Written by: Bill Dubuque
Starring: Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Daniella Pineda, J. K. Simmons
Rating: [3/5]
Even when you cannot get along all of the time, the connection one has with their sibling can survive even the worst of traumas. A dynamic that may face challenges from various upbringings, but a special, indelible bond always remains. We see this transpire with the brothers in The Accountant 2, where the bond between them serves as the best part and everything else seemingly can be tossed aside.
Following the death of Raymond King (J.K. Simmons), an investigation as to his murder takes place by Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson). The final clue lead provided by King sends her toward “The Accountant” Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck), who, with the right information, proves determined to get to the bottom of this situation and perhaps will seek assistance from his brother.
Following a successful first film that mostly operated as an assassin thriller, we receive a follow-up that certainly has its reveals but mostly operates as a buddy comedy between Christian and his brother Braxton (Jon Bernthal). In the final act of the preceding movie, these long-lost brothers reunite in an unexpected manner and end the interaction in a positive manner. Now Christan calls on him to assist in this mystery they must uncover. With quite the different tone, utilizing much more humor, this film took a risk, and it paid off.
Everything happening between Christian and Braxton worked magnificently. The banter between them, where Christian, with his autism, does not pick up on every bit of sarcasm of Braxton produces and the level of indignation he generally has, makes for the best stuff this film has to offer. They chide each other and get on the other’s nerves as any brother should do, but the love between them since the reignition of their connection remains evident throughout. It makes me long for the alternate reality where this film completely departs from the previous one and simply works as a road trip movie between these guys. That would make for a great movie, but the surrounding plot around them unfortunately does not meet muster.
Everything happening with the hunt for this mysterious assassin does not drive any real intrigue and ultimately weighs everything else down. We have this struggle for Marybeth in her attempts to work with these two assassin brothers, given she must follow the law through her work while Christian and Braxton and their illegal methods can pretty much get away with anything as long as they do not get caught. These instances do make for comical moments, but then we must return to the larger conspiracy that simply just does not work in maintaining an engaging story overall.
Whatever works in this film lies solely in everything Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal do together. Affleck took on the role in the first movie; there was this big deal made of the fact his character operated with a crazy level of efficiency and his autism. One of the few instances where a primary action hero openly sits on the spectrum. Affleck handled the portrayal very well and continued it once again in this feature. If anything, the added humor of the film made the performance all the better, especially with the bits of levity he could not fully grasp. On the other foot, Jon Bernthal brings a majority of the comedy in addition to having this general bravado to him that matches perfectly with everything this actor embodies. The collaboration between these two exceeded all expectations following the kernel we received of it in the preceding movie.
While not an improvement on the first film, The Accountant 2 goes in a completely different direction tonally for the majority of the runtime, and that element works. It still delves into serious topics, especially the main plot centering on finding out who’s behind the death of Raymond King and the mysterious woman at the center of it all. However, nothing in that bucket of the film really stood out, leaving me only really engaged to see the dynamic between the brothers continue to play out. Seeing as how the film ends, I say we get a trilogy capper of them going on this hiking trip, and they run into some assassins coming after them. I would be seated for that cinematic showcase.
Films with Josh 
