Sometimes life gives you a case of blues that can only be cured by looking at Ben Affleck Line Dance while doing his best to convey autism with his facial expressions. When these days come, “The Accountant 2” is the movie for you.
I’m not sure who clinged to a sequel to Gavin O’Connors Film 2016Who played Affleck as Christian Wolff, an accountant in the autism spectrum as UN-Cook’s books for criminal organizations while doubled as an action hero with perfect skill and brutal hand-to-hand combat abilities. It is the rare film that deserves criticism for not focusing enough on accounting complications, as the idea that cartels turned to freelancers to solve their financial problems was much more interesting than Knockoff Jason Bourne that Christian eventually turned into. But it told a complete story (some would say “and then some”) and left most of us happy to see Christian ride into the sunset in his Luftström and know that he would continue to tell bully bosses that thieves to beat for many years to come.
When “The auditor 2“Starts, Christian is still alive off the net. But when Ray King (JK Simmons)-the retired FBI Financial Crimes manager who identified him in the first hand-murdered, Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) knows that she must get the auditor to terminate her latest investigation. King’s previous protee and extortion topic that took his job after retiring to a life with a private investigation, Medina has never met Wolff face to face. But she knows that the only way to contact him is by calling a neurological research center in Hartford and talking in code to an unclear receptionist, while real Shadow receptionist listens in and uses his army of talented autistic children to track the call of the call and come in contact with booking the auditor. Sometimes it’s really that simple!
It turns out that Ray had taken a case that helped a family of Mexican immigrants find their missing child, which they thought was held in captivity in Juarez. Christian agrees to help Medina finish the job, which means to investigate a human trafficking that washes money through a pizza factory (2016 magic conspiracy theorist is pleased!). But when he realizes that this job will require more than accounting, he takes in his brother Braxton (Jon Bernthal) for a little extra muscle.
A fast -pacing, puppy -loving hitman who showed up in the first film But becomes a real co -leader in the sequel, Braxton is shocked to get a call from his brother. After spending years of his life trying to have a relationship with Christian, he feels incredibly neglected after countless false attempts at connection. He agrees to take the job for his usual interest rate, but long -term tension and his frustrations over Christian’s inability to show conventional forms of affection soon bubble to the surface.
If there is one thing “The Accountant 2” deserves credit for, it calculates that an autistic leg Affleck simply is not enough to wear an action movie on your own. Christian Wolff may actually be one of Affleck’s better actors in recent years, but he works much better as a foil than a leading man. Bernthal shows up with buckets with charm to share the heavy lift, which makes Affleck’s auditor seem more sympathetic and competent in comparison. And with the two men who enjoy equal time in the limelight, the film’s moment of Levity seems more like brotherly raid than cruel Jabs on a disabled man.
The story of human trafficking that gives the film its structure is generic bad kuy-of-the-week things, and it is difficult to get what has been invested in the fate of a family that we have never spent any time with just because JK Simmons apparently became friends with them between movies. That deficiency works almost as a result of the sequel, but as it prevents it from being transformed into much of an action movie up into the final sequence.
In its heart, “The Accountant 2” is a story about brothers who work through their drama through drunken nights on Honky Tonk bars and deep conversations on the roof of an air stream. I’m still not convinced that this franchise exists for any other reason other than Affleck was jealous that Matt Damon won the coin tag Deciding who was allowed to play math genius in “Good will Hunting”, but it manages to offer more heart and more laughs the second time.
Rating: C+
“The Accountant 2” premiered at SXSW 2025. Amazon MGM releases it in theaters on Friday 25 April.
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