Ticketworthy! - The Accountant 2

Back in 2016, Gavin O’Connor’s The Accountant was a surprise hit. It was a goofy, sometimes nonsensical action movie that charmed audiences with its likeable main character, great action scenes, and quirky, fun storytelling. Ben Affleck was fantastic, as was almost all of the supporting cast, and audiences were hooked. It’s no surprise that a sequel was greenlit. Disappointingly, 2025’s The Accountant 2 doesn’t live up to the first film in almost any way. Except, crucially, the most important one: the cast is wonderful, and the characters are great.

A movie like The Accountant 2, which puts all its chips on Affleck’s portrayal of autistic money launderer and professional badass Christian Wolff, was always going to sink or swim based on how well the actors work with one another. Thankfully, everyone is more than game. Affleck is great, as is Jon Bernthal playing Christian’s younger brother Braxton. The majority of the movie is the two of them riffing off of one another in between beating down bad guys, and they are charming and believable while doing it. More than one of their interactions put a smile on my face.

The supporting cast also did pretty well, although the lack of Anna Kendrick was noticeable. Kendrick’s Dana was a balance to Christian and their relationship was one of the highlights of the first film. Not having her in the sequel feels like a mistake. The non-assassin-sidekick role is taken over by federal agent Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), who is interesting enough, but she’s no Dana. Affleck and Bernthal carry the movie fine without her, but Kendrick is definitely missed.

Also missed, oddly enough, is the plot from the first movie. Make no mistake, The Accountant was a silly story that very often left you scratching your head. The plot of the sequel, however, makes almost no sense at all. From one assassin with amnesia, to another the movie keeps insisting is bad at his job despite the bodies he piles up, to the weird team-up between the brothers and the strait-laced Medina, more often than not it’s a weird confused mess and much lesser than the original.

The action is also lesser than in the first movie, and bit less frequent. That’s alright, it’s not really the point, but it’s disappointing that there’s only one decent firefight. It’d be nice to see the movie stretch its action muscles a bit more, especially given how good both Affleck and Bernthal are at it. Both are convincing action stars and a blast to watch in that element, sparse though it might be.

Still, the movie wisely knows well enough to trust Affleck and Bernthal to overcome its shortcomings, which they do. There’s no question that it isn’t as good as the original, but The Accountant 2 manages to never fall completely flat. The math may not always be perfect, but the strong leads manage to keep the movie’s balance in the black.