Christian Wolff applies his brilliant mind and illegal methods to reconstruct the unsolved puzzle of a Treasury chief’s murder.
Chuck says:
I’d be hard-pressed to think of a more schizophrenic Hollywood movie than “The Accountant 2.” This unnecessary sequel to the 2016 Ben Affleck actioner can’t make up its mind what it wants to be. Sloppily directed by Gavin O’Connor, the script by Bill Dubuque is a whiplash-inducing exercise that vacillates between standard action tropes and buddy movie cliches at the drop of a hat, the desperate tones clashing throughout. Redundant and tired, this is the very definition of a sequel that should never have been made, a sloppy, instantly forgettable, lazy exercise that bludgeon’s and insults the viewer rather than entertaining them.
The film gets off to an awkward start that it never recovers from. A confusingly rendered action scene finds retired CIA agent Ray King (J.K. Simmons) trying to track down a missing person. It all goes sideways when Anais (Allison Robertson), a hired killer, shows up to meet him and is recognized by a cadre of men out to get her. King winds up dead, which catches the attention of his successor and protégé Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson). Not able to make heads or tails of the confusing clues the dead man’s left behind, she reluctantly calls on savant Christian Wolff (Affleck) to sort it all out.
Meanwhile, Wolff’s brother, Braxton (Jon Bernthal) also an assassin, is plying his trade in Europe. He’s stunned to hear from Christian after a decade, requesting his help on the case. Caught in mid-job, he drops what he’s doing and comes running.
In addition to the opening sequence, Christian’s first appearance is also troublesome. Played for laughs, he’s participating in a speed-dating event, repelling one potential partner after another with his cold behavior and tangents on tax law. This whole sequence is a head-scratcher as it is completely out of character from the Christian seen in the first film. There is never an indication he would be interested in a romantic partner and this comes off as a desperate attempt at humor.
This sets a disturbing pattern, as Christian’s autism and the resulting behavioral quirks are played for laughs far too often for comfort. For the most part, this was absent in the first film, so its curious this tact would be taken. The problem is that none of the humor lands and these futile attempts aren’t restricted to Affleck. Bernthal embarrasses himself during a solo scene in which practices a speech to a dog trainer, while his repartee with the sole survivor of one his mop up jobs goes nowhere.
As for the ridiculous nature of the mystery that brings them together, it defies logic, the final solution an insult to the audiences’ intelligence. This situation would be right at home only in the most absurd soap opera. It also doesn’t play fair with the audience, the out-of-left-field answer likely to induce an epidemic of eyerolls.
The rapid shift in tones between the gritty, meandering action sequences to the light-hearted scenes of sibling bonding are jarring and often, preventing us to from becoming engaged in either story. As such, tedium sets in, exacerbated by a prolonged, repetitious action-filled third act that’s become all too common in films of this sort.
Needlessly complicated to the point of disinterest, “The Accountant 2” has nothing new to say or a point to make. It’s not a movie you watch so much as endure, an experience I’d rather not repeat any time soon but fear that I will.
1 1/2 Stars
