Nobody and John Wick are both thrilling, emotional, well-shot, and well-acted action films. There’s some things, however, that Nobody does better.

While Nobody and the John Wick movies are all exciting, interesting, and well-made, there are some things that the Bob Odenkirk movie does better within the action genre. The 2021 thriller Nobody and 2014-debuting action franchise John Wick have numerous elements in common. In both, the protagonist is a former professional killer who has retired in order to pursue a quiet, suburban life. This life is disrupted by a violent attack, forcing Nobody’s Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk) and John Wick‘s eponymous assassin (Keanu Reeves) to use their latent abilities to defend, or avenge, those they love the most.

The films have been well-received by fans and critics alike, leading to there being several John Wick spinoffs in production and to Nobody 2 potentially being in the works. There has even been discussion of a crossover between John Wick and Nobody, indicating the wider franchise potential of both hit action properties. While the films are all effective at mixing heart-racing action with heart-wrenching emotion, there are some ways that Nobody is more successful at creating a realistic and impactful story than the John Wick movies.

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It’s never explained why Wick was unable to protect his dog and keep his car.

In both Nobody and John Wick, the main character experiences a violent home invasion, with Mansell and Wick failing to protect their loved ones in this attack. Mansell’s guilt and Wick’s grief from this motivates them throughout the rest of their films. Nobody, however, more realistically explains why Mansell wasn’t able to protect his family from the robbers than John Wick does in regard to protecting his puppy.

Even as Mansell’s son, Blake, is being attacked on the ground by one of the intruders and the other has her back turned to him, Odenkirk’s character refuses to take the opportunity to strike her with the golf club in his hand. Instead, he sternly orders the robbers to leave, and they do. Blake, who is left with a black eye afterward, is angry at his father for not defending him. At first, it’s a mystery as to why Mansell refused to fight back, despite having the opportunity and the skills to do so.

Later, however, it’s revealed that he noticed that the robber’s gun wasn’t loaded. It’s also revealed that it was evident to Mansell that the two robbers were not malicious, dangerous people, but instead, were afraid and desperate. The fact that they didn’t have the ability, nor desire, to kill his family members means that Mansell felt it would’ve been wrong for him to use his assassin talents, which are meant to neutralize severe threats, against two untrained, desperate people.

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While this is understandable and adequately explains why Mansell didn’t fight back, the same isn’t true in John Wick. Wick is attacked in the middle of the night by a group of Russian gangsters who ruthlessly beat him, kill his dog, and steal his car. It’s clear that these men are trained killers who are perfectly willing and able to harm him and kill or steal the things he cares for most. However, it’s never properly explained why Wick didn’t fight back, even though he absolutely had the skills to do so.

Although it’s true that the intruders caught Wick off guard by attacking him in the middle of the night, their malicious intentions and skills as killers were clear from the moment they arrived at his home. This, combined with the fact that the dog was so precious to the grief-stricken Wick as the final gift from his dead wife, means that Wick should’ve, and could’ve, stopped at nothing to take out the intruders. Nobody is able to realistically explain Mansell’s inaction during the attack, but the same isn’t done in John Wick.

Nobody Paints A More Realistic Portrait of Suburban Life

Mansell’s life is more developed and emotionally impactful than Wick’s.

Some time is spent in the first part of Nobody showing the viewer what Mansell’s daily routine is like. He leads a monotonous existence of going to work, forgetting to take out the garbage, exercising, and interacting with his family. While the quick cuts and jarring editing suggest that his suburban life is dull and exhausting for him, it becomes clear just how deeply Mansell treasures his family and the life he’s built after they’re attacked.

The film also includes tense and heartfelt interactions between Mansell and his wife, Becca. These interactions showcase the cracks in their marriage, how his previous life as a killer affects her, and their struggles with intimacy. These depictions all add realistic depth to Mansell’s life, making his motivation to protect his family and avenge the attack against them even more believable and emotionally resonant. In contrast, John Wick doesn’t spend much time showing what Wick’s suburban life was like other than a quick montage of him and his wife, Helen, together before her tragic death. Wick also spends little time with his dog before she’s taken from him, alongside the last shred of his peaceful, suburban existence.

While Reeves’ sometimes understated, sometimes explosive, performance effectively illustrates just how much Wick loves his wife and how devastated he is by Helen’s death in John Wick, their marriage and his suburban life seemed unrealistically picture-perfect. It’s more difficult for the audience to feel the pain of Wick’s loss and understand how much he valued his suburban life, because the film does not show much of what it was really like. Nobody benefits by taking the time to show a realistic depiction of the beautiful, and at times, unpleasant, aspects of suburban life, allowing the audience to more easily sympathize with Mansell.

The Fight Scenes In Nobody Are More Realistic Than In The John Wick Movies

Nobody shows more realistically what it would be like for a retired killer to fight again for the first time in years.

When audiences first meet Mansell and Wick, they’ve both gone years without fighting or killing. Despite this, Wick is able to effortlessly dispatch nearly every enemy that comes his way throughout the films. While there are times that Wick is injured or temporarily overpowered, his fighting is always smooth and calculated, and he almost always prevails.

In fact, in the first major fight scene in the first John Wick film, a group of Viggo’s goons arrive at Wick’s home to kill him. Despite the fact that this is the first time Wick has used his assassin skills in years, he’s able to take them all out in a seamless dance of a fight sequence, as if he hasn’t gone a day without killing. While the fight scenes throughout the John Wick films are beautiful to behold, it’s unrealistic that Wick would be able to so effectively fight and kill again after being retired for years.

The fight scenes in Nobody,compared to John Wick,are more realistic. While the 2021 film similarly showcases Mansell’s killing prowess, the fight scenes are much more gritty, unclean, and seemingly more challenging for Mansell. While Mansell almost always prevails in the fights, he seems to struggle more to get there, and he is injured much more in the process.

In the first major fight sequence in Nobody, Mansell takes out a group of men harassing a woman on a public bus. Although he ultimately wins the fight, he struggles a lot more with tapping back into his fighting skills. Mansell is injured and significantly overpowered before he is finally able to take down the men. This makes sense, considering that he hasn’t fought or killed in years. In this way, Nobody presents a more realistic depiction of what it would be like for a professional killer to fight again after years of retirement than the John Wick films.