The Accountant 2 - Review: Revenge of the Nerd

 

Somewhere back in 2017, some person sitting in a plush office somewhere in Hollywood looked at the fact that the 2016 action thriller “The Accountant” made $150 million worldwide and said, “we need a sequel to that.” So now, fast forward almost a decade after the first film’s release and we have the creatively titled “The Accountant 2,” which retains the same director, same writer, and same cast.

The film follows Christian Wolff, played by Ben Affleck (“Good Will Hunting,” “Gone Girl”), an autistic accountant and money launderer who effectively “uncooks” the books for major criminal organizations and drug traffickers, occasionally sending tips and information to his connection at the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, director Marybeth Medina, played by Cynthia Addai-Robinson (“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” “Shooter”). After the death of the previous director while investigating a missing mother and son, Medina seeks out Wolff and his estranged contract killer brother Braxton, played by Jon Bernthal (“The Punisher,” “The Walking Dead”), to help find the mother and son.

Director Gavin O’Connor (“Miracle,” “Warrior”) and writer Bill Dubuque (“Ozark,” “The Judge”) absolutely do not reinvent the wheel here, with either their own franchise or this specific thriller genre fare. It sticks to the building blocks of everything you’d expect from the genre, only marginally breaking out of those elements due to Wolff’s network and autism. Affleck plays the character well, turning out a charming performance that works best when he’s opposite Bernthal at any point in the film. The pair have an almost “Odd Couple” kind of chemistry, and the numerous moments where they’re just existing and spending time as brothers are the best moments of the film by a wide margin. Addai-Robinson is also great when she’s opposite Affleck and Bernthal, working as the straight man to their more chaotic, borderline silly behavior. But when she’s separated from them, her character just becomes far more generic and uninteresting.

The same can also be said for the film’s action sequences. While the film is actually fairly action light, saving these moments for the third act and focusing far more on espionage for the rest of the film, they don’t have any sort of impact. They’re shot well enough, and they certainly have a good energy to them as we watch Wolff and Braxton fly off the handle. But they’re simply just the least interesting part of the entire film. Thankfully though, they do buck the trend of recent action films given that they’re actually shot during the day and are completely visible as a result. An out of left field highlight is the film’s musical score, composed by Bryce Dessner (“Sing Sing,” “We Live in Time”), which cuts through much of the film and stands out as a far more reserved piece than most other thriller films get, and it's refreshing as a result.

It feels weird to say but the best parts of this action-thriller-sequel are the parts that don’t focus on the action or the thrills. Watching Wolff’s pseudo-CSI hacking squad made up of autistic kids from his former orphanage break into databases while they banter with him is extremely charming, and the most memorable parts of the film are when it sheds any notion of being this kind of film. A sequence in a cowboy-themed bar in the middle of the film involving square dancing with Bernthal and Affleck is without a doubt the best part of the film, not only because it leans heavily into their brotherly banter, but also because it just simply commits to the film and its concept’s B-movie level charms.

“The Accountant 2” is certainly not a masterpiece, nor is it a secret gem of memorable genre filmmaking. Rather, it's the kind of odd sequel that’s better than its predecessor because it doesn’t seem to care about being the kind of film it is. Affleck and Bernthal carry the film together, and almost any aspect not focusing on action manages to be effortlessly charming and borderline silly. It’s definitely better than the first film, and while it’s hard to say whether or not the film wants you to be smiling and laughing at it or with it, you’ll be smiling nevertheless. 3.5/5

The Wedding Banquet (2025) - Review: Queerly Beloved, We Are Remade Here Today...

 

Even in the realm of indie films, remakes are becoming more and more common. But that doesn’t mean they have no reason to exist. Case in point, director/co-writer Andrew Ahn (“Driveways,” “Fire Island”) and co-writer James Schamus (“Eat Drink Man Woman,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”) have updated Schamus and Ang Lee’s original 90s indie romance for a more modern queer era. The result is a film that feels less like a remake and more like a film taking the bones of a previous work and crafting something of its own.

