Hutch is back, for no good reason I can discern except to make more money for Universal and its production companies. First, some background. For some reason I never reviewed the first Hutch Mansell adventure, Nobody, probably because I saw it a couple of years after its 2021 release. Generally I enjoyed it. It’s usually fun to see an unexpectedly agile and physical actor known for deadpan comedy transform into a deadly assassin when necessary. It’s way too bloody for its own good, but that is an unfortunate sign of the times. Nobody, directed by Ilya Naishuller, reminds me of The Equalizer with its Russian villains but with more comedy and rates 2 1/2 or 3 stars as a witty and different take on the unexpected hero genre.
Timo Tjahjanto’s sequel sends Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk) and his family on vacation to rural Plummerville, Wisconsin, where they are harassed by the local cops and roughians to the point where Hutch feels compelled to fight back. Grandpa (Christopher Lloyd) is back with his big guns and together with an unlikely ally (John Ortiz) they take a torch to Wild Bill’s Majestic Midway and Waterpark, turning the tables on the bad guys and gals (Colin Hanks, Sharon Stone, et al.).
The writing was fun in the first film, especially with Hutch apologizing as he defends himself and whomping on his attackers. The writing in this film is facile, from the opening scene through the explosive finale. A couple of sequences are fun, such as the scuffle on the tour boat while the tourists are unaware of it, but even that is ridiculous rather than sublime. The nadir is reached with the arrival of Lendina (Sharon Stone), a crime boss so spectacularly heinous that she eliminates a full casino room full of witnesses, just because. The blatant villainy of Lendina and Sheriff Abel (Colin Hanks) is so absurd as to be patronizing. Good conflict stories require strong heroes and strong villains; this movie is so one-sided it is not just preposterous but embarrassingly so.
It is also, like the first one, extremely violent. How is it that action comedies now have to feature exploding bodies or heads, people burned alive, the threat of rape, close-up torture scenes and such. If done well, such horrors can be quite effective, of course. When done for comedy, I have to wonder who thinks watching some characters fingers being lopped off is amusing. This is a misfire in all respects. Let Mr. Nobody go back to anonymity. ☆ 1/2. 8 May 2026.