There isn鈥檛 a lot of math in 鈥淭he Accountant 2,鈥 but plenty adds up.
Ben Affleck (without a superhero costume) and Jon Bernthal as his cocky brother manage to hold attention in a story that鈥檚 so wide-ranging it鈥檚 impossible to itemize its strengths.
Key, though, is the brother/brother relationship.
While Affleck鈥檚 Christian Wolff is a socially inept accountant with a side hustle as an assassin, Bernthal鈥檚 Braxton is much more adept at working the angles and confronting the bad guys.
Brax (Jon Bernthal), left, and Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) in "The Accountant 2."聽
The two are pulled into a case after the death of a former director of the U.S. Treasury. As they dig a little deeper, they discover a trafficking situation that, apparently, is minutes from blowing sky high.
When the two finally get to pause (atop Christian鈥檚 Airstream), you realize much of director Gavin O鈥機onnor鈥檚 story requires clues to magically present themselves. Cynthia Addai-Robinson as the dead man鈥檚 successor takes a much more audience-friendly approach to connecting the dots. She has a wall of suspects (do all investigators do this?) and plenty of 鈥渟trings attached鈥 situations.
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Before the Wolff brothers even get to the deeper tragedy, they鈥檝e got to break a lot of bones and shed a lot of blood. More interesting than that journey is the way a group of oh-so-smart kids can 鈥淴-Men鈥 information and get it to the good guys before it鈥檚 too late.
鈥淎ccountant 2鈥 suggests there鈥檚 a quick way to discover everything. It鈥檚 just a matter of finding the source and zooming in.
Ben Affleck goes after traffickers in "The Accountant 2," a sequel to an earlier film.聽
In this film鈥檚 case, a woman from Iowa took a selfie on the street. The kids found her phone, hacked into its contents, enlarged the photo and found a person in the background who was a key witness to a whole lot of trouble. In seconds, they鈥檝e tracked her down and begun a bigger hunt.
It鈥檚 fascinating to watch 鈥 particularly since this 鈥淏ig Brother鈥 view of cellphones is routinely pooh-poohed by those in charge. Still, the method does draw concern and hints at a bigger story.
The brothers don鈥檛 tackle that (a sequel is likely) but they do suggest there鈥檚 a place for their brand of justice, if it鈥檚 tied to the right side.
Bernthal shows more personality than Affleck, but Affleck gets the lighter lift. When he does go out of his comfort zone (to try speed-dating and line dancing), he makes this more than his franchise version of 鈥淛ohn Wick鈥 or any number of those Liam Neeson films.
鈥淭he Accountant 2鈥 is as predictable as overly violent films get. It doesn鈥檛 look for the grays in situations and winds up with a sense of completion once the right target is found. When that happens, all seems right in the world聽鈥 even though little that precedes the situation really makes sense.
No doubt, a third installment is ordered. This will make money but won鈥檛 explain a lick about problems politicians say are rampant.
It is, you might say, what it is.
