I really enjoyed The Accountant in 2016, but I felt it was overlooked and was certainly not expecting a sequel almost a decade later, though I was pleased to see it happen, especially with director Gavin O’Connor, writer Bill Dubuque and star Ben Affleck returning. Ray King (J.K. Simmons) has left his Treasury Chief job and now works as a private investigator. When he is murdered, his successor, Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) persuades Christian Wolff (Affleck) to help her investigate.
This sequel was thoroughly enjoyable, especially with Chris’ brother Braxton (Jon Bernthal) given a more prominent part. The siblings were barely on screen at the same time in the original, but here they are able to bicker and banter wonderfully. There were a number of laugh out loud moments, as well as the expected gunfights and gruesome kills.
Despite having a very similar run time as the first film, The Accountant 2 felt baggier. Scenes of Chris speed dating and line dancing add nothing to the story but are goofily charming.
It is a shame that Anna Kendrick did not return, and the team of autistic people working for Chris is a bit ridiculous, but otherwise, I would put this on a par with the original. Hopefully we will not have to wait for so long for part three.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10