THE ACCOUNTANT 2: More Than More of the Same

THE ACCOUNTANT 2 (Blu-ray)

2025 / 132 min

Warner Bros

#InPartnershipwithWB

Review by Mr. Bonnie, Buddy of Braxton😺

After an eight year absence, everyone’s favorite autistic assassin is back, along with his mercenary brother. In fact, a lot of the surviving cast from the original return for The Accountant 2, as well as director Gavin O’Conner and screenwriter Bill Dubuque. When it comes to sequels, that’s often an encouraging sign. At the very least, we assume everyone involved is keen on repeating the success of the first film, even if it means giving viewers more of the same. 

What makes this one a pleasant surprise is that it is not simply more of the same. Well, maybe the plot is. Ben Affleck returns as Christan Wolff, an accountant/killer who’s called into action by FinCEN agent Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) after her retired ex-boss, King (J.K. Simmons), is murdered. King was searching for a missing woman and son. Picking up where King left off, Wolff contacts his estranged brother, Braxton (Jon Bernthal), to help him out. Despite being a little pissed Wolff hasn’t called him in eight years, he heads to LA.

The narrative unfolds in pretty familiar fashion, with the search revealing a human trafficking ring, as well as another mysterious assassin, Anais (Daniela Pineda), hired to kill Medina. But really, the plot is kinda perfunctory. There’s plenty of violence and action - all well shot and edited - but we’ve seen outnumbered badasses take on legions of cannon fodder antagonists in countless other movies.

"Helluva view, bro!"

But unlike the relatively dark and serious tone of the original, The Accountant 2 strives for a different vibe, with a much greater emphasis on the relationship between Wolff and Braxton. There are long stretches where this plays more like a buddy comedy, including a few asides that aren’t at-all related to the plot, but are amusing anyway. Affleck and Bernthal are a joy to watch as they bicker, snark, get drunk together and have each other’s back. In that respect, Bernthal might be the movie’s MVP, providing a majority of the biggest laughs and emotionally affecting moments (despite being skilled killers, their relationship is kind of touching).

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting a sequel to The Accountant at all, let alone one with ample amounts of humor that was largely absent in the original. It isn’t necessarily a better film, but for different reasons, it’s just as entertaining. I now find myself hoping we haven’t seen the last of these guys.