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‘The Accountant 2’ is saved by Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal’s bromance
The best part of "The Accountant 2" is the chemistry between on-screen siblings Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal, who elevate an otherwise by-the-numbers action movie.
There’s not a lot of accounting being done in “The Accountant 2.”
In Gavin’s O’Connor’s 2016 action-thriller “The Accountant,” neurodivergent number-cruncher Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) was equally likely to choose a spreadsheet or a gun when balancing the metaphorical books. This time around, Christian and his hitman brother (Jon Bernthal, “The Punisher”) dispense the pretense and commence with the comeuppance.
The end result is a sequel that’s both funnier and more violent than its predecessor, but also a lot more by-the-numbers in its approach.
When we first see Christian in “The Accountant 2,” he’s at a speed dating event. In a very funny scene that also encapsulates the film’s limited view of autism, Christian uses his incredible brain to create an algorithmically perfect dating profile, but every face-to-face date ends with him talking about tax loopholes.
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The only neurodivergent characters in the movie are ones who have found a way to wield their diagnosis as a superpower. A team of students at a special needs boarding school act as Christian’s personal team of hackers, and there’s even a character with acquired savant syndrome whose newfound skill is kicking people’s asses.
Movies like “The Accountant 2” don’t necessarily need nuance or a broad range of representation, and it’s fun to watch these characters do their thing. But for viewers who had problems with O’Connor’s first film, nothing has changed.
The plot is largely immaterial, and can be summarized in a few sentences. Following clues left by her former boss (J.K. Simmons), treasury agent Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) can’t figure out how a missing family is connected to cartel drug trade, human trafficking, and a fish market. Also confusing: Why does an enigmatic assassin (Daniella Pineda) keep popping up?
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When Marybeth asks for Christian for help, he decides to get back in touch with his brother after eight years of estrangement, kicking off the most entertaining stretch of the movie.
Bernthal is great at playing a brash, straight-talking badass. His Braxton is the perfect foil to Christian, and when they’re on the road together, “The Accountant 2” finds its ideal form as a violent buddy action-comedy. One scene in which they get drunk at a country western bar is a particular highlight.
As the film barrels toward its conclusion, the jokes disappear and are replaced with extended scenes of choreographed gunplay. Affleck and Bernthal’s chemistry elevates the material once more, with their synchronized movements adding panache to an otherwise pedestrian setpiece.
After quietly exiting theaters at the end of 2016, “The Accountant” ended up becoming the most-rented movie of 2017, beating blockbusters like “Moana” and “Wonder Woman.” While you could argue that makes the film a quiet word-of-mouth hit, my take is that both “The Accountant” and “The Accountant 2” are instead perfectly serviceable movies that you won’t mind watching at home.
Grab a ticket if you want, but knowing that Amazon owns the rights, you’ll see “The Accountant 2” streaming on Prime Video soon enough.
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Rating: **½ (out of 4)
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