Do you like puzzles? “The Accountant” (2016) was the origin story for Christian “Chris” Wolff (Ben Affleck), an autistic man with a special set of skills, and “The Accountant 2” (2025) is the next piece introducing the realistic X-Men but instead of mutants, it is neurodivergent people who receive training to transform their disability into a superpower. When former fed Ray King (J.K. Simmons) retired and became a private investigator, he never imagined that his job would get him killed. Despite her reservations and scruples, his former protégé, Deputy Director of FinGen Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), teams up with Christian to find Ray’s murderer. Christian calls his brother, Braxton (Jon Bernthal), for back up. Will they be able to solve the mystery before more people die?
“The Accountant 2” may even be better than the first. Director Gavin O’Connor and writer Bill Dubuque assume that anyone who loved the first are back for more, so they do not waste time reintroducing the characters and hit the ground running. They show and do not explain that Chris has stopped masking so his affect is more clipped and stiffer, and his mannerisms are less about blending in, which has a more-than-intended unsettling effect on others. No more evening routine of self-torture to fit in. Chris is trying to learn how to have a life and enjoy himself without making it palatable for others, which is an encouraging evolution. Unlike the first movie, this film devotes more time to show how his autism is a developmental disorder that makes it difficult to fit in even with his good looks, big money and success. His discomfort is often played for laughs, but it is not mean spirited. Also in case anyone did not get it in the first round, when Chris growls, “I need to finish,” it is not just a cool tagline for a superhero, but a depiction of the tendril theory, and in this installment, other autistic people say it when they are on a mission. It also is not the kind of movie that pretends that Chris is not handsome, and women would not be falling all over themselves to vie for him then fall off as they get to know him. Imagine if they knew about his secret profession. Credit where credit is due: Affleck was definitely acting more in this one but was perhaps too tanned in the opening scene. Bonus: Affleck busts out his Spanish for this one.
Increasing Bernthal’s scream/screen time and letting him loose on an unsuspecting audience are sufficient reasons to watch “The Accountant 2” even if you were not into the first flick. Bernthal is such a good sport. In his first extended scene, he spends a considerable time in his underwear with the intentional camera placement to optimize ogling him while he is doing his schtick. If you have seen him in anything, including any Marvel television series or “The Walking Dead,” you know exactly what that means: hollering and being appealing despite all the red flags. This time around, they made him less of a Ben Barnes type, made him coarser, but also more loveable and hilarious. This movie is funnier than an action film has a right to be and will have moviegoers howling in their seats thanks to Bernthal’s contributions. Also Bernthal gets extra points for playing an animal lover in additional audience pandering scenes with puppies and cats, and he also has an opportunity to care for children. Stop! We already love him!
“The Accountant 2” is a classic odd couple story. Chris is the straight man, and Brax is the Felix though his brother pulls more chicks theoretically but does not act on it. The brothers’ dynamic is a good framework for the story and shakes things up after the first installment. Neurodivergence is not a label that just applies to autistic people or ADHDers, and Bernthal’s character, Brax, definitely is a bit off, but because he is cool, it is easy to miss until he opens his mouth to casually talk about hurting people.
Most of the characters from the first movie appears except for Anna Kendrick’s character. A different actor, Allison Robertson, plays Chris’ partner, Justine, a nonverbal autistic woman who has watched over Chris since they met as kids at Harbor Neuroscience. This time, Justine’s dad does not play an important role, and Justine is the de facto head going full Charles Xavier as the school is filled with autistic children with special gifts. Medina is exactly how you remember her except they have toned her vigilante leanings and made her more straightlaced. It is easy to forget that she is the same woman who, as a ten, tried to kill her sister’s drug dealer. As the movie’s moral compass and the personification of brakes, she acts as the opposite of the audience surrogate who is shocked and horrified at the brothers’ methods but still relies on them. Her fatal flaw is not taking photos of murder boards while they are available.
If “The Accountant” established the universe, “The Accountant 2” is the next step in the story’s evolution and introduces the next neurodivergent action heroes or anti-heroes who will probably play expanded roles if there is a third film. The most prominent introduction is Anais (Daniella Pineda), who was giving Black Widow vibes as a terrifying assassin and gets a full backstory. She also acts as a vehicle to find another potential future supporting character with abilities. Pineda was outstanding and resembles Florence Pugh except she plays a stone-faced killer. If there was one negative, she and Chris never faced off. Another quibble: in the first film, Ray is supposed to be a good father. Where are his kids? Guess he lied, but it saved his life.
The villain is a bit forgettable but easy to hate. It is a crew of nondescript and forgettable human traffickers, which makes it easier to root against them and not care about when they go down in brutal fashion. While they are standard issue bad guys, there was a whiff of a political message against demonizing undocumented immigrants that causes exploitation. One trafficker, Tomas (Lombardo Boyar), who was not long for the world, states that the enslaved immigrants are forced to do “any job an American won’t do and a machine can’t.” Yikes, we resemble that comment. Or is that US. Also using Juarez and a joint Mexican and American illegal operation is a pulled-from-the-headlines storyline popularizing the femicide epidemic in that major city.
Unlike the first film, “The Accountant 2” is not bottom heavy with action. It maybe needed a few more action scenes, especially hand to hand combat, but it was mostly satisfying. There was more editing and cropping than suits my taste, but it was fine. I’m not a fan of shoot outs, but this franchise does not make them boring and monotonous because physical confrontations are mixed in.
There are rumors that there is a proposed third movie, and the franchise will only be a trilogy. I rarely say it, but if future installments are as good or better than the prior movie, do not call it quits prematurely. “The Accountant” franchise is just getting started and feels like the next realistic mash up of “John Wick” meets the MCU with a dash of Batman except it is the sweetest action movie ever. Each movie could introduce a new type of neurodivergence and weave it into the plot. Remember that I’m signing a waiver for this franchise if they convey more accurate knowledge of autistic people than the current US Secretary of Health and Human Services. The gloves are on!
