The Accountant 2 once again stars Ben Affleck as an autistic accountant who can suddenly turn into Jason Bourne in a split second. The first movie was surprisingly entertaining and this follow-up doubles down on what made the first one enjoyable.
Affleck is back as Christian Wolff, who has been assigned to help out the Department of the Treasury in its investigation into the murder of J.K. Simmons’ Raymond King. He has to team up with an agent (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) who can’t quite get on his level of problem-solving.
Wolff also has to get some outside help from his estranged brother Braxton (Jon Bernthal). Braxton is initially reluctant to work with Christian, but in a standard buddy comedy formula, they work together to solve the case while exchanging the obligatory one-liners.
The plot might be a little murky as it involves rescuing a group of children from a group of deadly terrorists and also introducing a series of autistic children who happen to be really good at hacking into emails and serving the two brothers in their case.
Affleck and Bernthal have terrific on-screen chemistry and some compelling individual scenes, such as when Christian tries a round of speed dating with hilariously off-putting results to his potential dates. Bernthal gets to do a variation on his Punisher character in the climax as well as have some fun in a honky tonk bar. (You’ve likely heard Affleck talk about his own line dancing experience.)
This sequel has some liabilities in its plot, but there are many assets to help compensate for them. It builds interest in its characters, leading you up to its action-packed finale. Overall, you can write off this flick as a slick, entertaining ride with more in store.
Grade: A-
(Rated R for strong violence and language throughout.)
