The Accountant 2 (2025)
Directed by: Gavin O’Connor
Premise: A sequel to the 2016 film. Gifted accountant Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) cooperates with his hitman brother (Jon Bernthal) and a US treasury agent (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) to foil a human trafficking ring.
What Works: The Accountant 2 builds upon the characters and concepts of the first film. From the action to the plotting to the characterization, everything is done better. Although this is primarily an action film, The Accountant 2 takes time with its characters and has warm human moments. We catch up with Christian Wolff trying speed dating in an effort to make a human connection. Wolff later reconnects with his brother Braxton and many of the film’s best scenes are between them. They are in some ways opposites with Wolff meticulous and methodical while Braxton is freewheeling and improvisational but there are also genuine brotherly moments between them that are humanizing and funny. The plotting of The Accountant 2 is also improved. The first movie had a messy second half that lost its focus and climaxed with some unlikely coincidences. The sequel is much more focused with Wolff uncovering a human trafficking ring and his investigation organically brings his brother and other characters into the action while also addressing the themes of family and connection. The action sequences are also notably better. There is a ferocity to the violence but there is also a point to a lot of it with the characters fighting and shooting their way to a goal. The ending is done particularly well in the way it raises the stakes and draws out the tension.
What Doesn’t: The original Accountant was predicated on the idea that people with autism and similar conditions have superpowers. The Accountant 2 not only continues that idea but expands it. Wolff is supported by a whole team of autistic and developmentally disabled young people who are super hackers. While this part of the film doesn’t feel exploitative, it is goofy. In addition to the autism-as-superpower trope, The Accountant 2 also displays some fanciful ideas about hacking with computer wizzes jumping in and out of personal computers and government databases. It’s silly but also typical of movies like this. The storytelling of The Accountant 2 is cleaner and better structured than the original but it fails Cynthia Addai-Robinson’s character. The filmmakers don’t seem to know what to do with her and she comes across as a narrative third wheel.
Bottom Line: The Accountant 2 is a successful sequel. It revisits what worked about the first movie and then improves upon it. This is satisfying popcorn entertainment but The Accountant 2 also has a human quality that distinguishes it among shoot-’em-up action pictures.
Episode: #1047 (May 11, 2025)