Very much like Hutch Mansell, the semiretired assassin he plays in the "Nobody" movies, Ulysses Richardson, the itinerant lawman Bob Odenkirk embodies in the new "Normal," is an easy guy to underestimate. He's soft-spoken and kindly; but give him a military-grade chatter gun and he'll mow down whoever you want gone.

"Normal" is Odenkirk's latest step into Liam Neeson territory, a world policed by middle-aged hardies who can capture your heart or, if necessary, kick your butt. Odenkirk doesn't have Neeson's theatrical depth, but his light, avuncular charm is just right for these low-cal action films. This latest one is probably everything a fan would expect, maybe even a little bit predictable.

Ulysses is a substitute sheriff who makes the rounds of sad little towns that have recently lost their top cops, either to simple restlessness or a sudden onset of snuffed-out mortality. The latter is the case in the frostbitten burg of Normal, Minnesota, pop. 1800, where a sign out on the city limits lets newcomers know, "We Like It Here." A couple miles down the snow-banked road they'll find a sleepy municipality filled with the usual alliances and resentments among the citizenry — and, in the case of Normal, a strange and dangerous international conspiracy.

Ulysses has been called into this place following the sudden death of the previous sheriff, who expired in an odd night ice-fishing mishap. And the newbie has problems of his own, of course: Ulysses arrives in town haunted by an ugly shooting death in his recent past — an incident that has sundered his marriage to a woman who'll no longer return his phone calls. He's also feeling down about the diminished state of his career, for which he's now way overqualified.

Director Ben Wheatley ("Meg 2: The Trench") keeps the 90-minute picture moving along smartly, introducing us to the town's smarmy mayor (Henry Winkler), timid deputy (Billy MacLellan: "I shouldn't say this, but our mustaches are so similar"), a grieving dad-less daughter (Jess McLeod), and welcoming lady barkeep (Lena Headey: "I like the way you law, man").

Intermittently, we also find ourselves transported to Japan, first to watch a gathering of Yakuza thugs observing a bloody finger-chopping ceremony of the sort famously common in their criminal fraternity. What are we doing here? Well, it seems these gangsters have stashed a fortune in gold bars and cash in a bank vault in faraway Normal. And now, with a new, straight-shooting sheriff on the scene (they've gotten word from onsite infiltrators), they figure it's time to book a flight and dispatch some of their most persuasive representatives to deal with the situation. Naturally, a whole lot of mayhem ensues.

The action is fun. There have been touches of slick "John Wick"-style uproar in the "Nobody" films ("Wick" producer and stunt master David Leitch and writer Derek Kolstad were onboard the first two pictures, but only Kolstad has returned for this one). Here, while the stunts and effects are often bloody good (cue the crowbars and eye-stabbings), they're not sufficiently Wickian to knock anybody out. Odenkirk has none of Keanu Reeves' moody inscrutability, and the stunts don't feel like they were obsessively orchestrated down to the last ka-pow. Some lore would be nice, too. Unfortunately, there is none. Maybe next time, if there is one.

Photos courtesy of Magnolia Pictures