The Accountant 2

This was cute buddy shooting movie. This was not a sequel of the original Accountant movie. All of the characters acted completely different than they did in the original movie. Did someone tell Ben he didn't "act" enough in the first movie? I thought his portrayal of a neural divergent person was refreshing in the 1st movie. I don't know what "voice" or speech pattern he was trying to achieve with the sequel but it was off putting and didn't feel genuine. I loved that in the first movie the "computerized voice" was his childhood friend. Now it's a team of Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters (X-men/X-mansion)-like group of kids? I think this movie would have done better as a completely separate standalone movie. Just call it something else and add some of the backstory we got in the original. There was no "Accounting" done at all. And there was barely any action in this sequel at all. I don't know. It just didn't really work for me.

Ben Affleck's portrayal of Christian Wolff in The Accountant 2 feels noticeably different this time around. His character's autism traits seem more exaggerated, which comes off as a disservice to the subtle brilliance of the original performance. The addition of more overt comic relief also feels jarring and out of place-it shifts the tone from the gritty, tightly wound thriller of the first film into something less focused. That said, there are a handful of scenes that are exceptionally well shot, with crisp choreography and dark, gritty visuals. Ultimately, the film struggles to balance its identity, wavering between serious character study and action-comedy hybrid. It's watchable, but not nearly as satisfying as the first.

Now understand. I absolutely love the original Accountant. This second one has horrible writers!!! The story drags alot in the film. The combat and most of the fight scenes are absolutely horrible. The comedy is ok. But, damn... did none of the original writers come back to make this film. I am so disappointed. It was like a lot of amateurs were brought in to make this film. I was so anticipating the release of this movie only to be massively let down. I know Hollywood is gone to garbage, but come on people. Don't low ball a sequel to an awesome film. I do not recommend this film at all. Blah.

The Accountant 2 doubles down on the action and humor over the first film. It does however try to juggle too many subplots that are poorly connected, leading to a less coherent film and a lack of a singular, hateable villain.

On the plus side, making Jon Bernthal a co-lead this time was incredibly smart. He and Affleck have great chemistry and Bernthal's Braxton is both a lethal threat and downright hilarious. This is easily his best role since The Punisher.

Like the first film, action isn't the primary focus, with a lot of time spent on enjoyable character moments. But when the action does arrive, it really delivers. Depending on what the new Mission: Impossible has in store for us, the Juarez shootout in this film may go down as the best action sequence of the year.

Again, I wish more of the character development had been focused on the villains, so we'd have a central antagonist who seems like a real threat. Instead we get several boring micro-villains.

I also wish the writing and editing were working in better harmony to bring us a more coherent story.

But all that said, Affleck and Bernthal have charm to spare, the final act is awesome, and this is a decent follow up to the admittedly better first film. 7/10.

I really like The Accountant. It dared to change the action movie lead role with an autistic character, providing a very interesting role. How would the combination of strengths and weaknesses that The Accountant's condition play out in the dangerous world of international criminals and hitmen?

It was this combination of obsessive/compulsive need for order and completion, combined with an inability to empathise or understand social interactions, that made Affleck's character, Christian Wolff, so interesting.

In the sequel, the writing is not as focused on Affleck in the same way. Instead the focus is on the relationship between him and his brother (Bernthal). While well acted, this simply does not have the same appeal. The movie shines when Wolff's neurodivergence is front and centre, but otherwise it feels like any other generic action-thriller (albeit a well-done one).