Nobody

Year of Release:  2021

Director:  Ilya Naishuller

Screenplay:  Derek Kolstad

Starring:  Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, Aleksei Serebryakov, RZA, Michael Ironside, Colin Salmon, Christopher Lloyd

Running Time:  92 minutes

Genre:  Action, thriller

Hutch Mansell (Odenkirk) is a seemingly average man living with his wife, Becca (Nielsen), and two children, and working a dull office job at his father-in-law's metal fabrication company.  One night two armed burglars break into his house, however Hutch does not intervene and allows them to leave.  This leads his family, neighbours and friends to see him as a loser.  However a late night confrontation on a bus with a gang of thugs, leads to Hutch being pitted against a powerful Russian crime syndicate, and it soon becomes apparent that Hutch is really very different from the placid, mild-mannered man that he appears.

At first this appears to be a gritty vigilante thriller in the mould of Death Wish (1974) and it's ilk, where a mild-mannered man is pushed too far by urban criminals, but it soon becomes a full on action movie.  The film is full of exciting well-staged action sequences and it does become a good, old-fashioned action film The anchor is Bob Odenkirk in the lead role who makes the switch from placid average guy to full on action hero very convincingly.  It all gets increasingly daft as it goes along, but there is some real grit in the earlier scenes, as Hutch gets punched and pummelled from all directions and the injuries look and feel real and do slow him down, of course this is soon abandoned as the film moves towards full action movie mode.  Connie Nielsen is underused as Becca, Hutch's wife, but Aleksei  Serebryakov is effective as the head villain, and Christopher Lloyd has a fun part as Hutch's elderly, but ruthlessly gun-toting father. While this does feel like a gritty urban thriller mashed up with an  action movie, this is always fun and when it kicks into gear it really doesn't let up.  It's no classic, but it will give you a good time at the movies.  

Bob Odenkirk is Nobody

Wonder Woman

Year of Release:  2017
Director:  Patty Jenkins
Screenplay:  Allan Heinberg, from a story by Zack Snyder, Allan Heinberg and Jason Fuchs, based on Wonder Woman created by William Moulton Marston
Starring:  Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Robin Wright, Connie Nielsen, David Thewlis, Danny Huston, Elena Anaya
Running Time:  141 minutes
Genre:  Superhero, fantasy, action-adventure, war

The hidden island of Themyscira is the home of the Amazons, warrior women who, according to legend, have been charged by Zeus to guard against the return of the war god Ares.  However the idyllic island life is shattered when American pilot Steve Trevor (Pine) crashes off the coast.  Trevor is rescued by Diana (Gadot), the daughter of the island's ruler, Queen Hippolyta (Wright).  In the world outside, World War I is raging, and Trevor reveals that he is a spy, who is trying to return to London with information about an experimental weapon that brutal General Erich Ludendorff (Huston) and scientist Doctor Maru (Anaya) have developed.  Convinced that Ares is behind the "War to End All Wars", Diana resolves to return with Trevor to find and defeat him, believing that this will end the war and restore world peace.  However she soon learns that things are not that simple.

This film is notable to be the first major superhero film to centre on a female character and the first to be directed by a woman.  Gadot debuted as Wonder Woman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), and this movie is part of a linked series of films based on DC Comics characters, however aside for a brief framing sequence set in the present day, this isn't really connected to any of the previous films, and so can be enjoyed by people who haven't sat through the other DC movies.  The film mixes fantasy, period war film and some culture clash comedy, and works very well.  Gal Gadot is perfect as Wonder Woman, not only handling the action sequences but also a strong emotional arch, and Chris Pine also does well as the square-jawed Steve Trevor.  The film has an emotional core that is often lacking in superhero films, and, while there is a lot of darkness in the film, it leavens the often Bergmanesque levels of despair in the DC movies with a welcome level of hope and optimism.  Certainly this is one of the best of the recent glut of superhero films.

Gal Gadot is Wonder Woman