A Look Back at The Accountant (2016)

 

With the sequel arriving soon, it's time to do what I usual do in this cases. Review what came before.

The Accountant is an action-thriller that was produced by Electric City Entertainment, RatPac-Dune Entertainment, and Zero Gravity Management and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It's written by Bill Dubuque and directed by Gavin O'Connor.

The story is, an autistic man who goes by the alias Christian Wolff acts as a forensic accountant for criminal organizations where he "un-cooks" their financial records to uncover thefts. Because of these actions, the Treasury Department is hot on his heels and must find ways to avoid being captured. Just to make matters more intense, he's uncovered an embezzlement scheme where the ones behind it want him dead.

• Negatives

I've got nothing.

• Mix

One aspect that could've used some work was the pacing. Some moments do pick up a little bit but for the most part this movie can be slow in a lot of areas. This is a 2 hours and 8 minutes and there are times you come very close to feeling that runtime.

Then there's character development. Now Christian himself is pretty good. We learn a lot about him, as for the rest that's where the slight issue comes in. Some are okay nothing that really bothered me, but others are very underdeveloped. Those were the characters that were just there to move the plot forward and nothing else.

• Positives

First bit goes to the premise. I was very much interested in how Christian works, what his world is like, and everything in between. You knew you could make an accountant a badass? It was a very fresh take for the action genre.

Then there's the growing tension. Throughout the plot you'll be left anxiously waiting for everything to come together in a big explosive way. From the embezzlement mystery to the government investigation of trying to find Wolff. It keeps you engaged from beginning to middle to end.

My next bit of praise goes to the action. The action perfectly showcases Christian's skill set and showed just how lethal he is. It's fun, well-choreographed, and intense, all backed up by Ben Affleck's very surprising physicality. Which made me really wish we had that solo Batman film of his. #MakeTheBatfleckMovie 😉😆

The last praise goes to Ben Affleck's performance. He is fantastic. He displays a strong but quiet character. He delivers the dialogue perfectly and I found it really shined when he was showing Christian's awkward side when the character is trying desperately to connect with other people. Ben was also doing great with facial expressions. The best example of those expressions is when he has a sensory overload and his eyes are intense and is jaw tightly clenched, a great way of showing distress without being over the top. And like I said before, he does a spectacular job with the action scenes. Both in martial arts and gunplay.

There are issues with The Accountant but, there's still a lot to like about the movie.

My final rating is, Good.

That's all for today. Come back on Saturday, April 26th, for the newest Netflix movie, Havoc. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.