Sometimes life hands you a case of the blues that can only be cured by watching Ben Affleck line dance while doing his best to convey autism with his facial expressions. When those days come, “The Accountant 2” is the movie for you.

I’m not sure who was clamoring for a sequel to Gavin O’Connor’s 2016 film, which starred Affleck as Christian Wolff, an accountant on the autism spectrum who un-cooks books for criminal organizations while doubling as an action hero with perfect marksmanship and brutal hand-to-hand combat skills. It’s the rare movie that deserves criticism for not focusing enough on the intricacies of accounting, as the idea of Cartels turning to freelancers to solve their financial problems was a lot more interesting than the knockoff Jason Bourne that Christian was eventually turned into. But it told a complete story (some would say “and then some”), leaving most of us content to see Christian ride off into the sunset in his Airstream knowing that he’d keep telling mob bosses which thieves to whack for years to come.

When “The Accountant 2” begins, Christian is still living off the grid. But when Ray King (JK Simmons) — the retired FBI financial crimes boss who identified him in the first place — is murdered, Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) knows she needs to bring in The Accountant to finish his last investigation. King’s former protege and blackmail subject who took his job after he retired to a life of private investigating, Medina has never met Wolff face-to-face. But she knows that the only way to contact him is by calling a neurological research center in Hartford and speaking in code to a clueless receptionist, while the real shadow receptionist listens in and uses her army of gifted autistic children to track down the caller’s location and get in touch about booking The Accountant. Sometimes, it really is that simple!

Turns out, Ray had taken a case helping a family of Mexican immigrants find their missing child, who they believed was being held captive in Juarez. Christian agrees to help Medina finish the job, which involves investigating a human trafficking ring that is laundering money through a pizza factory (2016 MAGA conspiracy theorists rejoice!). But when he realizes this job will require more than accounting, he brings in his brother Braxton (Jon Bernthal) for some extra muscle.

A fast-talking, puppy-loving hitman who appeared in the first film but becomes a true co-lead in the sequel, Braxton is shocked to get a call from his brother. After spending years of his life trying to have a relationship with Christian, he feels incredibly neglected after countless false attempts at connection. He agrees to take the job for his usual rate, but long-simmering tensions and his frustrations with Christian’s inability to show conventional forms of affection soon bubble to the surface.

If there’s one thing “The Accountant 2” deserves credit for, it’s figuring out that an autistic Ben Affleck is simply not enough to carry an action movie on his own. Christian Wolff might actually be one of Affleck’s better acting jobs in recent years, but he works far better as a foil than a leading man. Bernthal shows up with buckets of charm to share the heavy lifting, making Affleck’s accountant seem more sympathetic and competent by comparison. And with the two men enjoying equal time in the spotlight, the film’s moments of levity seem more like brotherly razzing than cruel jabs at a disabled man.

The human trafficking storyline that gives the film its structure is generic bad-guy-of-the-week stuff at best, and it’s hard to get that invested in the fates of a family we’ve never spent any time with just because J.K. Simmons apparently befriended them between movies. That shortcoming almost works in the sequel’s favor, though, as it prevents it from turning into too much of an action movie until the final sequence.

At its heart, “The Accountant 2” is a story of brothers working through their drama through drunken nights at honky tonk bars and deep conversations on the roof of an Airstream. I’m still not convinced this franchise exists for any reason other than Affleck being jealous that Matt Damon won the coin toss to decide who got to play the math genius in “Good Will Hunting,” but it manages to offer more heart and more laughs the second time around.

Grade: C+

“The Accountant 2” premiered at SXSW 2025. Amazon MGM will release it in theaters on Friday, April 25.

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