In 2007, country singer/Cars franchise veteran Brad Paisley unleashed manmade horrors beyond anyone’s comprehension with the album 5th Gear’s first single, “Ticks”. A hideous creation about some dude hitting on a random woman, it includes the protagonist’s infamous declaration that he’ll “walk you through a field of wildflowers/and I’d like to check you for ticks.” While 5th Gear’s following singles, “Online” and “Letter to Me,” weren’t musical masterpieces, both felt like breaths of fresh air after “Ticks”.

Similarly, action movie outfit 87North Productions dropped its own “Ticks” earlier this year with Love Hurts. A waste of Ke Huy Quan, this shoddily edited film revolved around fight scenes oozing wasted potential. 87North’s latest venture, Nobody 2, then, is the big screen equivalent of “Online”. It’s nothing exceptional, but its minor charms are more readily apparent after that previous artistic calamity.

Following up on the 2021 original, Nobody 2 catches up with Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk) fully back in the role of assassin-for-hire gig. After giving up on assassinating for quiet domesticity at the start of Nobody, Hutch has switched. Now, with an immense debt to The Barber (Colin Salmon) keeping him busy in the world of corpses and bullets, he barely has time for his wife Becca (Connie Nielsen) and children Brady (Gage Munroe) and Sammy (Paisley Cadorath).

To reconnect, Mansell decides to take the family to Wild Bill’s Water Park, the only place he ever went for a summer vacation. Sadly, the years have not been kind to Wild Bill’s, now a dilapidated shell of its former self. Corrupt law enforcement officers like Henry (John Ortiz) and Sheriff Abel (Colin Hanks), meanwhile, run the local area. They’re all working for the greater machinations of vicious gangster Lendina (Sharon Stone). Hutch thinks he’s taking a breather from punching the snot out of people. Trouble, though, quickly comes for his family that only violence can solve.

Running only 89 minutes, including end credits, Nobody 2 is a breezy time. It has the good sense to keep the fight sequences and amiable carnage coming at a regular clip. Unfortunately, nothing here comes anywhere close to the excitement and tight choreography of the first Nobody’s bus duel or Hutch ally Harry (RZA) dispatching three guys with a single sniper bullet.

The creative finale comes close, though, with a carnival outfitted with various landmines, grenades, and assorted Home Alone-style traps. The sequence epitomizes how anything in the Nobody universe can become a tool for butchery. Decent set pieces exploit this reality to depict Hutch turning arcade staples (like a whack-a-mole game) or ordinary elements on a “duck boat” into profoundly effective weapons. They are largely crisply filmed by director Timo Tjahjanto and cinematographer Callan Green, deploying R-rated mayhem in wide shots. Especially inspired visually is an extended, unblinking image of a building’s exterior soundtracked by the muffled sounds of Hutch’s rampage inside. It’s an instantly unique way that keeps this violence to the imagination, accentuating the legendary reputation of Nobody 2’s protagonist.

Odenkirk’s Hutch performance also hasn’t lost its entertainment value. Though a few years have passed since the inaugural Nobody installment, this Breaking Bad veteran still nails the character’s wildly dissonant sides. Believable schlubbiness underpins Hutch as a dad who never knows the right thing to say to his son. He’s equally committed while outright feral, endlessly punching dudes. The spectacle of Odenkirk effectively navigating these wildly varying personality traits is a treat.

Unfortunately, serious storm clouds harsh Nobody 2’s sunny action vibes, courtesy of Derek Kolstad and Aaron Rabin’s overly cluttered screenplay. For starters, the convoluted hierarchy of baddies desperately needs ironing out. Lendina, literally in another country for most of the film, feels too divorced from this endeavor to function as a threat. Meanwhile, extensive back-stabbing and conflicting allegiances between Abel and Henry overcomplicate a story that excels in the simple pleasures.

More pressing is Nobody 2’s awkward incorporation of “dramatic” sequences with composer Dominic Lewis’ ramped strings emphasizing schmaltzy dialogue. This narratively ham-fisted and detached approach capsizes narrative momentum, clumsily hammering home core themes and evaporating the tension.

Once again, American cinema’s troublesome obsession with dialogue-first filmmaking reaffirms its cumbersomeness.  Nobody 2 is a movie thriving on fleeting, visceral, visual-based pleasures. Its perfunctory execution of emotional intimacy directly undercuts those virtues. Excessive chit-chat weighs down much of the film, even when the bullets start flying.

Similarly, Kolstad and Rabin’s screenplay peaks too early with its most inspired carnival-based kills. A final showdown between Lendina and Hutch is rife with poor CG and devoid of much imaginative fight choreography. This climax’s absence of narrative or violence beats directly related to her character’s personality reaffirms how thinly-sketched this baddie is. At least it’s occasionally fun seeing Sharon Stone channel Joan Allen in Death Race with the scenery-chewing delivery of ceaselessly profane dialogue.

Nobody 2 exhibits some good common sense. Chiefly, it realizes Odenkirk’s acting chops and cool-looking violence are the primary draw and delivers on those fronts. Tjahjanto and the screenwriters also wisely realize any movie is better with a cutie French bulldog and a scene where RZA slices up foes with a sword. If only those sharp creative instincts inspired less reliance on convoluted dialogue and antagonists. Nobody 2 never escapes feeling like a cursory extension of its predecessor. However, it’s at least better than “Ticks,” er, Love Hurts.

Nobody 2 hits–and hits and hits and hits–theatres starting August 15.

Nobody 2 Trailer: