Ben Affleck’s 2016 action film The accountant has a surprisingly large cult following. Despite somewhat mediocre performance at the box officeFans of the film (including Affleck himself) have been hoping for a sequel for years, and now it finally appears to be happening. Amazon MGM and Artists Equity, Affleck’s production company, have acquired the rights to the series from Warner Bros. and continue with The accountant 2, the companies announced on Thursday.
While the announcement didn’t provide many details about the sequel, we do know that most of the original cast will be returning. Affleck will return in the title role, alongside Jon Bernthal, JK Simmons and Cynthia Addai-Robinson. The film is once again directed by Gavin O’Connor (Warrior) and written by Bill Dubuque (Ozark).
It’s great news, because The accountant regulations. It’s a downright ridiculous action movie that uses tax documents to fuel 007-level espionage and violence. The film stars Ben Affleck as an accountant, a pencil pusher who has turned his genius math skills into an empire, mainly by working with criminal organizations to make sure their books look good when the FBI comes knocking. Of course, one day this all goes wrong and everyone is hot on his trail. This is where the accountant’s other skills come into play: he’s damn good with a gun.
If all male film roles can be broken down into Matt Damon roles (nerdy, unassuming, studious but alarmingly competent) or Ben Affleck roles (sassy, smart but would definitely still bully a nerd, smoother than you’d expect), then the main character of The accountant is definitely a Damon role. That’s exactly what makes casting Ben Affleck so fun.
Image: Warner Bros/Everett Collection
The accountant’s name is Christian Wolff – yes, it’s a metaphor, of course – and he’s good with numbers. As previously mentioned, he’s also very good with guns, his fists, and basically any conventional means of death and destruction we can think of. Just as James Bond and Ethan Hunt often surprise their enemies with their intellect, Wolff surprises them with his violence. But this is what makes casting Affleck such a fun choice. The boring version of the role would make him a demure nerd whose skill at violence is unexpected. Instead, Affleck spends most of the film looking like he’d rather break a computer than use one.
But despite playing opposite his usual on-screen persona, Affleck seems completely comfortable portraying Christian’s intellect. He delivers the character’s explanations of various plots and plans with winning confidence (and usually without the charm that made him famous), trading this for a stiff formality that better suits the character.
Image: Warner Bros/Everett Collection
But The accountant has more to offer than just Affleck. The rest of the film is full of people you always love to see in a movie, like JK Simmons, Anna Kendrick, John Lithgow, Jean Smart and Jon Bernthal. It’s an all-star cast of “oh shit, I forgot they were in this” which is part of what has made it a hallmark of cable channels since its release in 2016.
Even more than the stacked cast, which makes The accountant singing is the surprisingly great action. The film is filled to the brim with fantastic gunfights, fistfights, and brawls, mostly handled by second-unit director Sam Hargrave, who would direct both films in Chris Hemsworth’s brutal Extraction series. But even beyond the action, director O’Connor manages to make the violence of the movie world feel like it infects every scene, adding a thrilling tension to the numbers that make embezzlement and tax evasion just as thrilling as it dodging bullets.
The accountantThe film’s sequel may not be out for a few years, but it’s nice to know it’s on its way. More importantly, it’s exciting that the project is in Affleck’s very capable and enthusiastic hands. The good news is that while we wait for the sequel to arrive, the original is still great and is always fun to rewatch.
The accountant is streaming on Apple TV Plus and is also available for digital rental/purchase on Amazon, Apple TV and Google Play.