Christian Wolff applies his brilliant mind and illegal methods to reconstruct the unsolved puzzle of a Treasury chief’s murder.

‘The Accountant’ was a fairly pleasant surprise when it was released almost a decade ago, a more than decent action thriller that was a lot better than what you’d expect from a movie starring Ben Affleck as an autistic accountant. As is the way these days, any successful movie gets a sequel, and therefore here comes ‘The Accountant 2’, which reunites us with Affleck’s Christian Wolff with a new case where his help is needed. Also back from the first movie are Jon Bernthal as his brother Braxton, Cynthia Addai-Robinson as treasury director (was agent) Marybeth Medina, and J. K. Simmons as former treasury director Raymond King. His presence kicks off this movie as a meeting with a mysterious assassin is hijacked by a group of men who clearly mean no good.

The plot of this movie centres on human trafficking, with the identity of the mysterious assassin a key piece of the puzzle in tracking down children who have been separated from their families and are now missing. Medina reluctantly brings Wolff on board, with his specific abilities crucial in helping to identify this difficult case. The plot itself is nothing you haven’t seen before, but ‘The Accountant 2’ does get good mileage out of exploring the relationship between Wolff and his brother Braxton, with Affleck and Bernthal both bouncing off each other well, and creating some of the more memorable (and comedic) moments in the movie. If there’s to be a third film (and it looks like there will be), leaning into this dynamic is proving a winning formula.

‘The Accountant 2’ is a pretty enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours at the cinema, with a decent plot blended with some good action and entertaining buddy comedy energy from Affleck and Bernthal. It’s not as good as the first movie, but I did enjoy it.

Rating: 3/5

Directed By: Gavin O’Connor

Starring: Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Daniella Pineda, Allison Robertson, Alison Wright, Robert Morgan, Grant Harvey, Andrew Howard and J. K. Simmons

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt7068946/