Ben Affleck’s ‘logic-free’ Hollywood return in The Accountant 2

In the aftermath of his high-profile divorce from Jennifer Lopez, Ben Affleck makes his return to the big screen in The Accountant 2.

If Ben Affleck’s unexpected sequel The Accountant 2 and the ultra-realistic Warfare get pulses racing, then the charming The Penguin Lessons it the perfect antidote

THE ACCOUNTANT 2 (MA15+)

Director: Gavin O’Connor (The Accountant)

Starring: Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal, Daniella Pineda.

Stepping off the ledger a second time

Just like a problematic tax return, the filing of The Accountant 2 into cinemas is a marked case of better late than never at all.

If you happened to catch the original The Accountant back in 2016, chances are you had a guilty-pleasure good time witnessing the antics of Ben Affleck’s unlikely he-man hero Christian Wolff.

This seemingly mild-mannered dude was an on-the-spectrum, off-the-books money launderer with a sideline in crunching crooks to a pulp as if they were numbers on a page.

Nothing much has changed in The Accountant 2, character-wise at least. Christian is still washing cash in the US and hanging it out to dry on a globe-spanning set of offshore clotheslines for his high-paying, low-life clientele.

Ben Affleck attends the New York screening of The Accountant 2. Picture: Getty Images

With his The Accountant 2 co-star Jon Bernthal, left. Picture: Getty Images

However, where this undeniably enjoyable sequel differs from its predecessor is in its open intent to prioritise entertainment over excitement.

Most action movies these days go the other way, which often strip their contents of personality and warmth.

It comes as a welcome surprise to discover The Accountant 2 is blessed with the knack for getting on our good side, and remaining there.

Affleck and Bernthal’s easy banter lifts the belated action sequel.

The reason why is easy to identify. The focus is no longer on playing up Christian as a solo act: this time around he is working in tandem with his long-lost brother Braxton (a scene-stealingly silly Jon Bernthal).

This strangely supersensitive contract killer was only a passing presence in the first movie. The decision to have him sticking around for the bulk of the sequel is a consistently winning one, largely because the bro-mantic banter of Christian and Braxton is so well delivered by Affleck and Bernthal.

As for the matter that causes the siblings to form a dynamic duo, well, that’s where the logic-free largesse of the original The Accountant remains firmly in place.

The pair have been secretly commissioned by a federal agency to identify and sever the links between the murder of a former sparring partner of Christian (a brief returning cameo by J. K. Simmons), a missing-person cold case, a child-trafficking ring and, umm, the sudden emergence of a hit woman (Daniella Pineda) that would have John Wick quaking in his boots.

The Accountant 2 is in cinemas now.

Will Poulter in the scarily realistic Warfare.

WARFARE (MA15+)

General release.

You won’t be finding a more accurate title at the pictures this year, that’s for sure. All you will be seeing is a single, sustained burst of warfare – staged largely in real time – as it happened during a Navy SEAL mission in Iraq in 2006.

The choices facing the thirteen young men navigating the 90 minutes chronicled here are as stark as it gets: to die a hero, or live to see another day. Director Alex Garland and regular collaborator Ray Mendoza (who worked together on last year’s astonishing Civil War) have placed a punishing premium on absolute authenticity throughout, so saying Warfare is hard to watch is a massive understatement.

Where a majority of war movies leave themselves open to accusations of celebrating combat, Warfare merely corroborates it.

These are the facts, and communicating the terrifying reality of each detail is all that matters to the filmmakers. Plotting is minimal. The soldiers of Team Alpha One are using a multistorey Iraqi house to monitor suspicious activity at a street market.

While the civilians who live there huddle on the ground floor, a grenade explodes, followed later by even more devastation via an IED. Though the SEALs’ HQ is aware of the situation, help is going to take some time to arrive. Injuries are substantial. Confusion is constant. Every next move must be the right one, or it is all over.

Though it is almost impossible to urge people to drop everything to see Warfare, the searing simplicity and graphic honesty of the experience can only be commended highly. Stars Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Joseph Quinn.

Steve Coogan is a standout in the charming The Penguin Lessons.

THE PENGUIN LESSONS (M)

General release.

If you’re feeling you may need to head in an opposite direction way from the bustle and muscle of The Accountant 2 or the relentless harsh realities dispensed by Warfare, then here is the way to go.

This utterly charming blend of light comedy and even lighter drama offers a delightful variation on a familiar cinematic formula: the jaded schoolteacher rediscovering purpose in their craft from an unlikely source of inspiration.

In this case, British educator Tom Michell (expertly played by Steve Coogan) finds his teaching turbocharged by the accidental acquisition of a pet penguin.

Going by the name of Juan Salvador, this irresistibly charismatic little bird goes from surviving a gruesome oil spill to becoming the star attraction of Tom’s English class at an elite boys’ school in Argentina.

The mid-1970s setting of this tale provides some serious substance to proceedings, as Tom’s renewed enthusiasm for his work also opens his eyes to the dangerous influence of the military dictatorship ruling Argentina back then. Co-stars Jonathan Pryce.

Originally published as Ben Affleck’s ‘logic-free’ Hollywood return in The Accountant 2