The point at which 2016’s The Accountant, directed by Gavin O’Connor, found success is a fascinating journey with echoes to that of a cult following. While it did not do gangbusters at the box office ($155.2 million on a $44 million budget, which is not bad), where it did find its audience was through home media sales, becoming the most rented flick of 2017. It was the kind of movie that did not scream out or demand to be seen at the cinema; more like a solid plane movie, or a cracking solid Sunday afternoon action watch. And because of this and Ben Affleck’s offbeat charm as the autistic assassin, a quiet, but loyal, following was cultivated.
It has been 9 years since we had last seen Ben Affleck as Christian Wolff, also known as the titular Accountant. Where has he been? Last we saw him, he had a rather violent, yet heartfelt, reunion with his estranged hitman brute-of-a-brother Braxton (played by Jon Bernthal) all before going into hiding, federal man Raymond King (played by J.K. Simmons) had retired (or as he called it in this movie “semi-retired” and only taking cases that mean something to him) and was succeeded in his position by Marybeth Medina (played by Cynthia Addai-Robinson). After nine years, what could possibly bring Wolff out of hiding and break from his solitary yet comforting life?
King is murdered. By who and why? That is the central mystery to the plot. Medina calls Wolff out of hiding to piece together the clues left behind by her former boss, as he was digging into a case involving a Mexican family, where a mother was separated from her son after being trafficked, and King was trying to reunite them. He is joined not only by his nonverbal yet tech-savvy Justine (played by Alison Robertson) who operates from the chair back at the neuroscience centre where their childhood friendship began, but he also brings in his brother Braxton for the ride, reluctantly so as they have not seen each other since their previous violent reunion.
Nine years to make a sequel is enough time to make sure you get everything right. It is also enough time to lose sight of what made the original so specific in what it was appreciated for. The needless complexity in mystery plotting for what amounts to a very simple story is a bug in the original movie’s script that is brought over. In the world of finances, assassins and human trafficking, it can get messy, but it should always keep the audience intrigued by its labyrinth of twists and turns. Both scripts downplay that element of intrigue, and whenever the sequel leans into that rather convoluted plot stuff, it never quite loses your interest, but it does waver your attention slightly.
Counter to all this, and what the sequel does make the right decision with expanding upon, is whenever it decides to focus solely on character. Affleck’s titular character is a rich and fascinating portrait of precision and unbalanced emotion. In another action thriller, he is the character who is an unfeeling bruiser that comes in at the third act to rough up the lead star. With these movies, we are given the time to get to know this type of character. He is on the spectrum, he lives in a trailer that is housed by his weapons of choice, international currencies, pieces of genuine artwork from artists like Renoir and Pollack, and even a collectable lightsaber prop from the original Star Wars. He sees the world under a strict logic, yet he has never truly been able to tap into understanding human emotion quite as well as a lot of other people have. In other words, he is the perfect assassin. That is until Braxton re-enters the picture, having to reconcile the emotional residue of their brother bond. This is the dynamic in which the franchise has finally found a way to bloom wide open and flourish; character studies in genre film clothing.
With The Accountant 2, it is all about relationships and empathy. With Christian and Braxton, we see two brothers who are both in the same business of murder, both with their own style and codes, but continue to remain at odds because of their troubled upbringing. The best moments from this movie don’t come from the bloodshed or the piecing-together of the convoluted mystery puzzle. It is when these brothers are hanging out together, sitting on top of Christian’s trailer, having a beer and talking through their issues. There is even a scene at a bar involving line-dancing that acts as a somewhat triumphant moment for a character who we have come to know for having trouble with emotional connections. It is understandable if the swing from tones of murder and human trafficking to bros chilling out and going to country bars may feel like whiplash to some. Fortunately, this is an eccentric bug that evolves into a feature.
In a world of John Wicks and Jason Bournes, The Accountant 2 stands out as something more unique even though it contains elements of that “airplane thriller” subgenre. It operates at a slower pace, allowing the audience time to breath and sit down with the characters. It may feel light on the accounting part for anybody who fangirls over financial lingo, but it ups the ante on the body count and the brotherly dynamics that we only got a slice of from the original. Christian is a man living in a world that can’t adjust to his needs, and his awkward attempts to uncook and decode the language of human connection is what makes the character so endearing.
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