Review: The Accountant 2 – Back in (the) black
Directed by Gavin O’Connor
Starring Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal, Cynthia Addai-Robinson
6/10
If nothing else, 2016’s The Accountant definitely introduced us to a unique character concept in terms of its protagonist, Christopher Wolff (Ben Affleck)—a criminal accountant (and sometimes vigilante) that acquired combat skills at an early age due to an attempt from his PSYOP-trained father to deal with his child’s autism. That’s a lot to swallow, but despite the ridiculous character concept, The Accountant treats it with po-faced solemnity. The result was a solid action film with a strong cast that did little to distinguish itself from a packed field of John Wick and Taken clones. Almost a decade later, the books are open once again.
In an attempt to solve a mutual friend’s murder, both forensic accountant Wolff and federal agent Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) are sent on the hunt for a family kidnapped by a vicious gang. Realising that more muscle will be needed in their attempt, Wolff contacts his estranged brother and hitman Braxton (Jon Bernthal, Netflix’s The Punisher).
The Accountant 2 treats itself slightly less seriously than the original did and mostly benefits from this change. Primarily this allows for a great interplay between Affleck and Bernthal as the bickering siblings unload decades of family dysfunction upon each other. Affleck plays the straight man in this but is less cool and confident than Wolff’s previous iteration. He also addresses some of the complaints with his original portrayal by toning down the anger that the previous film had associated with autism. Bernthal has a great blue-collar charm and plays Braxton with a motor mouth and constant bluster but also allows loneliness and vulnerability to break through. The film is generally at its best when these two are interacting, and with most of the character background accomplished in the previous film, it allows these characters room to breathe and expand.
The downside is that while the action is competently handled, there is nothing that makes it really stand out from a dozen other similar films. The plot is ridiculous at times, especially in its depiction of autism and other neuroatypical behaviour. However, it’s hardly the only Hollywood media to confuse autism with a superpower; it just does this more egregiously than most.
The second swing at this character produces very similar results to the first, a solid middle-of-the-road action film (albeit in a slightly different way). Still, it feels like there’s something there, an untouched potential for Chris Wolff that just needs the right combination of ingredients to get something special. Hopefully we can see that in a sequel someday that really allows this strong cast of characters to shine.
DAVID O’CONNELL