Universal Pictures’ ‘Nobody’ tells the story of a former FBI agent, who has long left his old career behind to start a family and live a normal life. He keeps his past a secret from his family and friends until one night he had no choice but to utilize his deadly assassination skills to protect his family.

The film centers around Hutch Mansell (portrayed by Bob Odenkirk) and the movie begins with him sitting in an interrogation room and being asked who he is. The movie then goes back to before the events that put his family in serious danger and detail his incredibly mundane life leading up to that point. At first, Hutch just seems like any ordinary man, working an office job at a metal fabrication business, living in the family home where no one except his daughter seems to notice him, and forgetting to take out the trash.

The way the movie is edited at the beginning really helps illustrate Hutch’s mundane rinse and repeat lifestyle and further enforces that the family life he dreamed of isn’t what he hoped for. His wife Becca (Connie Nielsen) feels more like an acquaintance as they show no affection towards each other, still sleeping in the same bed, but with as much space as possible between them. His teenage son Blake (Gage Munroe) shows very little appreciation for his uninteresting father and more keeps to himself, but his younger daughter Sammy (Paisley Cadorath) is the only one in the family who still shows love for him. Bob Odenkirk’s performance as Hutch does an amazing job showing the pain of a seemingly regular man as he goes about his days working to keep a roof over his family’s heads and put food on the table, all while feeling unappreciated and unloved at home, with no excitement and his best days are long behind him.

One night, two burglars invaded their home to attempt to steal anything worth of value before being confronted by Hutch. At first, Hutch is tempted to use his years of training to take them down, but his son Blake then gets involved and after Hutch realizes that the two burglars aren’t a threat, decides to resist the urge and not expose his past to keep his secret hidden and let the burglars leave with only a few items. This clearly frustrates Hutch who later decides to track them down in his own time, using training as an FBI agent. After confronting the pair, he then chooses to leave them be after learning they were struggling and only trying to make ends meet.

During his bus ride home after that event, a group of delinquents hop on and start causing a ruckus, which urges the already agitated Hutch to take matters into his own hands. After he takes out his frustration on the group and heads home, the movie then introduces Yulian Kuznetsov (Aleksei Serebryakov), a Russian drug lord and mob enforcer with years of military training and not someone to be taken lightly, as he quickly demonstrates his deadly skills on a man much bigger than him. It is revealed his brother was amongst the delinquents who boarded that bus and was taken out by Hutch, putting him and the rest of the group in the hospital. Yulian, now hellbent on revenge, utilizes his resources to identify and hunt down this unknown man, which leads to a series of intense action scenes.

The ordinary, boring, and mundane life of a ‘Nobody’ is actually the most interesting part of the movie. Seeing Hutch go from average Joe to a one-man killing machine is highly entertaining and incredibly satisfying to witness. The action scenes are gritty, violent, and just overall exciting for fans of the genre. It can easily be compared to the ‘John Wick’ and ‘Taken’ franchises and maybe even a bit of ‘True Lies’, but ‘Nobody’ really stands out on its own. Bob Odenkirk at first may not seem like a good fit as the main character for a high octane action movie, but his past work which predominately involves comedy including ‘Saturday Night Live’ and various sitcoms, is what really compliments his character. His unexciting life can be very easy to relate to and his reveal as a former assassin is something a lot of us wish we could do sometimes just to relieve even a little tension in our personal lives. Of course, we shouldn’t actually try any of this at home, but it’s still nice to live that guilty pleasure vicariously through this ‘Nobody’.

What also makes Hutch an interesting and unique character, unlike other action heroes, is that even with years of training, he isn’t perfect. There are several instances in the action scenes where something doesn’t go his way and he has to improvise. It could be the fact he is a little rusty after not working in the FBI for so long, his age catching up to him, or maybe even both, but as the movie progresses, so do his skills, as his assassination experiences gradually get back up to speed as he brutally beats and guns down his enemies.

RZA (from Wu-Tang Clan) and ‘Back to the Future’ star Christopher Lloyd also feature in the movie in supporting roles, but their scenes are absolute highlights in the movie, especially Lloyd’s. Without giving any spoilers, his role as David Mansell, Hutch’s elderly father living in a retirement home isn’t exactly what it seems. Much like his ordinary son, his scenes are real show-stealers and give another reason for everyone to love and appreciate the diverse work of the Hollywood legend.

The soundtrack of ‘Nobody’ is very diverse mixing 80‘s and 90‘s rock as well as classical jazz and blues songs. The way the film utilizes every song featured is really interesting and unique, especially with classical music. Having classical songs play during the action scenes does feel a bit odd at first, but somehow only further enhances them especially in slow motion. The sights and sounds of bones breaking, blood splattering, guns firing, and things exploding to the tune of classical jazz and blues music, strangely creates a symphony that is weirdly satisfying to watch and listen to.

In recent years, it has been difficult for action movies to get noticed without a superhero title attached to them, but ‘Nobody’ really stands out on its own. The rollercoaster ride through this film will surely leave audiences wanting more, which will hopefully lead to a possible sequel. However there have been talks about maybe doing a crossover with the ‘John Wick’ franchise, and as the producer of ‘Nobody’ has also co-directed the first ‘John Wick’ film, this dream team-up, or possibly even a face-off, could become a reality. Whether it’s a sequel or a crossover starring John Wick and Hutch Mansell, both ideas would be greatly appreciated and welcomed by fans.

Even in a movie with lots of dull moments, ironically it never feels that way. The story of the former assassin turned ordinary boring family man, turned assassin again, is truly a film where every scene, be it action, emotional, or comedic, helps to grow the story and keeps the well-paced momentum going. Bob Odenkirk’s performance is just perfectly suited for the main character and every other cast member just compliment each other so well. Fans of action movies will find so much to enjoy as they experience the story of a not so simple, ordinary, daily life turned upside down of just some ‘Nobody’.

Written by: Sammy Hanson