Why 'The Accountant 2' is a necessary sequel
Audiences demanded it. A larger dose of Jon Bernthal is always a good thing.
When it comes to sequels, there has to be desire. Pure, unbridled desire for more time with the characters, world, and potential stories that could be told. A wise filmmaker knows how to play their cards right, dealing them out through intervals and knowing how to hook an audience without giving the whole pie away. If you saw and even liked The Accountant all the way back in 2016, the end left you wanting more time.
There was a genuine desire shown following its release, as audiences showed up enough on the opening weekend to make back more than half of its budget ($24 million against $44 million). It ended up grossing $155 million, which is more than triple the cost. Financially, it made sense to do another chapter. Critics were split on it, either failing to appreciate the sensible dive into autism and being on the spectrum or the soulful twist at the end.
A movie about a guy who cleans the books for drug cartels, gangsters, and every other bad soul in between is good enough… until you add some brotherly love. That’s where the wise moves of director Gavin O’Connor come into play. After Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) cuts through nearly all the bad men who illegally filtered money through a robotics company and threatened his new friend (Anna Kendrick), he comes face to face with his brother, Braxton (Jon Bernthal).
The movie hinted at their rough upbringing, especially with Christian’s autism making their mom split and bending their dad mentally, showing Braxton as a young kid helping his brother and training with him. With Bernthal’s thread shown separately and seen as a potential threat to the protagonist all the way up until a climatic fight, the conclusion that they’re indeed brothers hit home for me. Wherever our life takes us, our siblings are there, good or bad.
That’s the fuel for the sequel, one that is modestly budgeted and has an audience waiting for more. Search around and ask me if any other movie had sequel calls more often than O’Connor’s intelligent action thriller. The more impressive thing is that nine years later, the fever hasn’t dampened. If it had, the need for a sequel, that aforementioned desire, would have allowed the follow-up to languish in the development phase until they were de-aging the lead actors. Instead, they built a team up adventure (along with the retained Agent Medina) with a revenge dip (RIP, JK Simmons’ completely retired bureau chief) thrown in for a juicy reason for The Accountant 2 to exist.
Add it up and it’s the thing spring box office hits are made of. Like John Wick, audiences didn’t exactly see the first one coming but they avidly showed up for more stories. Like Keanu Reeves’s gunman, Affleck’s Christian is a man of few words but big action. Instead of treating the autism thread like a gimmick, O’Connor fleshes it out further in the sequel. He dives into the long term ramifications of brotherly estrangement and even the little things like asking about the difference between business dress and casual. In this genre, it’s the little things.
Affleck seems right back at home in the role, proving to naysayers that his acting talent is only strengthening with age. He can be the wacky dude in the Dunkin Donuts commercials and then dial it all down to a simmer for the role of Christian.
Adding Bernthal, a versatile piece of pie who fits into any cinematic landscape, kind of like Walton Goggins, in a bigger capacity is another wise idea. He wasn’t just a set piece of exclamation point in the 2016 film; Bill Dubuque’s writing made him more than that. The heartfelt vibes of the first film’s ending will turn into comedic benefits in part two without having to answer the world’s problems.
Do what the first film did and all will be well. The same players coming back (filmmaker, writer, cast) lays down a safe bet on this turning true this spring. I’ll be there. Will you?
The Accountant is streaming on Max. The Accountant 2 arrives in theaters on April 25.