Coming nine years after the first movie, The Accountant 2 is a sequel that I thought would never see the light of day. Sure, both Ben Affleck and director Gavin O’Connor had spoken about the development of a sequel on numerous occasions, but I thought it was no more than a pipe dream. Luckily I was proven wrong, with The Accountant 2 bringing back the most important cast members from the original, namely Affleck and Jon Bernthal, and further building on what made the original so memorable.
Eight years after the first film, Director of the Treasury Department Raymond King (J.K. Simmons) has semi-retired. Meeting the mysterious Anaïs (Daniella Pineda), King is looking for help with a missing person case. However, before he can even discuss the case he realizes hitmen have been sent to silence him. With Anais escaping, King is quickly taken out. It is only after when his body is in the morgue it is discovered he has written on his arm “find the accountant”.
With this, King’s ex-partner Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) works to track down said accountant, Christian Wolff. Rather, Wolff finds her after she leaves a message for him about King’s death. Reluctantly Marybeth asks for Christian’s help in uncovering who was behind the murder of King. As the investigation leads to a group of human traffickers both Christian and Marybeth realize they’re going to need more help, with Christian contacting his estranged brother Brax (Jon Bernthal). The three attract the attention of a deadly criminal organization who is willing to do whatever it takes to silence them.
In many respects, The Accountant 2 improves upon the original, with there being a stronger focus on the relationship between Affleck’s Christian Wolff and Bernthal’s Brax. Due to the plot of the original, with the late in the day reveal that their characters were in fact siblings, Affleck and Bernthal were kept apart for the majority of the film. This is rectified this time round, with The Accountant 2 essentially being a buddy movie, with the two of them sharing most of their screen time together once the characters are reunited.
Bringing Affleck and Bernthal together makes The Accountant 2 a lighter, more comedic affair than the original film. That doesn’t mean that it doesn’t deal with some serious subject matter, with the villains being involved in human trafficking and any other horrible crime you can think of. In any other film, a character like Bernthal’s Brax could be the villain, which he essentially is in the first film, but next to those he and his brother go up against he’s almost a choirboy.
Although there may be more humor this time round, The Accountant 2 doesn’t eschew the hard hitting action that was a major factor of the first film. Similarly to the first movie, it doesn’t go full on action movie until the final third, with director Gavin O’Connor smartly taking his time to build the story and characters. This approach also affords us more time to spend with Affleck and Bernthal’s bickering duo, with their antics being hilarious but bringing the much needed drama when required.
Unexpectedly, both Affleck and Bernthal are excellent, either together or apart. On the surface Christian Wolff may seem devoid of emotion, but Affleck really makes you care about him, even more so than the first movie. Obviously this isn’t the most authentic depiction of autism, but I have worked with people similar in personality. That is minus the trained killer aspect. Affleck and the filmmakers seem to have done their homework in how they convey Christian’s disorder.
Affleck also looks in great shape which is needed for when the action comes. An early interrogation come fight scene gives an early indication of what’s to come, with Affleck once again being entirely convincing as a killing machine. You can tell that he relishes playing this role just by how dedicated he is in the performance.
Bernthal’s Brax is meant to be the more “normal” of the two, and that would be true if he wasn’t a borderline sociopath. One scene has him sitting with a young girl who is clearly terrified whilst he casually eats ice cream. He can’t understand her fear. At this point the camera pulls back to display that he has killed a room full of people, with Brax being oblivious to why this would upset her.
I do say borderline, because it is clear that Brax has a conscience and even though he gets angry at his brother, he clearly loves him. Most of the humor of the film is thanks to Bernthal, with him constantly winding up his brother or being totally perplexed by Christian’s actions. Any fans of Bernthal as The Punisher will be more than happy with him here, with Brax being like a more jovial Frank Castle, with him getting multiple opportunities to be a badass.
What is apparent with both of the characters is that their lives seem quite empty, with Christian (hilariously) trying his hand at speed dating whilst Brax frets over his attempts to adopt a dog. It becomes obvious as the film progresses what they really need in their lives is each other.
Affleck and Bernthal aren’t the only returning cast members. Cynthia Addai-Robinson is a welcome presence, with her constantly being on edge due to the measures Christian and Brax are willing to go to in their investigation. She also gets her own brutal fight scene where she faces off against Daniella Pineda’s deadly assassin Anaïs.
J.K. Simmons also returns, albeit in a much reduced role with his character’s death being the catalyst for the plot. I was glad that his character goes down fighting with Simmons getting a down and dirty fight scene in a bathroom against two armed goons. One particular move he pulled off with a pen had me squirming in my seat.
The previously mentioned Pineda’s character is integral to the plot, but she doesn’t get anything real noteworthy to do other than that great fight scene with Addai-Robinson. Even so, she does well in the screen time she is given and her character does end up extremely important to how the film develops.
The one thing the sequel is missing that the first film had is a quality villain. That isn’t to say that Robert Morgan is a poor actor, but he doesn’t have the same gravitas as a John Lithgow who chewed the scenery as the first film’s main bad guy.
Although O’Connor teases us with some fight scenes that he peppers throughout the film, the majority of the action comes in the final third when Christian and Brax head down Mexico way, with the final shootout putting me in mind of Christopher McQaurrie’s Way of the Gun (2000), with O’Connor shooting the action in a realistic fashion. Of course there’s suspension of belief in how two men can take on a small army, but O’Connor makes it at least seem plausible.
The action isn’t the only aspect to stretch credibility, with Christian’s army of tech savvy assistants seemingly able to hack any computer, database or mainframe in the world. It’s like Christian has his very own version of Batman’s Oracle, quite ironic considering Affleck’s history with that character. However, you will be swept along in the plot that you won’t really have time to consider how implausible this aspect of the film is.
It’s very rare that a sequel that comes so long after the original can match it. The Accountant 2 does by taking what worked in the original but making sure that it’s different enough so it doesn’t feel like a mere copy. This is yet another quality actioner for 2025, one that actually feels more old fashioned in its focus on character and plot rather than just explosive action scenes. Here’s hoping that we don’t have to wait as long for an Accountant 3.
Plot: 4/5
Acting: 4/5
Action: 4/5
Overall: 4/5