Ben Affleck’s Christian “Chris” Wolff returns in The Accountant 2, bringing a whole different vibe this time around. Where the first movie fleshes out the backstories of Chris and his brother separately, this one combines their expertise to accomplish a bigger mission, pushing them to their limits.
In The Accountant 2, Chris has a talent for solving complex problems. When an old acquaintance is murdered, leaving behind a cryptic message to “find the accountant,” Chris is compelled to solve the case. Realizing more extreme measures are necessary, Chris recruits his estranged and highly lethal brother, Braxton, aka Brax (Jon Bernthal), to help. In partnership with U.S. Treasury Deputy Director Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), they uncover a deadly conspiracy, becoming targets of a ruthless network of killers who will stop at nothing to keep their secrets buried.
“The story of The Accountant 2 smoothly catches the audience up with Chris in the funniest way possible: Chris attends a speed-dating mixer.”
The story of The Accountant 2 smoothly catches the audience up with Chris in the funniest way possible: Chris attends a speed-dating mixer. As one might expect from an autistic person, this is like watching an episode of Love on the Spectrum. Moments where Chris tries to grasp socially normal emotions and scenarios are at the heart of this movie, and it’s awesome to see how Brax treats Chris throughout their journey.
Anna Kendrick’s character had some good lines with Chris in the last movie, but something about Chris and Brax’s sibling bond is more charming and endearing. In a weird sense, this is like an alternate universe where Bernthal is playing The Punisher, except he is a lot more talkative and making jokes, and he has a serious, straight-laced brother. The Accountant 2 shifts from Chris, who was living on his own and keeping himself safe, to Chris, who learns to care for his brother and learning to care for another person.
Affleck and Bernthal’s chemistry is one of the best brotherly love depictions I’ve seen lately. Where Chris can solve any puzzle he puts his mind to, Brax is willing to do anything to accomplish his mission. Watching Affleck play the straight-man comedy versus Bernthal’s wild physical and verbal comedy is one outlandish layer of what makes Chris and Brax’s relationship work. I never would have thought The Accountant films would lean more heavily on the comedy between these two, but the situations the two brothers find themselves in are the cherry on top.
“The Accountant 2 presents an entertaining follow-up to a unique action-crime film, which is part Rain Man and part John Wick.”
The Accountant 2’s choreography continues to exhibit a good level of weapon and hand-to-hand combat. Every major fight, whether one-on-one or a shootout against multiple targets, has a distinct style that matches the actors and actresses in the scene. Everyone brings a real physicality to their fight performance. One of the best gunfight choreographies is in the third act, where the characters’ weapon skills are on full display.
One of the sensitive topics from the first film in The Accountant series was how the movie depicted Chris’s autism with the use of violence. I would argue Chris is more complex than simply being a violent individual. Chris is not like other people who have autism because his father taught him a particular set of skills. The Accoutnant 2 also delves deeper into related topics of neuroplasticity and explores the experiences of those who are neurodivergent.
The Accountant 2 presents an entertaining follow-up to a unique action-crime film, which is part Rain Man and part John Wick. Affleck and Bernthal’s back-and-forth banter is hilarious, and I could watch them riff for hours. However, the runtime could have been trimmed closer to the two-hour mark, eliminating unnecessary b-roll footage. Audiences who enjoy a quirky buddy-cop style movie with some great humour will have fun with this one.
