There IS a plot to The Accountant 2. But it’s not primarily what the film is selling.
2016’s Bill Dubuque (Ozark) written, Gavin O’Connor (Warrior) directed film The Accountant introduced us to the complicated world of Ben Affleck’s Christian Wolff. That film established a complex kind of hero that only exists in the movies (complimentary) who is indeed an accounting phenom, an off the grid dark web financial operative, as well as a trained killer. The twist is that our hero is also neurodivergent, which is where the character and the film really begin to single themselves out as something unique. The Accountant is essentially autistic Jack Reacher. A drifter with borderline superhuman intellect and physical prowess, complete with a mysterious “girl at the desk” handler who researches for him and backs him up from afar. Drama is squeezed out of Wolff’s struggles to relate to other people and break free from a primarily isolated existence. Spoilers for that first film ahoy: By the end Wolff has set up somewhat of an “Xavier’s School For Gifted Youngsters” ala the X-Men, where his mysterious “girl at the desk”, herself neurodivergent and non-verbal, can safely aid in Wolff’s efforts and also provide somewhat of a home and hive to nurture others who are similar to them. He’s also rekindled a relationship with his brother Braxton, played by the uber-talented John Bernthal (The Punisher).
I spend that much time relaying the plot of the first film here because what’s glorious about The Accountant 2 is that it gets all of that set up from the first film out of the way and picks up almost a decade later free to tell a new tale, with both Dubuque and O’Connor returning. There’s a detective (Rings Of Power’s Cynthia Addai-Robinson as Marybeth Medina) trying to locate and rescue a missing immigrant family. She ends up being our audience avatar, pulling us back into the world of Wolff. They’re ostensibly trying to find this family, which interests Wolff for a variety of reasons. But in reality, The Accountant 2 plays out like a romcom for brothers, spending its runtime working through the various resentments and barriers between these killer action hero brothers resolving their issues with their father who trained them, and figuring out how to connect as adults and push past their traumas to just be bros again. The effect is surprisingly charming, charismatic, and kept our world premiere SXSW audience in stitches throughout. The emphasis on these two stars riffing and teasing each other and making attempts at finding love for Wolff (there is speed dating in The Accountant 2) cannot be understated. And for the most part it works. It’s just tonally wildly different than the first film, which might throw some people off.
I think it might have thrown me off, to some extent, though I did have a blast with The Accountant 2. It’s just that if you’re coming to this for the action, that is taking a big back seat up until the final balletic showdown. O’Connor made a plea to our audience, seeing the film early, to hold on to the various twists and turns of the story. To which I thought: which twists are you even referring to in the film I just this moment finished watching? It’s occurred to me that the action movie Affleck and Bernthal are in, the borderline X-Men Jack Reacher hybrid, took such a backseat to the brotherhood and character and comedy beats that the “twists” such as they are didn’t even feel all that consequential to me. I don’t think this is a bad thing, for what it’s worth, but it’s a strong divergence from the first film and those seeking rip roaring action will need to be patient. But if you’re intensely curious as to whether Bernthal’s killer for hire little brother is more of a dog person or a cat person, or whether we think Affleck’s Wolff will ever be able to score a date (It’s me, I was intensely curious about these things), then The Accountant 2 very well might be your speed. Mileage may vary, but returning to this world all these years later and putting all your eggs in the basket of “interesting brothers reconnecting relying largely on star chemistry” was apparently a gamble worth taking.
Dubuque has crafted something that feels innately Hollywood and barely even attempts to take place in the real world. And I wonder how neurodivergent people feel about this whole franchise and characterization. I can’t speak to that personally, but I will say the film doesn’t feel exploitative, and the humor doesn’t feel at first glance like it’s directed AT Wolff for being who he is. Indeed, Wolff’s ability to self-actualize AND do that in connected community with others seems to be the great storytelling arc of The Accountant franchise thus far, and that matters far more (to me, at least) than the various mystery threads that drive the “whodunnit” elements of The Accountant 2. But once those brothers do get around to the balletic, almost preternaturally synced gunplay of the finale, action fans should find themselves satisfied as well.
And I’m Out.
