The Accountant 2: A Contrived Bromance

The Accountant 2 is the little sequel that could. Coming off the heels of 2016’s The Accountant, the sequel had been long in development, undoubtedly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic of the early 2020s. Releasing nine years after the original film, the film has a tough hill to climb, as most audiences have inevitably moved on from it and its characters but for better or worse, it is now upon us. Leaning on that original film, it almost requires a viewing before going into this one, if only to serve as a refresher. The biggest issue with the original Accountant was the miscasting of Ben Affleck as its titular character, Christian Wolff. He did not fit the role back then as the character’s overall demeanour did not make him the most engaging character to watch. When it comes to the sequel, this issue returns but this time around, the film attempts to balance that out by giving Wolff’s brother Braxton (played by Jon Bernthal) a larger role in the hopes of using that potential dynamic to its advantage. Suffice it to say that the dynamic between Affleck and Bernthal is the only thing it has going for it, however, that dynamic would see the latter do most of the heavy lifting though his effortless charm and charisma alone. That being said, there is only so much that Bernthal can do. Unfortunately, not tapping into it enough, the film insteads saddles them with an incredibly contrived story that only drags it down.

The Accountant 2 puts savant accountant extraordinaire Christian Wolff (Affleck) back in the limelight to investigate the murder of retired Treasury chief Ray King (J.K. Simmons). Not one to pass on a challenging puzzle, it was up to he and former foe Marybeth Medina (Addai-Robinson) to uncover the pieces and put them together in order to get to the truth, as the parties with a vested interest in them not finding the truth put targets on their backs. Open to crossing whatever line was necessary to get to his goal, the dynamic between Wolff and Medina grew increasingly contentious as the federal agent was unwilling to break laws to get ahead. As a result, the former decided to bring in a big gun in his now estranged brother Braxton (Bernthal). Essentially not haven spoken since the events of the original film, the two needed some time to ease themselves back into action. Being on the autism spectrum, Wolff expressed himself and his emotions in a different way. Very much cut from the same cloth, their contrasting personalities complimented each other as Braxton still supported his older brother and tried to help him come out of his shell a little. Those moments of levity between the brothers were when the film was at its best, but it did not feature nearly enough of them.

The key to the mystery behind King’s murder appeared to be a woman named Anaïs (Daniella Pineda) and a missing family of three and their connection to potential human trafficking ring but the problem with this is that the film provides little reason for audiences to care about any of it. Just like the pieces of evidence on King’s wall, the film is merely a connection of pieces and vague themes without any real stakes to connect them. As the three main characters join up, their investigation unfolds in an unexciting and rather straightforward way that will barely have audiences on the edge of their seats. Lacking in action, at least compared to the original film, it offers little to truly latch on to. Leaving much of it to the climax, it is too little too late. To get by, the film requires some suspension of disbelief as certain things do come easy to Wolff, while his team of similarly-abled team of hacker kids gets other jobs done for him. With no real mystery, no villain, little action, and little to no personality to be had, the film offers next to nothing as it found itself taking several lanes, rather than choosing one.

As mentioned, the best part of The Accountant 2 is the dynamic between Affleck and Bernthal as Christian and Braxton. Because of the way the character of Christian was conceived, he needs help from others to make up for his deficiencies and for the most part, Bernthal’s Braxton helps. However, there is only so much he can do. Giving the franchise a newfound sense of energy, he is the bigger contributor in that main brother, or buddy cop in a sense, dynamic. Affleck, on the other hand, is better this time around as Wolff, seeing that he has someone to work off but at this point, it is less him and more the character himself that doesn’t work. While Addai-Robinson held her own against Affleck and Bernthal, Pineda was a scene-stealer in a limited role as Anaïs.

At the end of the day, The Accountant 2 is a sequel coming too little too late, offering little for audiences to latch on to, wasting the dynamic of Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal.

Score: 58/100

*still courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures*

If you liked this, please read our other reviews here and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter or Instagram or like us on Facebook.

Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.