Nobody - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Nobody



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:

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Movie
When a movie has the words “From the Producer of John Wick!” (or insert the name of any popular film in there instead of John Wick) it sets warning bells off inside my head. Usually when the powers that be are desperately trying to turn your attention to a well received film when comparing it to their movie, it’s an effort to try and cover up the fact that this will be a sub par product. We see it ALLLL the time in the horror and action community. “Come see this film which was written by the roommate of the brother of the guy who starred in The Conjuring!”, or “Check out this flick that was directed by the guy who stayed in a holiday inn with Steven Seagal!”. HOWEVER, this has Bob Odenkirk in it (best know for the unscrupulous mob lawyer Saul from Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad) and the trailer looked like a lot of fun, so I dove in with conflicted feelings.

Well, I love it when a movie completely side swipes (in a good way) and Nobody did that in spades. As someone who thinks that John Wick is one of the best action movies of the last 20 years (it really is the perfect action movie if you think about it), I can see why so many people I interacted with were comparing it to Wick. I get that most vigilante movies have a ton in common, whether that be the Equalizer, John Wick, Death Wish or countless other films where a good guy with a special set of skills rains down unholy fire on the bad guy. But Nobody takes those cliched action tropes from all said movies, turns to the audience to wink and nod about the absurdity of said tropes, then turns back around and fully participates in the over the top tropes that they’re mildly lampooning.

Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk) is your everyday man. He works for his father in law (Michael Ironsides) as a pencil pusher in the manufacturing business, he gets home from work, has a bland dinner with his family, then goes to bed with a wife (Connie Nielsen) who obviously has cooled down their relationship over the years. Rinse and repeat every single day to the point where he’s viewed as a “beta” by everyone around him. Even his son thinks he’s a wuss when a desperate couple breaks into their home and Hutch refuses to take the opportunity to turn the tables on the perpetrators. However, something is lurking underneath the surface, and after one little spark sets him off, Hutch ends up beating the tar out of a Russian mobster’s brother, nearly killing. A move which in turn sets the family man under a microscope wherein he’s forced to reveal that his boring past (and present) are nothing but a facade as the ex bagman gets to bring out his suppressed true self and go to work dismantling the Russian mob.

The plot for Nobody is fairly cookie cutter in practice. It’s your typical “I’m a bad mamba jamba under the guise of a bewildered nobody who’s going to take to the streets and dispense some good old fashioned street justice to the bad guys” plot that we’ve seen a million times. HOWEVER, what makes the film special is just how delicately Bob Odenkir and director Ilya Naishuller walk the tightrope of comedy and serious action movie. The movie doesn’t outright have slapstick moments throughout the movie that we’re supposed to give out canned laughter over, instead it just obviously winks and nods to the audience with a million different action tropes that we all know are ridiculous, and then goes right back to fully participating in said tropes with dead pan seriousness. The scene with Hutch telling the tied up bad guys his past as exposition had me rolling in stitches, especially when he turns around and you realize he’s been speaking to bad guys who’ve bled out while he rambled on.

Bob Odenkir sells it completely too. You see him as this hammy beta male in some aspects, but he can totally pull off the ex three later agency bagman with the turn of a switch. He’s nasty, rude, and got plenty of action acumen as well. While the scenes aren’t as polished are awe inspiring as John Wick, he really does lay waste to a LOOOOOOOT of bad guys in epic fashion. Christopher Lloyd is only in the movie 5 minutes, but he was actually a lot more fun than I expected his roll to be (and holy cow the guy’s looking old). Aleksey Serebryakov had me rolling on the floor with his overly stylized Russian mobster persona, and both guys were gleefully chewing up the scenery with all of the obvious homages to films like John Wick, The Equalizer and Taken. I wanted to rate the film a full 4.5/5 and was REALLLY close to doing that, but while I really REALLY enjoyed Nobody, it wasn’t as perfect as I would have liked. In all honesty my 4/5 rating is a bit low and I think a 4.25/5 rating is really more accurate, but I had to either round up or round down, and rounding up felt like I might oversell the film just a little.




