"Nobody 2” and the art of the sequel

Sequels can be tough.

You may have watched that first movie, but maybe not. And even if you did see it, do you really think it needs a sequel?

I, for one, don’t think that “Nobody” needed a sequel. It was a fun, self-contained action movie about Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk), a family man whose dull life belies his past as a skilled assassin and who finds himself in the crosshairs of a powerful crime lord. At the end of the movie, every question had been answered and the villain had been convincingly vanquished.

But was the sequel, “Nobody 2,” fun? Absolutely.

Action movies are perhaps the easiest genre to write sequels for, for one simple reason: character development. Or, more precisely, the relative unimportance of it.

Most satisfying stories require growth from the main characters. In romance, the leading couple needs to overcome whatever it is that keeps them apart, usually themselves. In drama, the conflict should be almost entirely character based. Because of that, these genres might be the hardest to write sequels for. You need to find new, equally compelling ways for those same characters to grow, without undoing their growth from the original story.

Not so with action. While action movies do have character arcs, they tend to prioritize stakes — after all, the audience is coming to the theater to be thrilled! Too many character scenes will slow the pace.

The original “Nobody” solved this problem by having a strong theme for a backbone: suppression and a man’s place in the modern world. It wasn’t complicated, but it paired well with the film’s content (scene after scene of creatively brutal brawls) and tongue-in-cheek script. And, importantly, it tied the characters directly to the plot, letting the story itself be a shorthand for characterization. Clever stuff.

A theme is much easier to mold into something similar, but unique, so I was interested to see what “Nobody 2” did to expand upon the first film.

I was a bit worried, going to the theater, that I might not remember details from “Nobody” well enough. I’d only seen it one time, the year it came out. Thankfully, “Nobody 2” wastes no time getting you up to speed, then kicks off a new story which almost entirely stands on its own.

The plot is simple enough: Hutch, now working as an assassin, is worried that he’s spending too much time at work. His wife seems distant; his son has been getting into fights. He decides to take the family on a vacation — but finds trouble, instead, as their small-town destination, Plummerville, is corrupt to the core.

If I were to highlight one weakness in particular, it would be the main villain, Lendina. She doesn’t have quite the same impact as Yulian Kuznetsov from the first film. Actor Sharon Stone gave a delightfully maniacal performance, but some of the spotlight was stolen by other new characters in Plummerville. I can’t bring myself to complain too much, though — I enjoyed the other new characters!

If you liked the first film, I think you’ll like this one. It hits some of the same story beats, but they have a fresh coat of paint and didn’t feel redundant to me. The new setting is perfect for fresh, equally zany fights. The writing has the same farcical tone (a little bit sillier, perhaps) and the theme was familiar, too — just shifted slightly, focused more on fathers and sons.

If nothing else, “Nobody 2” clearly did something right as a sequel … because I walked out of the theater wanting to watch the first one again.

    This image released by Universal Pictures shows Colin Hanks in a scene from "Nobody 2."
  

    This image released by Universal Pictures shows Bob Odenkirk as Hutch Mansell in "Nobody 2."