‘Loopy’ action thriller lands on Amazon Prime with viewers cancelling weekend plans to watch

Ben Affleck’s new action flick has fans staying at home to watch (Picture: Amazon Prime Video)

A new action thriller film has already landed on Amazon Prime Video despite its UK cinema release date only coming two months ago.

The Accountant 2, starring Ben Affleck, is a sequel to the 2016 action film The Accountant, which also starred Ben in the lead role of Christian Wolff.

Following the story of autistic accountant Christian, The Accountant followed Ben’s character as he secretly reworked accounts for international criminal organisations.

It received a mixed response from critics, and has a 53% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but has developed a cult following in the nine years since its release.

And while it was made on a budget of $44million (£32.5m), the film – directed by Gavin O’Connor – made back $155m (£115m) at the global box office.

Starring Anna Kendrick too, The Accountant was popular with viewers, and a sequel was greenlit by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer after years of development.

The Accountant original was released in 2016 (Picture: Amazon Prime Video)

Directed again by Gavin O’Connor, The Accountant 2 saw Ben Affleck reprise his role and starred opposite Jon Bernthal, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, and JK Simmons once more.

The sequel sees Christian drawn back into the criminal underworld after a mutual acquaintance is killed, uncovering a deadly conspiracy along the way.

Critics were much kinder to it upon release earlier this year, with the film currently boasting a solid 72% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on more than 200 reviews.

Ben and Jon’s on-screen chemistry as brothers has been praised (Picture: Amazon Prime Video)

Fans are super keen too, with the audience rating sat at 92%, which is a marked improvement upon the 77% audience rating from the first film.

On X, user @4P1HT commented: ‘The Accountant 2 is a solid action entertainer. It also gets unexpectedly quite intense in some places.’

@PlanetReview concurred: ‘The film is a fun buddy comedy. It’s proof that a movie doesn’t have to be deep to have a good time at the movies, and that’s perfectly fine!

‘The action is fun too. The characters are funny. However, the chemistry between leads Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal is as charming as it is electric.’

The first film was an unexpected box office hit (Picture: Marcus Ingram/Getty)

Variety film critic Owen Gleiberman referred to The Accountant 2 as ‘agreeably loopy’ and described it as a ‘hyperviolent good time’.

@UcheKL said ‘Jon Bernthal and Ben Affleck have amazing screen chemistry,’ while @HeyKayKay described ‘the brother chemistry’ as ‘top notch’.

@HayKayKay also argued: ‘Wait. I thought [The Accountant 2] was even better than the first one and so heartfelt. Like, I’m over here crying.’

@MarkOwenH raved: ‘The Accountant 2 was not good… it was excellent. Normally the second installment is mailed into the viewer. Not in this case. Well done gentlepeople. Well done indeed.’

And @RobertPalacios2 said: ‘I enjoyed The Accountant 2 even more on a second viewing. Affleck and Bernthal are a great pairing.’

While The Accountant 2 has gone over better with fans and critics, its box office figures didn’t quite match up, with the film making back just $101m (£74.5m) against a budget of $80m (£59m).

The Accountant 2 is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.

Got a story?

If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.