Movie reviews

NOBODY

Watchable. One to replace "John Wick" and by the same writer - again a full-blown underworld (pun intended) and one wronged man, though this time over a trivial bracelet and he's a family guy. John Wick had a dog, Hutch Mansell has a cat. In a bigger picture, it seems that the cold war movie premise has been transformed into Russian mafia versus war veterans in American cinema. The smart script offers some humour, e.g. during a brawl on a bus "Stop requested" starts flashing. Better still is Christopher Lloyd as Hutch's father, I'd love more of him in fact, rather than Bob Odenkirk - perfect for the 'boring man' part but overdoing the dull facade. The movie is a solid actioner, with proper Russian spoken, deadly booby traps and Atmos-registered good musical bits. What initially appears to serve to contrast characters in the introduction, later turns out to have served action. But it's all pretty clear so enjoyable in a laidback manner. Drawbacks include: music - apart from a handful of fine pieces, most are slow and dull, and loose ends in the plot, e.g. the bracelet gets found miraculously and what's the connection of it to the Russians? Still, on the whole, it's quality stuff. I'm looking forward to a sequel which is very likely. Are they going to take on the Italian mafia next?