Matt Damon higher watch his again, as a result of Jon Bernthal has such electrical bro-y chemistry with Ben Affleck in The Accountant 2 that the Matt-and-Ben days could also be firmly behind us.
Astonishingly, this sequel to Gavin O’Connor’s hit 2016 motion movie is rip-roaringly humorous, because of this surprising comedy duo. Certain, Affleck and Bernthal are each reprising their respective roles as autistic accountant Christian Wolff and his mercenary brother Braxton. However the first movie stored them aside for a lot of its runtime. In The Accountant 2 (pronounced The Accountant Squared, in response to O’Connor), Christian and Braxton are thrust collectively in a chaotic buddy-cop mission that makes for comical clashing together with cheer-worthy battle scenes.
Props to O’Connor. The heralded helmer behind such standard sports activities dramas as Warrior and Miracle has made one of the vital entertaining comedies 2025 is prone to ship.
The Accountant 2 provides a killer new enemy, a vengeance mission, and line dancing.
True to the primary movie, The Accountant 2 presents a confounding puzzle for Christian to unravel. Eight years after the occasions of the primary movie, his pal from the Treasury Division, Raymond King (J.Okay. Simmons) winds up lifeless after assembly with a stoic murderer (a cool-as-ice Daniella Pineda). To attain justice, Ray’s protege Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) reaches out to the accountant for assist, however her by-the-book methods immediately conflict along with his neurodivergent reasoning. Issues solely get extra explosive when Christian calls on his powder keg brother Braxton to hitch their squad.
Whereas Pineda’s mysterious murderer is on a mission of her personal, the brothers bicker and battle, wringing pleasure out of each battle scene and laughs out of each jibe. As established in The Accountant, Christian has a really regimented way of life in his trusty Airstream RV, counting on his ever-on-call assistant Justine (Alison Wright) for analysis or recommendation on the way to gown for a speed-dating occasion. The place Christian is the brains, attempting to outwit the whole lot, together with online dating algorithms, Braxton is brawn, fueled by impulse. However each are lonely. So The Accountant 2 — on prime of all its espionage rigamarole — is about their reconnecting.
Followers of superhero motion pictures may most relish when the previous Batman and Punisher stars barrel right into a high-stakes climax with many lives on the road. However anybody might be charmed by the sequence at a Los Angeles honky-tonk bar, the place Braxton urges Christian to flirt again with a cute cowgirl.
Props to Affleck, who instructed the SXSW audience on the movie’s world premiere that he practiced line dancing for months to get it proper. It isn’t simply the dance strikes that his intensely centered anti-hero masters, it is the expression on his face of discovery and effervescent pleasure that Christian can get away of his protecting shell. And simply once you suppose this sequence cannot get anymore enthralling, a battle breaks out that results in a freeze-frame of a brawl-ready Braxton, evoking not solely ’80s motion nostalgia but in addition screams of laughter from the SXSW viewers.
Mashable High Tales
Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal are hilarious in The Accountant sequel.
There are moments the place The Accountant 2 feels unreal. I do not imply the film’s world feels false. I imply, it appears inconceivable {that a} studio sequel like this will exist.
On one hand, screenwriter Invoice Dubuque well delivers on the expectations of a sequel to The Accountant, which he additionally penned. Important is a recent thriller for his unconventional sleuth to unravel with a mixture of brains and blood shed. Forgotten is the clumsy romance subplot with Anna Kendrick’s law-abiding accountant, changed by charmingly awkward bids to discover a appropriate romantic accomplice. Dubuque additionally leaned arduous into the display chemistry between Braxton and Christian, which solely solely turned obvious within the first movie’s climax. And he did it with eccentric setups nobody may have seen coming.
On paper, an motion film with Bernthal and Affleck ought to nearly be assured to be deeply severe, leaning into the brooding each mastered of their respective superhero tasks. However we have been there, accomplished that! What O’Connor and Dubuque faucet into right here is the comedian brilliance of their famously intense main males.
Affleck has gamely performed a pompous clown in Matt Damon motion pictures like The Last Duel, Air, and Good Will Searching. However as Christian, he’s solidly the straight man, vaguely bewildered by his brother’s overwhelming feelings and flare for the dramatic. But Affleck weaves in self-satisfied smiles that give the viewers a conspiratorial thrill as if we’re all in on the identical joke when Christian revels in his personal cleverness.
Much less recognized for comedy, Bernthal has nonetheless turns into a fan favourite because the mercurial older brother in The Bear. As Braxton, he brings a kinetic little brother power to his pure machismo, making a dynamic foil to Christian’s reservedness. Their battle is sparkily humorous, whether or not they’re bickering about being a canine individual versus a cat individual or the most effective plan of action for an ambush.
Inside that, O’Connor masterfully chisels a narrative of two brothers, lengthy estranged, who educate one another the way to open themselves as much as a world that has steadily been a bully to them. Dubuque provides them a map of concord and rivalry, offering challenges and treasure, like a daring rescue mission and a stray cat. However Affleck and Bernthal give it dimension with every shared glare, awkward again slap, and infantile retort.
That O’Connor delivered one other terrifically tense thriller isn’t any shock. That he wove kidnapping, vengeance, motion, and brotherly bonding into a beautiful feel-good film is beautiful. As was made clear on the SXSW premiere, the place the viewers roared with laughter and cheers all through, The Accountant 2 is an undisputed crowdpleaser. You will not wish to miss it.
The Accountant 2 was reviewed out its world premiere on the 2025 SXSW movie and tv pageant. The movie opens only in theaters on April 25.
