It is really bad for me to admit this, but I saw the first Nobody movie and really enjoyed it. That is not the bad bit. The bad bit I am now admitting is that I even wrote part of the review for it, and I had been trying to finish my review and post it here. Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into a couple months, and I was still going to post it and back-date it, but, it is only until this trailer and now that I write this review about the sequel to the movie I really enjoyed, is when I realised that I never finished my review for the first movie. I feel bad now, and I just went to double-check to see if it is still sitting in drafts, and it is! With that said, this trailer is great, and it seems it will follow the lead the first movie (the one I really enjoyed) took and is completely running with it. I mean, if it isn't broke...
So, it is another day and the protagonist, John Wick's uncle (let me check out Nobody's name), Hutch! You know, as soon as I read it, I remembered hearing it! Anyway, Hutch is going on a family vacation with Doc Brown in tow, and it seems like, whilst on vacation, he stumbles into hurting a bunch of fools, while he cracks the backs of all those he touches. That elevator scene is definitely a homage to 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier', but did you see that Harpoon gun arrow thingy-ma-jig? Maybe it is not a harpoon gun, but whatever it was, it is a "now you are very messed up and possibly dead-gun or thingy-ma-jig". The Whack-a-Mole, the environment being used to mess these guys up. THIS trailer is what this film is about. Pure unadulterated violence in a way, very few movies can do and have done. And it seems like a really good popcorn flick! Let's just hope Derek Kolstad has done it again. And if you do not know what I mean by that, here is a hint...he is the writer for John Wick 1-3, the first Nobody movie and a few episodes of 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier'. Whenever you get him or any of these two, Chad Stahelski or David Leitch, we are onto something very entertaining.
When I saw Bob's face on the thumbnail of this trailer, I thought to myself "oh, that's the guy from 'Better Call Saul' and 'Breaking Bad!'" (two great shows by the way) and then my immediate thought was, "oh, is he in a film?". You see, it's one thing having someone acting in TV series, but to see them in film, you do often think if the film would be any good because acting in film and acting in a TV series are two completely different things. For the most part, most or quire a few TV shows are character driven so you need a great director who will be able to pull out an actors talents and what they are known for or what they excel at in TV, so I instantly thought that maybe this trailer could be interesting. Ultimately, it could be rubbish.
Upon watching this trailer, like most films of this ilk, it starts off a little slow giving you a little of the character's current life situation. Then we are hit with the switch and what changes the character. Then a little history on what the character used to be in his past before he settled down and became a family man while at the same time, wrecking havoc and messing up fools. If you liken this to John Wick, well...David Leitch is the producer who is responsible for Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, Hobbs & Shaw, so yeah that guy is behind this. And although this can be seen as a tired trope and "Yeah, I've seen this all before", it really is about the acting and execution and Ilya Naishuller brought us music video and Hardcore Henry?
This looks great. Bob is fairly comical as he has a comedic background so I can see some witty and clever lines woven into this script, along with situations, but I can assure you (well at least i think), if you like John Wick, you are likely to like this with a very slight comedic element to it but with all the seriousness of a Wick film or better yet, an action thriller. I don't think it will fall flat or at least I hope it doesn't. Nice to see Christopher Lloyd in this too.
Directed by Ilya Naishuller and starring Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, RZA, Aleksei Serebryakov & Christopher Lloyd
First of all, I tried to start this show 4-5 years ago and I failed. I tried again numerous times and kept failing. Distractions. Falling asleep. Other shows. I need to get back to 'The Walking Dead' AND 'The Blacklist' but because I keep hearing of Better Call Saul and how good it is getting AND the fact that Breaking Bad had me clapping at the end in it's final season finale, I've forced myself to watch all 5 seasons of Better Call Saul. It meant that a lot of the time I rewatched episodes due to falling asleep and losing my position in the narrative, but I've got to say, Better Call Saul is such an experience, you have to push yourself through it to understand how great it is.
You see, with Breaking Bad, you are given a school teacher who is getting basic pay, but isn't enough to support his wife and family. He gets into making drugs to turn a profit and then becomes a Drug Kingpin over time. James McGill aka Slipping Jimmy (Bob Odenkirk) is the younger brother or Charles McGill (Michael McKean), a successful lawyer for a big law firm. James is a con man turned Lawyer in order to clean his life up and do whatecer it takes for his clients. James idolises his brother Chuck and inspires to be like him, but James aka Jimmy struggles with a lot of things in life due to the choices he makes.
Over the course of the series though, through season 1 to 5, we start to see the formation and change in James McGill to becoming the character he is in Breaking Bad as well as the characters around him and in his world, such as Mike, Hector and Gus (also characters in Breaking Bad). As this is a prequel, you begin to bridge the dots in Breaking Bad from this show (of you have already watched Breaking Bad), however this show stands on its own two feet than relying on the predecessor.
We get a more in-depth look at Jimmy's personal life and his relationship with his older brother who has a condition leaving Jimmy to look after him and care over him. What's funny though, I believe it was THIS relationship and the things which were said by Jimmy's friend, Kim (in which I'll get onto next) regarding his relationship with his brother is what caught me offguard and had me fully invested at this point.
Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn) was a strange one for me. She is Jimmy's friend and they really get on. It's like an on-again off-again situationship where her character eventually grew on me, especially after what she had said in relation to Chuck and Jimmy's relationship. It was at that point, I saw her differently because she saw Jimmy differently and that really mattered to me. I didn't like how she would sometimes treat Jimmy, when he would have given her the world, but at the same time, Jimmy's influence is what makes Kim ultimately the tragedy of this story.
The earlier seasons focus more or Jimmy, Mike, Chuck and Kim but as their stories expand, the more the world opens up and more characters get introduced as well as story points, ie Gus Fring, a drug lord from Breaking Bad and his beef with the people he is in business with, the Salamancas or at least, their rivalry.
Needless to say, Better Call Saul is about the characters and the writers do an absolute amazing job in giving every single character some depth with scenes these actors can chew on. Bob is amazing and I loved his voice acting work in The Incredibles 2, but where he takes his character and what he does with him are excellent. Imagine I disliked Kim near the start, but she grew on me and Rhea does a real good job especially when she has those moments to shine. I didn't really care for the relationship between Jimmy and Chuck, but then I started to dislike Chuck and felt sorry for Jimmy. I mean, two brothers who are brothers but don't really see eye-to-eye, but one would do anything to help the other whilst the other just wouldn't.
Everything about this show is great and at times, moved me emotionally. The way they build these storylines and the tension is nothing short of great. If you have seen Breaking Bad, you'd be familiar with the odd usage of camera angles and extreme close-ups of ants on an ice-cream cone or a bird's eye view shot with a character doing multiples things in different locations within the scene over time, but it all adds to what Better Call Saul is. The flashbacks and Flash Forwards can be confusing at times, but with the different levels these guys are playing on in telling us James' story, you will get there in the end and you will appreciate how they get you locked in.
Try not to compare or think too deeply about Breaking Bad though, as this show is just a prequel to it, but stands on its own two, neatly. I believe what Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould do more than anything, is make you sympathise with specific characters and if anything, I could really relate to Jimmy. Sometimes, things can be all messed up and nothing works, but you still put on that brave face and face the world.
When it's all said and done, I'd like to see the future of this character, if there is one, because the black and white Cinnabon moments must be after Breaking Bad and if you have seen that, you know what happens to Jimmy.
