As Willie Nelson sang, “Miracles appear in the strangest of places.” “The Accountant 2” is Gavin O’Connor’s nine-years-later sequel to his surprise box office hit. While the first film was a mostly deadly serious thriller with only a few small moments of levity, this one strangely goes for a more upbeat tone, cranking up the humor and designing itself as something of a buddy-action piece. Polar opposite in cinematic attitude and design, the path O’Connor and returning screenwriter Bill Dubuque chose to take shouldn’t have worked, but the picture defies the odds and stands as the most entertaining action thriller of the year.

2016’s “The Accountant” was well-received due to Dubuque’s tight script and O’Connor’s decision to go non-flashy in his direction. The filmmaker let the characters breathe. Ben Affleck’s autistic accountant-assassin and Anna Kendrick’s unknowing woman in danger found a good rapport and helped carry the familiar story to interesting levels through realistic conversations and intense situations. While there was certainly gunplay, the dialogue and performances were just as involved. This was a character-driven suspense movie that invested its audience in the human aspects of the screenplay, while O’Connor directed the film with the patient style of a seventies thriller. Such a film did not warrant nor need a sequel, yet money talks, and here we are.

“The Accountant 2” finds itself with broad comedic strokes and full-on, balls-out action sequences that set it far apart from the tone of its predecessor. The phrase “dumb fun” could be applied to this one, but witnessing the supreme dedication by the filmmakers and their cast, along with the massive quantities of entertainment value the picture provides, that moniker is far from an insult.

Affleck reprises his role as Christian Wolff, the autistic accountant (mostly for the criminal underworld) who moonlights as a hired killer. Where the first film dealt with Christian’s autism respectfully, this one feels mawkish and occasionally cartoonish in its depiction. Affleck still registers with a sturdy, focused performance, but it is strange how Dubuque felt the need to make such a drastic change to the previous script’s well-crafted design of the character’s affliction.

Eight years after the events of the first film, we find Ray King (a returning J.K. Simmons) now retired from being Director of the U.S. Treasury’s financial crimes bureau. On the trail of some bad people, King is murdered (not a spoiler, as it is in the trailer) outside of a bar by a team of assassins. King was there to meet with a hired killer called Anais (Daniella Pineda), who he was hiring to find a missing family believed to be in the hands of the Mexican cartels. King’s predecessor, Deputy Director Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson, back again) is on the case, trying to make sense of it all, reluctantly contacting Christian Wolff for help.

Christian reaches out his brother, Braxton (Jon Bernthal), and the two become an action movie odd couple, complete with nonstop comic banter and a few admittedly touching moments. The two leads are having fun playing off one another’s different character stylings, but it is Bernthal who steals every moment and walks away as the movie’s MVP. The actor is a powerhouse who sets the screen ablaze with an intensity and dramatic focus that has worked well in varied projects such as the powerful 2022 HBO miniseries, “We Own This City”, the under-seen 2023 stunner “Origin”, and his current success as “The Punisher”. Bernthal immerses himself in a free-flowing blast of personality that makes Braxton a fast and funny delight to watch but never loses sight of how this is a dangerous man. The combination of natural humor, ass-kicking good ol’ boy, and a sweet vulnerability complete the well-rounded performance. The fact that moments between Christian and his brother achieve a palpable tenderness is unexpectedly touching and a testament to the power of Bernthal’s skills as an actor.

As the brothers investigate further, the film’s plot unspools to include human traffickers, a killer who can’t remember their past, and another autistic child. Dubuque packs a bit too much into his story, but the film manages to entertain despite some missteps.

Many things held within the overloaded screenplay feel illogical. A series of autistic children working as a crack tech team who can break into people’s home computers and manipulate traffic signals is preposterous. They work out of the care facility where Christian was raised and have managed to create a room full of supercomputers to do their work. The entirely laughable idea feels completely out of place.

Along with Chrstian’s ridiclous appearance as a motorcyclist (complete with stylish helmet and tight leather jacket), the scene that just does not work is an opening “gag” that finds Christian coming out of his intricately constructed personal bubble to attend a public event. Lest we forget, the man is a prison escapee and a wanted fugitive. It doesn’t track how Affleck’s character tries his hand at speed dating. With everything he did regarding his life in the first film, this goes against Christian’s original design. The audience will certainly have fun with this moment, but it hinders the acceptance of the character’s arc.

Jon Bernthal in “THE ACCOUNTANT 2”

With the different storylines playing out to the film’s crackerjack action finish, the lighter tone sometimes finds itself working against the darker parts of the screenplay. One minute, we have silly banter, while the next, we are dealing with children being trafficked. O’Connor can’t find a level path for the film’s many side stories, but his committed direction and expertly designed action sequences smooth out the bumps in Dubuque’s script. The final rescue mission concludes in a doozy of a desert shootout that will induce cheers from the auditoriums.

Does this sequel want to be a Rambo-esque action movie, a serious thriller, or a study of two very different brothers in a violent world? The film isn’t quite sure where its focus lies and crams it all in searching for a cohesive structure. While not as focused as the first, this one is a lot more fun. If one can accept the flaws and tonal changes, audiences will find themselves having a blast of a good time.

With humor, heart, and guns ablazing, “The Accountant 2” is a slightly askew sequel, but a firecracker of an action thriller.