I love some Bob Odenkirk. Like many, I got introduced to him through Breaking Bad. From there, I discovered his comedy like Mr. Show with Bob and David, his appearances in Drunk History, and I also knew him as a comedic actor. When I saw the trailer for Nobody, I was hooked. An action flick featuring Bob Odenkirk that looked bloody and violent? I’m in. I saw it opening night. On a lazy Saturday evening, it popped up on HBO Max, and here we are.
Is Nobody Just Another John Wick?
There are lots of similarities to John Wick, and it’s easy to see why. They were both created by the same writer, so the comparisons are accurate. They have a similar structure, with a former badass called back to being a badass when some bad guys interrupt their peaceful life.
Heck, they even both get triggered by an unconventional event. Wick’s dog gets murdered, and Hutch’s daughter loses a kitty kat bracelet after a break-in. Both movies have Russian mobster bad guys, lots of guns, and lots of action.
But even though they are similar on the outside, they are a whole helluva lot different on the inside. Wick’s a much more serious action flick. Nobody is an over-the-top action flick that doesn’t take itself super seriously. It’s a dark comedy with action-based comedy and even exposition dumps that are self-aware that they are exposition dumps.
Hell, the end of the film becomes a slightly less violent Home Alone. Hutch fights the Russian mobsters in a slightly tamer world. There are no hidden societies here, or at least they aren’t present.
Mid-Life Crisis That Ends Lives
This isn’t a story of revenge! In fact, it’s more like a guy trying to navigate a midlife crisis. Hell, a muscle car even gets involved. Hutch is clearly not satisfied with his life. His son doesn’t respect him, his wife largely ignores him, he’s unsatisfied with work, and it seems like his daughter is the only one that shows him love and affection.
It comes to a head when bad guys break in and rob him, and afterward, he’s left feeling even less satisfied. He knows he’s a badass and feels frustrated that he can’t act out and that others don’t understand that he’s merciful for a reason.
Well, when he believes his daughter’s bracelet is missing, he cracks. He tracks down the people that robbed them, gets in a fight on a bus, and from there, everything escalates and just keeps escalating.
We get a variety of fascinating characters that stand out. The main character Hutch is a bit of a mad man once he’s unleashed. He’s smart and good with a gun, knife, and a watch. His dad, played by an awesome Christopher Lloyd, is another former badass who retired. His brother, played by the RZA, is a mysterious man thought to be dead who reaches out to Hutch via a hidden radio.
The bad guys are made up of a black Russian, a literal black Russian who is the main henchman of the big bad. The big bad is a pop singing, dancing nightclub owner who is also a violent gangster. It’s a color cast, and they all do well in this over-the-top world.
You Brought a Lot of Shotguns
Hutch doesn’t seem to have a favorite gun. He uses what he uses when he gets his hands on it. He wields his dad’s old S&W Model 36, a classic 38 Special. Throughout the film, he picks up and wields a variety of weapons he mostly retrieves from the corpses of bad guys. This includes an MP7 and Micro Uzi, and he even wields a classic M1911A1 pistol near the end of the film.
In one of those silly, self-aware exposition dumps, he recounts a time he was assigned to assassinate someone. His memory of the event sucks, so he first proclaims that the gun is a Walther PPK, but no wait, it’s an HK USP in .45 ACP, but when we get the flashback, it’s actually an HK USP 9mm, showing Hutch can’t really remember it well.
My favorite part is that there is a Chekhov’s gun involving an FNP-45. At the beginning of the film, it’s stashed in a freezer and later retrieved to kill baddies.
Throughout Nobody, his dad seems to love shotguns. I mean, he loves shotguns as much as I do. In the end battle, he carries what appears to be half a dozen different short-barreled shotguns. This includes pump action guns, double barrels, and more—most tough to identify.
The RZA handles a bolt action rifle equipped with a suppressor. I can’t tell exactly what rifle, but if you pay attention, there is a flipped scene where the bolt handle is on the wrong side.
I’m a Bad Guy, Duh
The bad guys wield all sorts of guns, including the always awesome Sig SG 552. We also see a smattering of MP7s, as well as a lot of Uzis. It’s a decent variety of bad guy guns, and honestly, they aren’t too predictable. Bad guys using Uzis, sure. Bad guys using SG 552s? Hell yeah, I support that originality.
The Gun Handling
Is the gun handling on par with John Wick? No, not really. It’s a film that’s over the top, so we don’t see Keanu levels of gun handling. That being said, Odenkirk seems like he feels confident with a gun. He handles them well throughout Nobody. There is a lot of crazy one-handed SMG firing, but also some solid handgun fundamentals from Odenkirk.
Christopher Lloyd blasts away with shotguns, rarely aiming but always hitting his target. He pumps a very small shotgun about a dozen times without reloading, and reloading doesn’t ever seem to be a priority in this film. The RZA wields his snipe rifle like a pro. In fact, in CQB, he even scores a triple kill with a single round.
The film doesn’t take itself seriously, so the shooting doesn’t need to be John Wick level. It’s more about being over the top and fun than serious. It’s like a video game—tons of action, bloody, bloody action without a ton of realism. Heck, the bad guys might aim their Uzis, but they don’t deploy stocks. Mostly because I’m pretty sure they’re fakes, rubber props, or replicas.
In one scene, the RZA is blasting away with one, and the bolt is in the forward position and not moving during full-auto fire. An Uzi is an open bolt weapon, and the bolt should be the rear, and it should also be moving as the weapon fires.
Being a Nobody
Nobody is a ton of fun to watch and has enjoyable action with a splash of dark comedy. It’s a midlife crisis involving a lot of violence, Russian mobsters, and plenty of guns. What do you guys think? Let us know below what you think of the guns and the action of Nobody.
