The Accountant 2 review: Ben Affleck action movie pays the bills

When I finally watched The Accountant in preparation for reviewing The Accountant 2, my overall takeaway was that it was… fine. Mostly it felt like a chance for Ben Affleck to show some acting range, with a few decent action scenes sprinkled in amongst a plot that makes sense but offers little to the actual enjoyment of the movie.

The Accountant 2 has gone with the strategy of if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, as the same basic formula plays out in the sequel. However, there are a number of things The Accountant 2 does that raises it above its predecessor — most notably better action scenes and a great chemistry between Affleck and Jon Bernthal — which is enough to make it a solid watch. But once again a lackluster plot and inconsequential supporting characters keep it from being among better action movies.

The whole thing starts off well enough, with Ray King (J.K. Simmons), the semi-retired former federal agent from the first movie, being murdered as he investigates the whereabouts of a missing family. This causes Financial Crimes Deputy Director Marybeth Medinah (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) to seek out Christian Wolff (Affleck), asking him to help solve the puzzle that King was working on. Chris then brings in his brother Braxton (Bernthal) for some extra help.

Once Bernthal arrives on the scene the relationship between Chris and Braxton dominates the entire movie. Thankfully, Affleck and Bernthal work really well together, providing some good laughs as they get into brotherly arguments. But the puzzle that serves as the movie’s primary plot takes a back seat and mostly resolves itself through convenience.

Chris and his allies, led by Justine (Allison Robertson), are on the autism spectrum. Both The Accountant 2 and its predecessor make the point that being such is not necessarily a hindrance for the characters, but rather it can allow them to see things differently than others and perform certain actions at high levels. However, more often than not here it comes across as a near super power. Chris almost appears to instantly recognize the things that Medinah is missing from the clues King left behind, while Justine and her team can solve any challenge that the plot calls for from their computer. It’s all too easy.

As a result of that, there is almost never a sense of danger in the movie. Chris and Braxton never reach a dead end in their investigation or face any kind of seemingly insurmountable odds. They just casually mow through the bad guys and riff off one another.

The movie tries to raise the stakes for some of the supporting cast, but none of the characters are developed enough or given enough material to be anything more than an after though. Addai-Robinson’s Medinah could honestly be lifted out of this movie and little would be lost in terms of the overall story. Same goes for the main antagonist, who Chris and Braxton never have any interaction with or even seem to care about. The lone exception is the mysterious assassin Anaïs, played by Daniella Pineda, but she is under utilized.

All that being said, if you’re looking for a straight-forward, no-need-to-think about it action movie, you’ll get what you pay for with The Accountant 2. Its action is entertaining enough, it has a good mix of humor courtesy of Affleck and Bernthal and everything comes to a satisfying conclusion. Does it do anything overly different or interesting? No. But as a piece of entertainment, it checks the necessary boxes.

The Accountant 2 is now playing in movie theaters everywhere.