequate for one viewing, but no more! (13/01/2023)