Ben Affleck The Accountant 2 ( Photo Credit – Instagram )
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Ben Affleck is back in the spotlight and soon on cinema screens, thanks to the South by Southwest premiere of the keenly awaited sequel The Accountant 2, set to grace theaters via Amazon MGM Studios.
Off-screen, the multihyphenate filmmaker resurfaces amid a plethora of self-contradictory rumors surrounding his romance with ex-wife Jennifer Garner, fresh off his split from Jennifer Lopez, a juncture keeping tabloids busy. On-screen, Affleck’s career shifts with this follow-up to the beloved 2016 actioner. While it has a large set of devotees, the original Accountant didn’t exactly meet expectations, something the sequel seems to have circumvented.
Co-starring Jon Bernthal, The Accountant 2’s first screenings have incited quite a stir among general audiences, especially for a film featuring Affleck as a lead. On Rotten Tomatoes, it sits at a certified “fresh” 86%, with 22 critics having taken a swing at it. Sixteen commended the film, yielding an average score of 6.5/10 — a number indicative of popcorn entertainment. The Accountant 2 stands outside the “top critics” realm for now, as giant outlets have yet to weigh in.
Over on Metacritic, The Accountant 2 rests at 60 from 11 reviews, in the yellow zone just shy of “generally favorable reviews.” For Affleck’s career as an actor, this comfortably surmounts his Batman turns in Justice League (40%) and all his other DC Extended Universe projects, as well as The Accountant (53%) itself. It falls short of his Oscar-winning Argo (96%), The Town (92%), and classics such as Chasing Amy and Gone Girl (both at 87%), but nevertheless marks one of his best solo leads yet.
For Jon Bernthal, The Accountant 2 trails his top movie Ford v Ferrari (92%), tops his MCU show The Punisher (64%), and yields a similar response to the premiere of his latest Marvel series, Daredevil: Born Again (83%).
The Accountant 2 marks the return of Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck), the titular math whiz turned underworld fixer, who is brought on board to solve a murder mystery. Wolff is joined by his estranged brother Brax (Bernthal), both festered by similar scars from their past. Director Gavin O’Connor shepherds them as they dodge crime lords, chasing cash and clues through a web of danger.
J.K. Simmons and Cynthia Addai-Robinson also reprise their roles from The Accountant, while Anna Kendrick, who also happened to attend the SXSW festival thanks to the premiere of Another Simple Favor earlier in the week, sits this one out.
The Accountant 2 is set to arrive in theaters on April 25.
