THE ACCOUNTANT 2 : SEQUEL HONOURS

BACK in 2016 - when The Accountant came out, I quietly pondered the near super heroic nature of autistic people in Hollywood movies : on the spectrum, cinema showed them with skills that far surpassed everyday folks, which conmen and family want to exploit [ eg Rainman ].

In the first film, Ben Affleck plays Christian Wolff, an autistic accountant who audits for some of the most dangerous criminals in the world, and kills when in peril. Why, one wonders, can a film not be about an unspectacular person?

This ''why'' has a simple reply, especially when it comes to action movies : the heroics - and the uniqueness - needs a spectacular approach.

Unspectacular never sells, even in drama films. However, sensitive, unflashy filmmakers such as director Gavin O'Connor [ 2011's  Warrior and 2015's Jane Got a Gun ] do try to keep their films grounded, and that at times, makes a bit of difference ......... until the film becomes successful and a sequel comes along.

The Accountant 2, then is like other successful film's sequel : bigger, lesser in story, more pressing on familial relationships. Of the three, not one aspect is optional.

Here, Jon Bernthal, playing Braxton, Christian's estranged assassin brother, is as welcome an addition as he was in the first one.

Other returning characters, Cynthia Addai-Robinson as Medina - a treasury agent who was tasked with finding The Accountant's real identity in the last film, is now his partner in unravelling a puzzle - is fine, as is J.K. Simmons as Raymond King, the former director of the treasury department's financial crimes network.

As with most returning characters, one doesn't need to point out that the old good guy often becomes the reason to bring our heroes into action.

King [ as shown in the trailers ] is assassinated after seeking aid from Anai's [ Daniella Pineda ], an enigmatic assassin, to locate a Salvadoran family he pursued via a decades-old photo.

His protege, current FinCEN director Medina, discovers '' find the accountant '' scrawled on his dead body [ also shown in the trailers ], propelling her to enlist Christian, despite reservation about his elicit ties.

As one can guess, most of the story is a set-up for a sequence of connected unimaginative plot-points.

It needs no saying that the film belongs to Affleck and Bernthal, their chemistry keeps the routine nature of the film at bay - for as long as humanly possible.

O'Connor and returning screenwriter Bill Dubuque are also commendable for not blowing this sequel out of proportion.

Given that a third part is under development, this may not be the case a few years down the line.

The World Students Society thanks Mohammed Kamran Jawaid.