The new sequel THE ACCOUNTANT 2 was released this weekend to strong box office numbers and audience reaction. The movie premiered at March’s South By Southwest Film Festival where we saw it, though this writer did not see it under the best of circumstances!
About: Christian Wolff (Affleck) is an accountant but can always fight his way out of a predicament, literally! In the first movie he certainly could rough up a bad guy even worse than getting an audit. In this one, when one of his acquaintances is murdered (played by JK Simmons), leaving behind a cryptic message to “find the accountant,” Wolff is compelled to solve the case. Realizing more extreme measures are necessary, Wolff recruits his estranged and highly lethal brother, Brax (Jon Bernthal), to help. In partnership with U.S. Treasury Deputy Director Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), they uncover a deadly conspiracy, becoming targets of a ruthless network of killers who will stop at nothing to keep their secrets buried.
Reaction: I did get to see THE ACCOUNTANT 2 at this year’s South By Southwest Film Festival, but I arrived late and was made to sit all the way up in the balcony at the historic but VERY vertigo-inducing Paramount Theatre. I could barely see and hear a lot of the movie and missed out on the dialogue. I mention this because presentation is important! Cut to last weekend and I was able to watch the movie properly all the way through, and what a difference a proper cinematic presentation makes.
A sequel to the enjoyable 2016 original was not high up on my list, but I was surprised to see Gavin O’Connor not only has made a fun action movie that respects the first movie but also puts a really solid comedic spin, mostly because of the addition of Jon Bernthal as Christinan’s brother Brax who is a total 180 from Christian and boy does he really likes to push his buttons.
It has a good balance of comedy and action as well, with some “hangout” scenes between the two that surprised me in how well it works, along with an earlier scene with Christian mastering the art of speed dating. There’s also lots of action here too that is quite well directed, including a final sequence involving Christian and Brax going against a human trafficking group in Juarez that was also quite involving. Far from perfect with some early pacing issues, and I wish O’Connor would come up with a better title than just putting a “2” after THE ACCOUNTANT, but this is still an enjoyable experience overall.
THE ACCOUNTANT 2 is now playing in theatres.