Jakarta. “The Accountant” is finally releasing its sequel after about 8 years, but the Wolff Brothers’ chemistry is hard carrying the second movie.

Filmmaker Gavin O’Connor and screenwriter Bill Dubuque are back to partnering on the American action thriller. Ben Affleck reprises his role as Christian “Chris” Wolff or the titular character, an autistic accountant who launders money for criminals. Jon Bernthal returns as The Accountant’s polar opposite, hitman brother Braxton Wolff. Other returning cast members include JK Simmons as Raymond King, the director of financial crimes of the Treasury Department, as well as Cynthia Addai-Robbinson who plays Marybeth Medina, a young Treasury agent.

The story started out with The Accountant being asked to solve King’s murder -- a pity as it meant a short screen time for the amazing JK Simmons. He later reunited with his brother Braxton to solve the mystery. What started out as a murder case led to a human trafficking ring mystery. 

You can watch “The Accountant 2” without seeing the original. Despite a seemingly generic premise, the execution of the human trafficking story in the sequel is quite messy. I got to watch “The Accountant” in a recent press screening, and I personally had a hard time following through with what actually happened, especially after it introduced cartels and smuggling into the mix. Even so, the bromance scenes gave some respite from the overly complicated plot. The deadpan humor in “The Accountant 2” was a nice touch in the action-packed film, especially on how Chris tries to get into the dating scene. 

In the acting department, Affleck and Bernthal did a great job in bringing the brotherly rivalry and chemistry into the big screen. And of course, Simmons brought his (short-lived) character to life once again.

“The Accountant 2” is now playing in Indonesian theaters.