Angela Chen, played by Kelly Marie Tran (“Raya and the Last Dragon,” “Star Wars: The Last Jedi”), and her partner Lee, played by Lily Gladstone (“Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Under the Bridge”), share a house in Seattle with their two best friends and fellow couple Chris, played by Bowen Yang (“Fire Island,” “Wicked”), and Min, played by Han Gi-han (“Where Your Eyes Linger,” “Dare to Love Me”). After Min learns that his student visa is expiring and he must return to Korea to run his family’s company or risk being financially cut off, he devises a plan: a wedding between himself and Angela to both secure a green care for himself and trick his grandmother Ja Young, played by Youn Yuh-ung (“Minari,” “Pachinko”), in exchange for paying for in vitro fertilization for Lee to have a baby.

Ahn’s direction is one of the film’s biggest strengths, as his ability to simply allow his actors to slowly simmer and boil over is put to great use here. The same borderline catty behavior that worked to incite conflict in his previous work “Fire Island” works wonders here, as the main quartet seems to revel in simply being messy, complicated people. Gladstone is a particularly goofy highlight, showcasing her expected dramatic skills with flourishes of a yet unseen comedic ability. Tran is much the same, and she and Yang are an exceptionally fun and extremely messy pairing that lights up the screen at every turn. Meanwhile, Gi-han is the heart of the entire film, managing to pull off a remarkably effective dramatic turn even as he consistently turns out the silliest, and borderline childish, performance of the film. Yuh-ung is also a powerfully understated performer here, and the film lets her play outside of her expected role in ways not spoiled here.

Schamus and Ahn make the most of this remake material by expanding the previous film’s plot instead of simply rehashing it. By introducing a second couple into the fray, it expands the material to encompass and embrace more of its queer identity and therefore makes for a more interesting film as a result. By the time it's over, the titular wedding is hardly a real focus, and it's not hard to see this film existing with a different title as its own wholly original work. The film seems almost determined to present itself exactly like you’d expect from a rom com like this and then immediately turn itself into something completely different.

If there are any disappointments, it's that despite being shot by Ki Jin Kim (“Driveways,” “Holy Emy”), whom Ahn has worked with before, it's a fairly plain looking film. It never showcases the beauty of Seattle like “Fire Island” did for its central location, resulting in a film that, for as charming as its cast is, lacks a strong visual identity. What it doesn’t lack is a great musical score from composer Jay Wadley (“i’m thinking of ending things,” “Fire Island”) which, coupled with some fun needle drops, helps make up for the film’s plain visual stylings.

A remake of “The Wedding Banquet” might not seem necessary, especially given where this film divulges from the original, but Andrew Ahn and James Schamus take plenty of steps to separate this film from the original in ways that matter. It’s cast is excellent and endlessly charming, and the film takes pride in allowing each character to be complicated and messy. It results in a film that stretches a bit further outside the bounds of what a film like this would initially be expected to be, and its a charming tale as a result. 4/5

Sinners - Review: A Bloody, Musical, Spiritual, Horror Action Masterpiece

 

From humble indie beginnings way back in 2013, Ryan Coogler (“Black Panther,” “Creed”) has absolutely made a name for himself in the realm of modern filmmaking. From bringing the Rocky franchise back to glory to making global household names of T’Challa and Chadwick Boseman, he’s made quite the impact in just over a decade of filmmaking. Now his latest film, which reteams him with his longtime collaborator Michael B. Jordan (“Black Panther,” “Creed”), has him working within the horror genre, making a period piece, shooting it with IMAX film cameras, and writing his own original tale for the first time in his career. A tale of “Sinners.”

