I wasn’t sure what to make of The Accountant when I first saw it. I liked the action and the small-scale story, and I enjoyed Ben Affleck’s performance. But I felt like the movie took itself too seriously and didn’t balance the cat-and-mouse storyline with the Treasury Department as I would’ve liked. Yet I still enjoyed it enough to give it 3.5 stars. The Accountant 2 was able to elevate the original, thanks in large part to Ben Affleck and John Bernthal’s chemistry and a more comedic story, even if the story is more convoluted.
This is Ben Affleck’s movie, but man, does John Bernthal elevate each scene he’s in. The original played into how they were estranged brothers ever since their dad had raised them to be incredibly trained assassins. This led to an emotionally charged confrontation when Affleck’s Chris had to face off with Bernthal’s gun-for-hire Braxton before they made amends. We pick up 8 years later, and their relationship is not fully healthy yet, as Braxton makes a point of pointing out how Chris never reaches out or makes it seem like he misses him. The bond between them is still there as they’d do anything for each other, but it’s clear that who they are prevents them from fully embracing each other yet. Braxton talks about how he wants to get a dog, and Chris points out that with his personality, no close relationships, and how he leaves often for his profession, he’d be a cat person instead.
The Accountant 2 knew it couldn’t just run back the same action as the first go and injected itself with some well-received comedy, again thanks largely to Affleck and Bernthal. The duo knew which buttons to push with each other and when to dial it up and back, and the audience loved it. Scenes like Chris trying speed dating or line dancing were fan favorites, while also scenes of Braxton hyping himself up to ask for custody of a puppy in his underwear were good as well, albeit a bit too long. Around the middle of this movie, I realized that it had taken on a new identity from its predecessor. Its focal point is the relationship between Braxton and Chris, putting the action and the accounting on the back burner for the most part.
While the story didn’t need to focus on accounting like the first one did, it chose to highlight how Chris can find the signal in the noise. Similar to how he was able to look through hundreds of thousands of records to find balance sheet imbalances, he can piece down the story of a missing family just by looking through pictures and seemingly disconnected files. I wish the movie featured more of this, though. I felt that was something that made The Accountant unique from other action flicks, and it was missed here. It made me wonder, why does Chris need to be involved in this mystery of tracking down the missing family, when none of his unique skills were going to be fully on display besides his combat skills?
The story of the movie is bigger, but it didn’t always work for me, as I found myself not following along as easily. Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) returns after Raymond King (J.K. Simmons) is killed by unknown assassins. He was tracking down a family that had gone missing from Mexico, but as we’ll come to learn, they were a part of a trafficking ring. Medina tracks down Chris, who then gets Braxton involved. There were too many times where the story took a back seat to Braxton and Chris’s relationship, or it just tried to through too many twists in, and it just wasn’t comprehensive.
The action was great to see on an IMAX screen, especially the final fight pitting Chris and Braxton against the traffickers at a compound in Mexico. We got to see their chemistry beyond just cracking jokes with each other as they moved together through the compound with military precision, all without speaking. Affleck and Bernthal clearly have put in a ton of time training, and it shows. Affleck has a reload that is so crisp, and Bernthal goes full Punisher at one point, taking 3 shots to the vest just to get better leverage to crack someone’s neck. It is such an adrenaline boost that really pays off a story that needed a big finish to bring it all together.
FINAL THOUGHTS
While the story might not have meshed as well as it could’ve on a bigger scale, the chemistry between Affleck and Bernthal is The Accountant 2’s calling card. The comedy worked incredibly well, and the action was firing on all cylinders when it was needed. There is potential for more movies down the road, and while I think there is a fine line before these movies grow tired, The Accountant 2 is a success that you should watch, especially if you were a fan of the original.
3.5/5
To check out more of our reviews, click here. If you have suggestions for movies we should check out, email [email protected]!
I've always been a movie fan, but I first got big into cinema watching Whiplash when I was younger. That movie led to a greater appreciation of films and got me to dive into the medium. My favorite genre is horror movies, but I’ll always have a secret soft spot for rom coms and musicals. When I'm not podcasting or watching movies, I love working out and going hiking, and I currently work in business analytics with the degree I got from Western New England University.
MY FAVORITE MOVIES: Good Will Hunting, Spiderman: Into The Spiderverse, Whiplash, Moneyball, Top Gun: Maverick