The Accountant 2 review: An action sequel that's dumb fun but doesn't quite add up
Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal seem to be enjoying themselves in this action sequel — and it's their chemistry that keeps it going.
Warner Bros
- James Mottram
★★★☆☆
The Accountant 2 is in cinemas from Friday 25 April. Add it to your watchlist
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“Do you like puzzles, Mr Wolff?” So says Treasury Agent Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) in this sequel to the 2016 thriller The Accountant. Ben Affleck returns as Wolff, an autistic mob-trained number-cruncher who is also handy with his fists.
But the real puzzle here – aside from why anyone would make a follow-up to a film that wasn’t exactly crying out for one – is why Wolff helps Medina. It’s a crucial question, given she pulls him in to help solve the murder of her former boss – gunned down in the film’s opening sequence.
Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) and Brax (Jon Bernthal) in The Accountant 2. Warner Bros
“Because you asked me,” says Wolff, when questioned why he would get involved in such a dangerous case. It’s hardly convincing. The fact that Medina is also a Federal agent working for the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and seemingly perturbed by collaborating with Wolff and his estranged brother, lethal hitman Braxton (Jon Bernthal), who is every bit on the wrong side of the law as his sibling, makes their involvement even more ludicrous. Is it simply that this case, involving human trafficking, has touched their usually cold-as-ice hearts? Maybe.
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Either way, it’s a shame that The Accountant 2 isn’t able to iron out some of its plot wrinkles, for watching Affleck back as Wolff is enjoyably entertaining. Whether he’s speed dating, line dancing or sun-bathing on the roof of his Airstream trailer home, he’s not exactly at ease in normal company. That includes his sibling, who – again, inexplicably – flies to Los Angeles on a whim to help out, even though the brothers have not seen each other for eight years. Soon enough, they’re up to their neck in pimps, snipers, cartel bosses and more.
Anais (Daniella Pineda) and Ray King (J.K. Simmons) in The Accountant 2. Warner Bros
If you’re wondering, the script just about skates past the notion that it might be offensive to those who are autistic – it’s similar to Dustin Hoffman’s turn in Rain Man in that regard. Affleck does play his character with a charm, as he learns – a bit – to connect with his brother. The Affleck-Bernthal chemistry is what keeps the film going, even amid an increasingly convoluted plot involving the aforementioned murder and the disappearance of a family from El Salvador who may well have been trafficked.
Brax (Jon Bernthal) in Brax (Jon Bernthal) in The Accountant 2. Warner Bros
There’s also a subplot involving the mysterious Anaïs (Daniella Pineda, known for playing Zia in the last two Jurassic World movies), a capable operative who is glimpsed in that opening scene and is deeply embedded in the story. A pity that she comes across – in looks and demeanour – a bit like Florence Pugh’s character from Marvel’s Black Widow film, making this aspect of the film feel rather derivative. And then, just to add to the confusion, there’s a bunch of nerdy kids and an anonymous British-voiced fixer, who seem to remotely help Affleck’s Wolff at every turn.
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Director Gavin O’Connor (Warrior) returns after helming the 2016 original, and from bar brawls to shoot-outs, he adds enough muscle to the action to make it watchable. The best scrap involved Michael Turek as a crooked pizza company owner, who – along with his heavies – is taken down solo by Affleck’s Wolff. But largely, the fisticuffs and fire-fights are by the numbers. Better is the humour, especially the childish ribbing between the brothers (such as Brax tormenting Chris by throwing his suncream away).
Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) and Brax (Jon Bernthal) in The Accountant 2. Warner Bros
As the film lurches into its final act, it really loses credibility, with the siblings boldly going where nobody in their right mind would go – particularly given they’re not even being paid for this highly risky mission. At least Affleck and Bernthal seem to be enjoying themselves, even if you might not.
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Ultimately, The Accountant 2 is dumb fun if you let it be so. But the moment you start to pick it apart, it simply doesn’t add up.
Authors
James Mottram
James Mottram is a London-based film critic, journalist, and author.
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