Set in Mississippi in the 1930s, the film follows the identical “Smokestack” twins Elijah “Smoke” Moore and Elias “Stack” Mo0ore, both played by Jordan, as they return to their hometown to open their own juke joint bar with the help of their musician cousin Sammie, played by Miles Caton in his film debut, Smoke’s estranged wife Annie, played by Wunmi Mosaku (“Lovecraft Country,” “His House”), piano player Delta Slim, played by Delory Lindo (“Malcom X,” “Da 5 Bloods”), singer Pearline, played by Jayme Lawson (“Till,” “How to Blow Up a Pipeline”), local general store owners Grace and Bo Chow, played by Li Jun Li (“Wu Assassins,” “Babylon”), and Yao (“The Last Bout,” “#LookAtMe”) respectively, Elijah and Elias’s surrogate sister Mary, played by Hailee Steinfeld (“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” “True Grit (2010)”), and Cornbread, played by Omar Benson Miller (“Ballers,” “Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”) as bodyguard. Soon after opening though, they find themselves targeted by Remmick, played by Jack O'Connell (“Skins,” “Godless”), a sinister figure seeking their community for his own twisted desires. 

Jordan leads an exceptional ensemble with a pair of fascinating layered and different performances. It’s incredible to watch him act against himself, not only for how naturally he comes across, but also for the nuances and differences he’s able to imbue in these characters. For how different they are, he makes sure to emphasize their similarities to help breathe life into them. Caton is the star of the show though. In his first film role, he’s proven himself to be just as strong of a performer as the legacy actors he shares space with here. Sammie’s tale is a heartbreaking one, and he imbues him with anger and joy, a musicality of his soul that makes him light the screen up with virtually everything he does. Each and every member of the film’s cast are exceptional, from the main roles down to those who only appear for a handful of scenes. It’s virtually impossible to make a clear distinction, as Coogler manages to give each person their little moment to shine, and shine they do. 

Jun Li, Steinfeld, and Mosaku each get fantastic moments that showcases the history of their town through their simple character interactions. Mosaku is a powerhouse of stern wisdom, and Jun Li is a lively force of charm and snark. Steinfeld feels like the character with the most unsaid about her, and she brings this to bear with a performance that feels exceptionally rich as a result. Most importantly, each of the women in “Sinners” feels particular fleshed out, regardless of their screentime, a welcome change from most other major studio blockbusters. Meanwhile, O’Connell is a fascinating and frighteningly vicious antagonist. His performance as Remmick is one that entrances as well as unnerves in virtually every interaction he has on screen. 

Arguably as much of a muse as Jordan is for Coogler, composer Ludwig Göransson (“Black Panther,” “Oppenheimer”), who’s worked on all of Coogler’s previous films, pulls out all the stops for arguably his most unique and phenomenal score yet. Music is one of this film’s central building blocks, and the score mixes perfectly with Coogler’s scenic work to build numerous moments to a surrealist crescendo. The editing by Michael P. Shawver (“Fruitvale Station,” “Black Panther”) is also particularly excellent, as numerous different characters and plot threads are woven together clearly, but with panache and tension throughout.

The work from cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw (“The Last Showgirl,” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”) is nothing short of phenomenal. Numerous moments crackle and burn with her camerawork, and as the film’s tension builds, the film’s scope narrows from gorgeous wide-open vistas to claustrophobic interior shots. Her work here with Coogler is the sort of cinematography that manages to both excel in its visual beauty and also work on the film’s numerous different subtextual levels as well. It’s just a truly truly gorgeous looking film. 

Separate from its excellent pacing, visuals, and music, is the bones of this tale that Coogler has constructed so fantastically to craft a film that works as a cerebral, surrealist expressionistic piece without every sacrificing a moment of genuine fun and entertainment. It flies by and could easily be split down the middle into two equally compelling different films. Coogler not only combines the film’s genre elements with its dramatic ones, but embraces them, leaning hard into the deeper themes that make this a film that you can easily parse through for hours after watching it. Yet his skill at making films also means that even if you don’t wish to discuss it, you’ll still have an absolute blast from start to finish. Case in point, for those seeing it in IMAX, the format’s taller image means that the times when it is used are impactful as they juxtapose the rest of the film’s ultra-wide 2.76:1 aspect ratio. But he not only uses these moments for action, but to punctuate important moments within the film’s tale by slowly opening things up to its fullest view. It’s a perfect use of the highly entertaining nature of the format, while also using it for the film’s more subtextual elements. 