Rating:

Rated R for strong violence and bloody images, language throughout and brief drug use




4K Video: Video:

Nobody was filmed with a very stylistic approach to the production and while it may not lend itself towards visual eye candy, it is very faithful to the production according to the commentary. The movie was shot digitally, tweaked with artificial grain to give it an older look, then finished at 2K and upconverted for the 4K UHD release. While it certainly is better looking than it’s 2K brethren on Blu-ray, the differences aren’t massive. The flick tends to lean towards cooler monochromatic blues and sepia tones depending on the scene, but primary colors that are embedded in the color palate do shine through well enough. Bright red blood splashes well, as does the yellow of a cab. The artificial grain can look a bit filtered at times, and background objects a tad soft. That being said, visual clarity is crisp and clean, with the bits of grime, blood, and wound marks on Hutch’s body showing through perfectly. Intimate details such as clothing and hair are better defined than the Blu-ray, with the HDR color grading really helping out the blacks as well. On the Blu-ray I noticed some crush and shadow detail taking a hit, but on the 4K UHD disc it’s much more uniform, with the shadows showing much more visible detail as well. All in all, a very solid 4K UHD disc that outclasses the Blu-ray in all the ways that count, but isn’t really going to give you that shock and awe difference that a glossy, shiny looking flick will do.




Audio:

The Dolby Atmos track is a solidly aggressive mix that has it where it counts, though it’s not as dynamic and airy as some other Atmos tracks. The track can be demure and front heavy during the first portion of the movie, but once the action kicks into high gear, the action oriented aggression kicks it up a notch and keeps things moving. Surrounds get used incredibly well in the latter half of the movie, especially when Hutch lures the villains to his warehouse. Overheads were the one reason I actually docked a half star from the film, simply due to the fact that they were barely used. LFE is punishing and pounding as one would expect from an action flick, with tons of low end rumble as well as nasty mid bass hits during the gunfights and car chase. All around great sounding mix, even if it doesn’t really become a sonic masterpiece.





Extras:

• Feature Audio Commentary with Actor/Producer Bob Odenkirk and Director Ilya Naishuller
• Breaking Down The Action - Featurette
• Just A Nobody - Featurette
• Hutch hits Hard
• Deleted Scenes

Final Score: ​

Nobody was the surprise action hit of 2021 so far. I was expecting literally NOTHING going into the movie, but came out with a huge grin across my face and relished the thought of watching it a second time. Is it going to be the thinking man’s action movie? Lol, of course not. It’s a vigilante action movie with the right balance of comedy and action, with a hilarious take one of the action world’s most beloved sub genres. The extras are in the middle of the road (although the director’s commentary is a blast to listen to), but the audio and video scores for the 4K UHD are well worth the added price over the Blu-ray. Great watch.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Bob Odenkirk, Aleksey Serebryakov, Connie Nielsen, Christopher Lloyd, Michael Ironsides, Colin Salmon, The RZA
Directed by: Ilya Naishuller
Written by: Derek Kolstad
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (English Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), French DD 5.1, Spanish DD Plus 7.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Universal
Rated: R
Runtime: 92 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: June 22nd, 2021

Recommendation: Awesome Watch

 

[Asere]

Thanks for the review. Will definitely watch this one. Especially if I win here

 

[Jack1949]

I agree with @Asere ...except for the part where he wins instead of me.

 

[Asere]

I agree with @Asere ...except for the part where he wins instead of me.

Lol

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

Just finished it up. It was okay. If I hadn’t read reviews I probably would’ve enjoyed more based on the surprise element. It was good. I loved the grain and the overall look.

 

[Todd Anderson]

I'm looking forward to watching this, thanks for the review Mike. IN!

 

[Epoxy1]

My copy got delayed and won't be here until next week. I'm looking forward to watching it.