The Accountant 2 benefits from the chemistry between actors Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal in the action-thrilling sequel to the 2016 film.

I have to be honest in that I did not see the original film. It came out at a time when finances were tight and because of the mixed reviews, I never got around to seeing it in theaters. All these years later, I had tried making the time to see it before the sequel but my schedule of late has been hectic of sorts. All that being said, I did not feel that I was lost or out of place going into The Accountant 2. The main cast of the original film returns while Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom‘s Daniella Pineda is the sole newcomer.

Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) is something of a problem solver. He’s just not someone I think of when I hear accountant being thrown around. There’s a missed opportunity because The Accountant 2 doesn’t have Affleck’s Wolff screaming at the phone while being on hold with the IRS. Especially with all the cuts taking at place at the IRS! Where is that movie?!? But in all seriousness, this film is neither short on action, thrills, and even though I never saw the first film, humor.

There’s quite a bit of mystery to FinCEN director Raymond King (J.K Simmons) being murdered. We don’t know why it happened–only that people were following him or the mysterious woman that he was meeting with–but the only message he leaves behind is to “find the accountant.” There’s only one person who can decode this encrypted message and that’s U.S. Treasury Deputy Director Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson). Deputy Director Medina does exactly this: find Christian. As they did deeper into the mystery, Christian recruits his brother, Braxton (Jon Bernthal).

After bringing Braxton on board, they start making some headway in getting to the bottom of it. There’s a lot more here than meets the eye–some of it feels a bit too timely and relevant, which feels a bit eerie because The Accountant 2 wrapped production in August 2024. Not surprisingly, there are people who do not want them to solve the case, so much that a hit is ordered on Deputy Director Medina. It’s not just the fact that children are sitting in prison but that the film deals with immigrants who arrived from El Salvador. Did screenwriter Bill Dubuque know something we don’t?

The Accountant 2 is at its best when Affleck and Bernthal are acting opposite each other. They don’t really play the game the right way but they certainly have fun in their sandbox so to speak. If this film is said to improve on their chemistry in the first film, it makes you wonder what is in store for the third film in the planned trilogy.

I know Gavin O’Connor’s work from watching Miracle, Warrior, and his post-The Accountant reunion with Ben Affleck, The Way Back. The fact that The Accountant 2 is O’Connor’s third film together with Affleck says that they know how to work with each other. Word has it that there’s a third Accountant film in the works. It doesn’t surprise me after watching this film. Here’s to hoping that the third one makes sure to bring the right balance of scenes with both Affleck and Bernthal. The two of them are having so much fun together, especially when it comes to the action scenes.

DIRECTOR: Gavin O’Connor
SCREENWRITER: Bill Dubuque
CAST: Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Daniella Pineda, Allison Robertson, and J.K. Simmons

MGM releases The Accountant 2 in theaters on April 25, 2025. Grade: 3.5/5

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