Posted by The Accountant put Ben Affleck’s titular autistic accountant in the middle of a violent thriller to decent results. That was released in 2016 and it seemed ripe for quickly crafted sequels. After nine years and audiences in danger of forgetting about it, The Accountant 2 has finally seen the light of day. Directed, like the first one, by Gavin O’Connor this sequel builds on the first one by giving a more prominent role to Jon Bernthal’s character Braxton and leaning heavily on the buddy cop genre. It is Rain Man meets Lethal Weapon and is a jolly good time.
J.K Simmons’ Raymond King, ex head of a U.S. government financial crime unit (FinCen), wants to find a missing Salvadoran family but things get bloody and he meets his maker. The current head of FinCen as played by Cynthia Addai-Robinson teams up with the accountant, the only person that can solve this seemingly intractable puzzle, who brings along his hitman brother Braxton as the brawn behind the brains. Together they must find the family and bring down the bad guys who took them.
What follows is an adrenaline fuelled thriller with a veracious appetite for action but with more pathos and more comedy this time around. Both of which come from the relationship between Bernthal and Affleck, this double act is the glue that holds the piece together. The bickering, banter, bonhomie and occasional sign of affection is pure Riggs and Murtagh and is a joy to watch. Making the at times overkill brawls and gun fights more bearable, especially so in the climax which plays out like a mix between Rambo and Call of Duty.
Whilst it is not without it’s faults, the by the book people smuggling story and a criminally underused J.K. Simmons amongst them, The Accountant 2 is a good action film that betters its predecessor by not taking itself too seriously.
7/10.
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