Matt at the Movies: "The Accountant 2"
The Accountant 2 will be the third movie in a trilogy, but does it have enough action to land this series in the black after a financially successful first entry?
Programming Note: Catch Y’all Weekly’s Jesse Boykin Kimmel today on 90.7 FM WFAE’s First Friday Arts segment during All Things Considered, or online at wfae.org.
It’s action week at Y’all Weekly, and Matt at the Movies is back with our final review in a three part trilogy.
Read Our Review of Warfare
Read Our Review of Sinners
In the first installment of The Accountant, the film focused on Ben Affleck’s character (though he’s known as “Christian Wolff” in the film, it’s one of many aliases the character has taken from the history of mathematics). The picture tells the story of “Wolff” as he navigates life as a savant on the autism spectrum, and it takes us from his struggles to adapt to societal norms in his childhood, to eventually becoming a high-level forensic accountant who hunts down the world’s most evil money launderers.
Wolff and estranged assassin brother Braxton (Jon Bernthal) care for each as much as they can while surviving an intense upbringing by their military father. Braxton accepts his brother for who he is, but also wants that extra “brotherly” connection they’ve never been able to fully form.
Fast forward eight years to The Accountant 2, as both brothers have gone their separate ways. Christian tries his best to work at dating, honing his societal interactions in hopes of fitting in and continuing his work to seek out the bad guys throughout the world while living in his Airstream trailer.
He’s contacted by a Financial Crimes Federal Agent (Cynthia Addai-Robinson as Marybeth Medina, returning from the first film) who brings him a puzzle of clues to figure out who killed her former boss (J.K. Simmons, also returning from the first film). Christian gets to work and calls on Braxton to help color outside the lines of jurisdiction to track down the organization responsible for the murder, and we are off to the races … or spreadsheets.
This story is thin on plot, and relies on Affleck and Bernthal to do the heavy lifting. While the lack of plot is the norm in the genre, there’s a surprising focus on character work for a popcorn film as the brothers work to repair their relationship and struggling to connect. This leads to several funny situations, including a charming honky tonk scene where Christian learns to line dance and receive the phone number of an interested woman.
Ultimately, though, the cold intensity of the first film is thrown out the window to create a buddy action film that falls flat - despite the return of director Gavin O'Connor and writer Bill Dubuque.
The tone is all over the place from serious, to silly, to intense, and doesn’t catch the magic of the original story. We are given a great series of action scenes in the third act that help make up for the film’s faults, but it falls short overall.
A solid sequel, but too over the top to match the magic of its predecessor. Not even Anna Kendrick - who didn’t return from the first film - could have improved this entry.
Hopefully Affleck - who knows his way around a screenplay - audits the next script before shooting starts.
Matt at the Movies Score: Results may vary - 6.5
If you enjoyed the first film, it has enough to keep you hooked for the upcoming third installment.