Get ready for brutal fights all around and more intense action in “The Accountant 2,” sequel to the hit 2016 film “The Accountant,” starring Ben Affleck.
“The shooting style of this sequel is quite distinct from the previous film,” says director of photography Seamus McGarvey, who also worked on the first film. “The difference is the action sequences, which have a kind of mayhem. That was exciting to play with.”
In planning and executing one of the film’s biggest action sequences, a climactic gun battle, director Gavin O’Connor, Affleck (Christian Wolff) and Jon Bernthal (Brax) benefited from the expertise of tactical advisor Tyler Grey, an Army veteran who served in the elite Delta Force.
Affleck affirms, “One of the paradoxical things we learned was that slow is fast. In other words, you do a thing deliberately and with care and learn how to do it well, over and over again, and that will actually create speed and efficiency versus trying to rush. They call it kinetic action, and for people who have studied this, it has a logic. It lends itself to feeling more tense when it feels more real.”
“This is the kind of action sequence that I love being part of because there’s a ticking clock the entire time,” Bernthal states. “Fern [Fernando ‘Fern’ Funan Chien] is one of my favorite stunt coordinators… We had the utmost commitment to safety on the set, but it was also badass and we really went for it. And we had Gavin’s eyes on us at all times, making sure things didn’t look too slick or choreographed. I would work with these guys on anything, anytime. They’re family to me.”
Action on “The Accountant 2” was not exclusive to the men. Returning character Marybeth Medina and mysterious newcomer Anaĩs engage in a life-or-death, hand-to-hand fight that required months of training and preparation for Cynthia Addai-Robinson (Marybeth) and Daniella Pineda (Anaĩs).
The actresses were taught the martial arts discipline Muay Thai. Pineda remarks, “Training for this movie was super challenging but very rewarding. I’ve done other forms of martial arts and I’ve definitely done stunts and fight choreography, but nothing quite like this. I think it really drives home how ruthless this woman is.”
“Doing any fight scene does require a lot of trust between the actors,” Addai-Robinson adds. “You want it to be something that as punches land, the audience has a visceral response. You know you’ve done a solid job when it seamlessly fits into the story.”
As exciting as all that is, the film offers more than action. “‘The Accountant 2’ has a lot of action, but it’s not just an action film,” says director O’Conner. “There is drama, humor, fun, love, and the search for human connection. For me, it checks all the boxes and hopefully makes you feel something, which is something I am always trying to do when I make movies.”
In “The Accountant 2,” Christian Wolff (Affleck) has a talent for solving complex problems. When an old acquaintance is murdered, leaving behind a cryptic message to “find the accountant,” Wolff is compelled to solve the case. Realizing more extreme measures are necessary, Wolff recruits his estranged and highly lethal brother, Brax (Bernthal), to help. In partnership with U.S. Treasury Deputy Director Marybeth Medina (Addai-Robinson), they uncover a deadly conspiracy, becoming targets of a ruthless network of killers who will stop at nothing to keep their secrets buried.
Find the accountant when “The Accountant 2” opens only in cinemas Friday, April 25. #Accountant2