Review by Jon Donnis
Nine years on from the first film, The Accountant 2 picks up with Christian Wolff still doing what he does best, solving violent problems with forensic precision. This time, though, he's not alone. The sequel dials up the emotional core and makes a smart shift in tone, leaning into the oddball chemistry between Christian and his estranged brother Braxton. The result is a more human, often funnier film that never quite loses the edge that made the original stand out.
Ben Affleck slips comfortably back into Christian's blank-eyed stare and clipped rhythms. He's still ruthlessly efficient, still autistic, and still unflinchingly violent when necessary. Jon Bernthal, as Braxton, steals more than a few scenes. Their awkward, grudging reconnection is where the film finds most of its heart, with the pair bickering one minute and working in perfect sync the next. It's like a strange mix of action thriller and dry sibling comedy, and somehow, it works.
The story opens with the death of Raymond King, the former FinCEN director played once again by J. K. Simmons. His cryptic final message drags Christian back into a search for a missing Salvadorean family and a conspiracy involving human trafficking, memory loss, and black-ops contracts. Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) finds herself caught in the middle again, trying to work within the law while Christian and his team bend or break it with every step.
Daniella Pineda joins the cast as Anaïs, an assassin with a forgotten past and a direct link to the mystery. Her arc gives the film its momentum early on, but also its emotional weight. She's more than just another deadly character. Watching her slowly piece together who she is and what was taken from her gives the film a quiet intensity beneath the gunfire and surveillance chatter.
Justine, the autistic tech prodigy from the first film, is back too. She now lives at the Harbour Neuroscience centre, coordinating Christian's jobs and operations with eerie calm. Her team of children with advanced tech skills might stretch believability, but the film handles them with care. It's one of the stranger aspects of the story, but it adds a kind of off-kilter charm that keeps the film from feeling like just another action sequel.
Where the film falters, again, is in the middle. It runs well over two hours, and there's a noticeable stretch where the pace drags. Characters mope. Threads dangle. The main plot sits idle while scenes wander around in search of tension. Trimming twenty or thirty minutes could have turned this into something much sharper. As it is, the weight of that middle section nearly unbalances the whole thing.
That said, when it's good, it's really good. The action sequences are clean and brutal without being overblown. The banter between the Wolff brothers lands more often than not. And there's something quietly compelling about the way the film handles its characters. damaged, strange, often violent, but still recognisably human.
If there's a criticism to be made beyond the runtime, it's that The Accountant 2 doesn't really build much on the world of the first film. There are familiar faces and a few references, but it often feels like a standalone story with the same characters rather than a natural continuation. That might not matter to most people, but it does leave the film floating in a bit of a vacuum. Then again, after nine years, it's possible the filmmakers weren't expecting much continuity from the audience.
Still, the performances do a lot of the heavy lifting. Affleck is quietly compelling in a way that suits Christian's internal life. Bernthal adds the charisma the first film lacked. And the film knows what it is. It never winks at the camera, but it understands how strange this story is. That awareness gives it a kind of self-possession the original flirted with but never fully embraced.
The Accountant 2 isn't a perfect sequel, and it's definitely too long. But it's entertaining, often funny, and has more emotional substance than most action thrillers. If nothing else, watching Affleck and Bernthal awkwardly bond while gunning their way through a trafficking ring is a strange kind of pleasure.
8.5 out of 10. A solid follow-up with heart, humour, and just enough weirdness to keep it interesting.
Watch on Apple TV - https://apple.co/4458D2g