“Sinners” could easily be called Coogler’s best film (a non-definite statement purely due to his excellent previous works), and it shows him at his most muscular and confident. He flexes his technical and subtextual skills, and crafts a tale that allows drama and genre to exist hand in hand. With a cast that excels, including shockingly standout performances from Miles Caton and Michael B. Jordan, a musical score that is downright ethereal, and a handle on his own original material that would make other seasoned directors jealous, he’s delivered one of the best theatrical experiences in years and the first true must see movie of 2025. 5/5

Drop - Review: A Deadly Date Night Gone Digital

There’s something to be said for a reliable formula, and arguably no one in Hollywood knows that better than Blumhouse, the premiere makers of modern, reliable, low-budget horror fare. Over the past few years, one of their most reliable hitmakers has been Christopher Landon (“Happy Death Day,” “Freaky”), a director/writer who’s made a name more recently thanks to his campier, more comedic horror fare. Now, his latest film leans more into suspense and less into humor than any of his previous works, the simply titled “Drop.”

The film follows recently widowed single mother and therapist Violet Gates, played by Meghann Fahy (“The Bold Type,” “The White Lotus”), going on her first date since her husband’s death. After matching with Henry, played by Brandon Sklenar (“1923,” “It Ends with Us”), and leaving her sister Jen, played by Violett Beane (“Truth or Dare,” “Death and Other Details”), to watch her young son, Violet and Henry meet for a dinner date at an exclusive fancy restaurant. Shortly after arriving though, she begins receiving airdrops from an unknown party asking her to do certain things, including killing Henry, or else they will kill her sister and son.

For a fairly simple concept, Landon goes fully in on crafting the thrills in as creative a way as he can without completely reinventing the wheel. Numerous moments make excellent use of faux lighting and camera angles, purposefully playing with how things must look to Violet as opposed to being strictly “realistic.” One moment of her looking at her home security cameras has them appearing on different tiles on the wall behind her, and the film will occasionally dim or shut off the lights around her to isolate her. That, coupled with some fun Hitchockian dutch angles courtesy of cinematographer Marc Spicer (“Lights Out (2016),” “Fast & Furious 7”), makes for a presentation that's far better than the B-movie tale it's telling.

Which isn’t to say that said B-movie tale isn’t still entertaining. While a larger part of that comes from the presentation, the script from Jillian Jacobs (“Fantasy Island,” “Truth or Dare”) and Chris Roach (“Fantasy Island,” “Truth or Dare”) does its basic job in setting things up and getting you invested in the thrills Violet is subjected to. There’s just enough mystery and intrigue to keep things puttering along, and the central performances from Fahy and Sklenar both make for a compelling duo. The rest of the cast all fill their spots admirably, with none really amounting to anything more than pawns put in specific places for this kind of a “who-is-doing-it” whodunit.

At a brisk 95 minutes with credits, “Drop” doesn’t overstay its welcome. The performances from Fahy and Sklenar keep things brisk, and the pacing never drags. While things get a bit over-the-top in the last ten or so minutes, what’s here works on a very basic level. It’s the sort of movie that just feels like something that used to come out all the time back in the early 2000s. For anyone who’s seen the early 2000s Wes Craven film “Red Eye,” there are a few similarities here, in both construction and concept. That’s not a bad thing though, as plenty of horror or thriller films often overstay their welcome. Here, Landon gets you in and out in a timely and fun manner.

