Ben Affleck returns as killer accountant Christian Wolff in The Accountant 2 directed by Gavin O’Conner. Bill Dubuque is the screenwriter. Jon Bernthal returns as the estranged, and probably just as dangerous, brother, Braxton. Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Daniella Pineda, Robert Morgan, and Grant Harvey join in the fray. J.K. Simmons has a brief appearance in the beginning.

Christian Wollf is autistic and is high functioning in the most lethal ways. He is asked by a former ally from the first movie to help her figure out why her mentor was murdered. It doesn’t take Christian long to determine a pretty complicated human trafficking situation is going on. Another assassin named Anais is also in the game, but she has amnesia to go along with her own dangerous skill set. Christian calls upon his brother, with whom he has a troubled relationship, to bring his own deadly talents to the table. Now, the players are on the board, the hunt is on, and the Accountant is about to balance the books with a lot of firepower.

As far as sequels go, this is a better one. Affleck does pull off bringing a certain vulnerability to this character in spite of the brutality he exercises. I did find Bernthal’s performance a little too manic at times, but I did find the unconventional brotherly relationship rather interesting.

The fight scenes were pretty slick, even if they were a little fanciful. The climax of the film where the Wolff brothers just storm this compound where children were being imprisoned in Mexico was pretty cool. Some criminals just deserve the kind of brutal attention that Christian and Braxton are so good at dishing out.

The film does have its slow moments periodically, but there are some moments that are almost charming. A scene where Christian ends up line dancing with a pretty girl in a bar seems kind of odd, but it worked for me.

There were some moments where the brothers tried to connect a bit, and those moments were rather poignant.

If another film turns up, I don’t think I will roll my eyes with the same level of derision I have when these announcements are made.