ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Two sequels are now playing in theaters: “Nobody 2,” an action film followup to the 2021 Bob Odenkirk vehicle, and “Freakier Friday,” a sequel to the Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis comedy made 22 years after the original. Read our reviews below.

“FREAKIER FRIDAY” (2025, 111 min., directed by Nisha Ganatra)

“Freakier Friday” must have swapped bodies with another long-gestating family franchise, because I’m not sure who was clamoring for a sequel to “Freaky Friday,” the 2003 Mark Waters film starring Lindsay Lohan, Jamie Lee Curtis and Chad Michael Murray.

The new movie brings back the original cast and the original premise, which all makes for an especially unoriginal time at the movies, particularly when the film seems intent on nothing but recycling bits from the first one. This time around, Lohan and Curtis are joined in the body-swapping mayhem by the daughter of Lohan’s character and her soon-to-be-stepsister, played by Julia Butters and Sophia Hammons, respectively.

While “Freakier Friday” makes an earnest effort at examining mother-daughter relationships and the politics of blended families, it feels a little cynical when what the movie has to say is merely repackaged from 2003 with a Gen Z veneer. Reheating intellectual property is not the same thing as tackling timeless ideas, especially when done worse the second time around. Everything about “Freakier Friday” is lesser than the first, from the humorless gags to Curtis and Lohan’s performances.

Perhaps nothing sums “Freakier Friday” up better than the career of Lohan’s character. The irreverent, punk rocker teen of the first film grew up to become a dispassionate executive of a music label, just as the imperfect but spunky “Freaky Friday” became a corporatized, soulless sequel.

If you were considering making Friday plans to see “Freakier Friday,” do yourself a favor and swap to something else.

Rating: 2/5

“NOBODY 2” (2025, 89 min., directed by Timo Tjahjanto)

(Courtesy: Universal Pictures) Bob Odenkirk stars in “Nobody 2.”

Remember when I said you should watch something other than “Freakier Friday”? “Nobody 2” is no better.

The original “Nobody” was released to relative obscurity in 2021, becoming a hidden gem of the pandemic era after hitting streaming. The first film starred Bob Odenkirk as a retired-assassin-turned-depressed-office-drone spurred into bone-crunching action after failing to adequately protect his family during a burglary.

While the first film was an unabashed “John Wick” clone with enough of its own moxie to justify it, its sequel is tepid, uninspired and, worst of all, boring, a cardinal sin for any action movie but particularly one tasked with measuring up to a fun previous installment. Though set at an amusement park this time around, “Nobody 2” is entirely derivative of “Nobody,” which is incredibly derivative of “Wick,” making for a thoroughly uninspired thrill ride.

With every action scene short of excitement and an Odenkirk performance short of charisma – which may be more the fault of a script short of good ideas – at least the runtime is blessedly short, too.

Rating: 1.5/5