“Drop” is a perfect example of a film telling a B-movie tale with the flourishes of something next level. Its two leads are great, and the central idea provides enough twists and turns to keep things entertaining the whole way through. If there was a less skilled person in the director’s chair, it's not hard to imagine it being far more forgettable. With Landon, it’s a great little deadly date-movie treat. 3.5/5

A Minecraft Movie - Review: The Biggest Block-Buster of the Year

 

A lack of limitations can be the bastion of the most talented filmmakers and also an anchor that drags them down in a sea of endless opportunities. After all, we got an Academy Award winning billion-dollar film out of “Barbie.” So, it stands to reason that Any filmmaker would leap at the opportunity to make a movie with material as limitless as a game known for having zero limits. The other edge of that double edged sword is also likely the reason that development on a “Minecraft” movie started over a decade ago and passed through numerous writers, directors, and producers before arriving with Director Jared Hess (“Napoleon Dynamite,” “Nacho Libre”) and writers Allison Schroeder (“Hidden Figures,” “Christopher Robin”), Chris Bowman (“Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life,” “Masterminds”), Hubbel Palmer (“Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life,” “Masterminds”), Neil Widener, Gavin James, and Chris Galletta (“The Kings of Summer”). After years of waiting, we finally have “A Minecraft Movie.” 

The film follows a quartet of misfits; Garrett "The Garbage Man" Garrison, a washed-up former video game champion played by Jason Momoa (“Aquaman,” “Fast X”), Henry and Natalia, two siblings moving to a new town after the death of their mother, played by Sebastian Hansen and Emma Myers (“Wednesday (2022),” “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder”) respectively, and Dawn, a real-estate agent/traveling zookeeper played by Danielle Brooks (“Orange is the New Black,” “Peacemaker”). After Henry discovers the Orb of Dominance, the four are teleported to the Overworld, a vast world made entirely of cubic landscapes and wildlife. The evil Malgosha, voiced by Rachel House (“Moana,” “Soul”), seeks the Orb of Dominance so she can rule the Overworld, and the group are helped by legendary crafter Steve, played by Jack Black (“School of Rock,” “Kung Fu Panda”), to return home and keep the orb from her. 

First and foremost, “A Minecraft Movie” is a class clown. This is a film that exists almost entirely to entertain and to make you laugh. If you’ve seen any of Hess’s previous films and their sense of humor just didn’t gel with you, “Minecraft” is no different. While things are paired down a bit, there’s still a good amount of tater tots, weird animals, loud screams, and random short songs. It can make for a charming experience as it all just washes over you, and certainly doesn’t feel like the hyper-processed, focus-tested-to-death blockbusters we can get out of big studios nowadays. This is a film that certainly has its own identity, for better or worse. 

Black and Momoa are the stars here and completely run away with Hess’s comedic sensibilities. Black is at his Jack-Black-iest, and cranks things up to eleven as the film progresses. Momoa likewise plays Garrett as an overgrown man-child and the two of them frequently feel like they’re simply there as vehicles for jokes. Hansen and Myers get the closest thing to an emotional arc that the film wants to build, and it's fine enough. Their sibling bond is typical family film fare, and they execute it well. Hansen actually impresses most from the entire cast, simply due to how new he is at leading this kind of a movie and fitting snuggly into the everyman (or everykid) role he’s presented with. Brooks, like Black and Momoa, is simply a vessel for jokes, but the film sidelines her and Myers for a significant chunk, further preventing them from leaving any kind of impression. House gives an inspired vocal performance as Malgosha, and the supporting voice/live action cast rounds consists of a lot of character actors who’re here for a few minutes of fun before disappearing. There’s barely any character development for anyone here, and while it can easily be argued that it’s completely unnecessary for a film like this, it does mean that none of the characters have any sort of staying power of memorability. You’re likely to remember plenty of the jokes and not the characters or circumstances that set them up. 

Despite plenty of criticisms of early trailers and promotional material, the film’s visuals and production design are exceptionally impressive. It pops with color and light, with the physical props and sets making an excellent impression. Apart from a handful of bad green screen moments, it's a visually sumptuous film, without breaking out of its blocky constraints. It’s the kind of film that feels like you can just reach out and touch it and surprisingly doesn’t find itself bogged down in an overuse of digital backgrounds and sets. It really is impressive how many of these locations were physically built and how excellent they look. Given how iconic the game’s music is, the score from Mark Mothersbaugh (“The LEGO Movie,” “The Rugrats Movie”) does a great job of blending the game’s themes with a grander, more “blockbuster” movie score. It certainly won’t replace the game’s music but it's a worthy interpretation, nevertheless. 

