It seems 2025 was the year of "the seemingly regular guy beating the shit out of everyone... and everyone beating the shit out of an unstoppable regular guy". There were at least three movies that all fit this trope: Love Hurts, Nobody 2, and Novocaine.
Novocaine places itself firmly in the middle of this regular guy action genre. All three have a ton of action and great fight sequences but only Nobody 2 had a thing that most resembled an actual plot... and eve n that had to be helped along by the nostalgia of a Midwesterner looking back at the Wisconsin dells from the 1970s. While Love Hurts didn't even pretend to have a plot and only used the "story" to set up fights, at least Novocaine was based on an amusing premise. Our hero Nate has a very rare diseases that means he cannot feel pain. In fact, he can't feel anything physical. It is like his entire body is effected by Novocaine. They make sure we know this by repeatedly showing us that he can't even chew solid food because he would never know if he were chewing his tongue. How he is able to keep his balance or grasp and hold things is beyond me... but that is putting way too much thought into this.
Guy can't feel pain. Guy can take unlimited abuse. Guy is like a superhero... a really shitty superhero but a superhero nonetheless. That is as much thinking you should do as you watch this. Because of the lack of feeling pain, some really bad shit happens to Nick and he just keeps getting up for more. That is the gimmick of the movie. Some of the action sequences are actually pretty cool or funny because of this premise.
And there are plenty of action sequences. I'd guess that at least 60% of the movie is action. When there isn't action, they make jokes about the action. It works as an hour and forty-five minute diversion but it probably isn't going to leave a lasting impression on the audience.
So what's good? Obviously the action. This is especially true of the new things a hero can do when he doesn't have any pesky pain to worry about. Just imagine what a person can do with broken glass in a fight if they don't have to worry about the pain it might cause them. I also love the show The Boys. Why does this matter? Well Nick is played by Jack Quaid who plays Huey on The Boys. Nick and Huey are basically the exact same character with different powers. If you like one, you'll like both. And I do. In addition, many of the jokes work very well. There are some interesting side characters along the way. But that's pretty much it. Some jokes and action. That's good enough for me.
What's bad? Well the entire movie is absurd. I get he can't feel pain but how does that make him a trained fighter? How is he able to stand toe to toe with actual badasses? And apparently concussions don't exist in this universe (or maybe they are like NFLer and certified "genius" Puka Nacua thinks and they are "only in your head"... get it... what an idiot). I get Nick can't feel pain but as far as I know, boxers don't get knocked unconscious by pain, they get knocked out by head trauma and Nick suffers lots of that. Finally, I have no idea why Nick is better at finding someone than the police. The entire movie is base don the idea that Nick simply must find the McGuffin... I mean girl. There is also way too much grpahic violence. I mean close up body torture type stuff. that is no my cup of tea.
All of this absurdity is why I put it after Nobody 2. But if you like a different twist on action, Novocaine is entertaining. Not awesome, but at least it's not boring.
You're not holding back, are you? 😂 I love how you broke down the movie's pros and cons, and that comparison to The Boys is on point! Jack Quaid as Huey is iconic, in short seeing him was one of the main reasons i watched the movie and I can see why you'd think of him when watching Novocaine, i did too but overall i liked the movie.
I was curious how a character with no sense of pain can be a superhero. I understand that he doesn't feel pain, but to make decisions as a hero without empathy, without putting himself in other people's shoes or thinking about others to accept or refuse any pain or action, how would he handle it? Or do I think he's looking for logic where he shouldn't?
You made me to watch the movie trailer YT. He is actually turned out to be a superhero fighting the bagasse..."no pain no gain". I honestly does not like watching such movies,
It's a different kind of action film for a somewhat select audience, but as they say, if the action keeps us on the edge of our seats, it's well worth investing the almost two hours the film lasts. I was struck by how three films could share the same main idea but approach it from different angles.
Regards from Venezuela 🇻🇪🇻🇪
I think I've heard about this movie before.
The premise is absurd especially from your posts 😂
There is a huge reason for pain and even without pain after a threshold his body should stop.
But hey it's Cinema and its Hollywood 😂😂
I'll add this to the list.
Of the three films he recommends in his post, I'll go with Nobody 2, since, as he says, perhaps being more grounded in reality and less extraordinary makes it easier to appeal to the average viewer who doesn't particularly like the superhero genre but enjoys plenty of action from the start.
The cover photo makes a lot of things clear and I like the first movie a lot more, so as soon as Sunday comes, I will try to invite my friends over because you can't enjoy a movie without watching it alone like you can when you're sitting with friends
for the movies fans
Sounds like the Bon Jovi song Novocain is much better than the movie Novocain. I remember seeing the previews for this one when it came out. It looked interesting, but I never got around to watching it. I'm just finishing up the last episode of Stranger Things now, then I am going to move on to the latest season of The Witcher.
Well this look like something I’d watch when I don’t want to judge.
Isn't it more or less normal in movies that is all about fighting, the story doesn't matter at all? I mean, when 60% is action/fighting, it is clear the intended audience is going for that. Not my cup of tea at all, since I believe when such action takes place, it shall not be the majority of the movie. The absurd amount of action also makes the rest more or less unimportant. That said, I can't really say what shall or shall not be in such movies, since I usually skip them entirely. Anyway, you seem to have had some pleasure watching 🥳
Months ago, I watched Novocaine and wrote a review for it. My curiosity led me to dig deeper after seeing the movie and I discovered that the condition portrayed in the movie is real and a very tiny percentage of people are born with it. But tragically, 8 out of 10 die young because, while not feeling any pain sounds like a super power, it actually poses massive risk.
This comparison is apt. Jack Quaid briefly made yet another entrance in the movie "Heads of State" and just some how made the movie worth watching.
Love Hurts was one of the most annoying movies I watched last year because I struggled to make much sense out of it. For an action film, the action sequences were very weak.