“Nobody 2”, a sequel to “Nobody” (2021), attempts to generate more laugh and thrill from the one-joke promise of its predecessor. Although it is a fairly competent product, the result is more or less than a pointless rehash in my inconsequential opinion, and that is a shame considering the game efforts from its good lead actor and a few other notable supporting performers around him.

Bob Odenkirk, who also served as one of the producers of the film, plays Hutch Mansell, a former government assassin known as “Nobody”. As shown from the previous film, Hutch tried to live as your average suburban family guy for a while, but his accidental clash with a local Russian gang awakened his good old killer instinct, and he eventually decided to get back in his killing business around the end of the previous movie.

Nevertheless, Hutch also tries to maintain his suburban family life as before, and that certainly burdens him as well as his family at times. Although his dear wife Becca (Connie Nielsen) and their two children try to understand and accept whatever he is doing behind his back, he often finds himself being too busy to spend more time with his family, and this naturally frustrates both him and his wife a lot.

In the end, Hutch decides to have a real vacation with his dear family as finally taking some free time from his killing business, and he actually has a modest but sincere plan for them. He is going to take them to a certain amusement park, which was incidentally a very special place during his childhood. His father David (Christopher Lloyd), who also has a particular set of skills just like his son, once took young Hutch and his half younger brother to that amusement park, and that was the only time when young Hutch felt like being plain and ordinary.

When Hutch and his family eventually arrive at that amusement park, he is a bit disappointed to see that the place has changed a lot now. Nevertheless, his wife and kids are glad to have a real family time along with him, and Hutch cannot help but feel a little nostalgic as looking around those old spots he still remembers well.

However, as his handler warned him in advance, it seems that Hutch is always bound to get himself into trouble no matter how much he tries to be plain and ordinary. When his son happens to clash with some boy around his age, Hutch tries to avoid any possibility of trouble at first, but, what do you know, he soon lets himself driven by his violent sides, and this consequently leads to another conflict between him and his wife.

And the situation turns out to be much more problematic than expected. Due to the trouble caused by him, Hutch comes to draw the attention of the local sheriff, who is not so amused to say the least. While Hutch simply wants to continue his family vacation, the sheriff becomes quite determined to show Hutch who the boss is in the town, but, of course, his goons make a big mistake of underestimating Hutch, and we get a tense but absurd action scene unfolded in the middle of a boat ride.

Coming to realize that he should take care of the mess caused by him as soon as possible, Hutch prepares for whoever he is going to confront in the end, and we are accordingly introduced to a certain female criminal boss quite willing to eliminate any trouble in her criminal empire as quickly and ruthlessly as possible. Although her prime has passed years ago, Sharon Stone knows how to chew every moment of her scenes with gusto, and it is too bad that the movie does not give her more space for her deliberately hammy villain performance.

Around the narrative point where Stone’s criminal boss arrives at the amusement park along with a heap of armed goons as expected, the movie naturally goes for a full-throttle action mode, and director Timo Tiahianto, an Indonesian filmmaker who previously made “The Big 4” (2022) and “The Shadow Strays” (2004), serves us an intense mix of brutal action and carefree comedy. You will wince because of several extreme moments of violence, but you may be tickled a bit by the occasional moments of absurdity, and you will probably not mind the sudden insertion of a certain well-known pop song around the end of the film.

However, the movie is also hampered by the lack of character development in the story. Despite Odenkirk’s diligent acting, Hutch remains pretty much like what we saw from him in the previous film, and that is the main reason why the movie is less engaging compared to the previous film. In case of several substantial supporting characters, Hutch’s wife and their kids are mostly put aside for plot convenience, and Connie Nielsen is seriously under-utilized again before getting her own moment later in the story. In case of RZA, who plays Hutch’s half-brother, Colin Hanks, who plays that corrupt sheriff, and Christopher Lloyd, they simply come and then go as required, but I must admit that it is nice to see Lloyd still active despite being over 80 at present.

Overall, “Nobody 2” does not bore me during its rather short running time (89 minutes), but it is one or two steps from the level of entertainment of the previous film. Although I understand that it is supposed to be sort of a violent variation on “National Lampoon’s Vacation” (1983), it is deficient in terms of wit and personality, and my mind is already ready to move onto better stuffs while not remembering much from this passable product.