‘The Accountant 2’ review: It's a leaner, stranger, sharper sequel that finally adds up

Even in a fictional world filled with glum antagonists and antiheroes, Christian Wolff certainly stands apart.

The forensic accountant with autism whose skillset belongs in a Jason Bourne movie and not an IRS audit, Wolff—played again by Ben Affleck—returns in The Accountant 2, a sequel which manages to let some of the eccentricities breathe while tightening the screws at the same time. The result is a film that’s sharper, stranger, and far more satisfying than the prequel.

Unlike the first installment with its puzzling blend of absurdity and gritty drama, the sequel confidently embarks on a unique journey. Gavin O'Connor's direction is accompanied by the action-packed story starring Ben Affleck, who has much work to do after this opener.

Autism, action, and Affleck

Ben Affleck’s interpretation of Christian Wolff is captivating in its own right. Affleck’s speech comes through as flat, devoid of inflection, hyper monotone, while leaving essentially no emotional intonation. Affleck’s performance avoids caricature by embracing the character’s shortcomings alongside his strengths.

Persuasion doesn’t exist for Wolff; charm does. Rather, charm rolls off his tongue with fleet-footed wistfulness. Every conversation is simply the stylized exchange of data, and morality gets added up and divvied out like a balance sheet.

Even so, in a world with such stunted emotional wiring, his perspective on life as a whole is inarguably a benefit.

The parallel character development is arguably what makes the character more appealing this time around. So perhaps not surprisingly, Wolff is still dangerously efficient to a fault.

To stay true to character, however, some depth of longing suggests a glimmer of vulnerability when he observes social interactions between other people.

A great example of this is that distinct moment when he celebrates his birthday in the States at a distinctly honky-tonk bar—not quite, but close—where he absolutely shines and proceeds to stumble through a line dance alongside his new friend, who was all too happy to teach him. Truly unlike anything else, achingly beautiful and deserved as it gets.

Pulp logic and puzzle pieces

The film is both exciting and confusing at the same time. In the beginning, a character gets murdered, followed by dense, frustration-riddled storytelling that compares corporate entities to traditional organized crime groups, followed by what can only be described as pizza-centric money laundering schemes.

An engrossingly intertwining trope supporting a subplot epitomizes the ‘puzzling for the sake of being puzzling’. Along with this, you’ll find a group of teenage ‘genius’ hackers being marketed as robotic, emotionless protagonists pulled from the pages of an age-group-targeted young adult science fiction novel aligned with the biggest stereotypes of the genre.

In essence, the film turns the typical action thriller on its head. In this case, the viewers are treated with a lurching, stop-start, rapidly changing thriller that follows a winding style capture alternating between rotating through various levels of sleek and cutting action.

Even in the dizzying off-kilter formats employed here, the pacing rewards gentle restraint wrapped around control, filled with moments of raw, unrestrained emotion beyond the reach of any other genre.

The Brothers Grim

Jon Bernthal's depiction of Braxton, Christian’s explosive brother, would complete The Accountant to perfection. While Christian is cold and calculating, Braxton is a head-scratching punchline that embodies chaos, full of spontaneity and high risks.

One of the franchise's more curious strengths is its familial bond, which brings both relief and emotional depth at once. Every time they meet, their witty exchanges give the impression of a twisted buddy comedy set in an incredibly violent world.

Visually grounded, tonally bonkers

The film has a polished and realistic look due to the work of cinematographer Seamus McGarvey alongside the film’s eye-catching narrative. Modern fight scenes have over-editing, but this film’s action sequences are brutal yet clean with clear geography.

The action sequences also lack the over-editing common in modern fight scenes. Dessner’s contributions to the film include a subdued and rhythmic score that accentuates the tension in the film without eclipsing it.

There is a marked difference between the film’s earlier scenes and the later scenes, where they showcase Juarez’s children’s compound. The film becomes more conventional at this point and follows a rather generic, gritty, action-thriller rescue mission. Even though the characters chose an out-of-the-box setting to capture their audience’s attention, the audience is still captivated.

Final verdict: A franchise finds its rhythm

The Accountant 2 is one of the scarce examples of sequels that not only justify their reason for being made but also improve on the original in almost every way. It deepens its core character, embraces its odd tone shifts, and provides just enough emotional resonance to offset the bone-chilling violence.

Although regarded as a strange assemblage of genre elements, the result? It all adds up.

Rating: ★★★★☆

This was action-packed yet emotionally unpredictable and singular. Offbeat to its core, this sequel finally solved the unsolved riddle of balancing chaos with precision.