So, it's a big studio comedy with a weird sense of humor and a grand sense of visual panache. Where’s the rub? Well, it all comes back to the script and overall story from its six credited writers. In attempting to craft an original story to fit into the blocky constraints of the “Minecraft” world, they’ve instead crafted a tale that is anything but original. It’s a hodgepodge of everything from “Lord of the Rings” to “The LEGO Movie” to “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” to even “Napoleon Dynamite.” It’s the sort of film that celebrates creativity in its individual moments and overall message, but it’s constructed of the most conventional pieces and parts one could imagine. This then leads to the sense of humor being used as a crutch rather than as a supplement, which means that even those who are fans of Hess’s sense of wackiness and how much Black and Momoa are embracing the weird will just be numb by the end of things. If everything is weird and wacky, then eventually that becomes the norm, and nothing feels weird and wacky anymore. 

“A Minecraft Movie” is a class clown of a film from start to finish. The biggest caveat is that it starts as a class clown in middle school, and ends as a class clown in college, without anything ever changing. Black and Momoa lead a pretty game cast and it's certainly a gorgeous movie in its own way. This is the sort of film that is easily embraceable if you just hop on its wavelength and sense of humor and go along for the ride. But it's hard to imagine anyone not being exhausted by the time that ride ends, especially when the stuff that’s supposed to supplement it is so woefully underwhelming. 2.5/5 

A Nice Indian Boy - Review: The Bigness of Love

In the long tradition of rom-coms, the butting of the familial heads is one of the most classic fuels for tension and comedic strife. Doubly so when culture clashes are added to the fair. This is all to say that Roshan Sethi’s (“The Resident,” “World's Best”) latest film “A Good Indian Boy” has everything stacked in its favor, even down to a title that becomes a joke in itself as the film progresses. Luckily, this is one of the few modern rom-coms that not only doesn’t waste its premise, it manages to be the shining example of the best the genre has to offer.

Naveen, played by Karan Soni (“Deadpool 2,” “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse"), is a doctor, a good son, and accepted as an openly gay man by the rest of his traditional Indian family. However, shortly after his sister Arundhati’s, played by Sunita Mani (“G.L.O.W.,” “Scavengers Reign”), wedding, he meets his own nice Indian boy. The catch is that while Jay Kurundkar, played by Jonathan Groff (“Mindhunter,” “Frozen”), is a nice, devout Indian man, he’s also adopted and white. But the pair are quickly smitten, leading to Naveen trying to figure out how to introduce him to his parents Megha and Archit, played by Zarna Garg and Harish Patel (“Eternals,” “Four Weddings and a Funeral (2019)”), respectively.

Soni and Groff have perfect chemistry. The amount of laughs and charm that screenwriter Eric Randall (“Elsbeth,” “In the Dark”) is able to mine from the pair of them is seemingly endless. They manage to effectively bring you into their relationship and make everything feel genuine without sacrificing the humor of it all. Soni in particular gets to really showcase his talents, taking the center stage spotlight that works his awkward charms to maximum effectiveness. Groff’s decades of stage experience are put to great work here, letting him play the more outlandish of the pair, yet still having one foot grounded in the realism of his own arc. It’s silly without becoming parodic. Garg and Patel make for the perfect parents, bickering and complimenting each others banter throughout, but the surprise standout is Mani. She lights up the screen on any appearance, and her scenes with Soni have a very authentic sibling nature that makes them a joy to watch together.

The atmosphere of the film is that of a classic romance film, with plenty of conversations down city streets and awkward dinnertime conversations, but cinematographer Amy Vincent (“Hustle & Flow,” “Sinister 2”) keeps things looking beautiful. It all honestly looks far better than one would expect given its small budget, with gorgeous colors and wedding shots throughout its runtime. The musical score by Raashi Kulkarni (“World’s Best,” “Wedding Season”) blends the melodic strings typical of the genre with more traditional Indian instrumentations to create a lovely and lush backdrop to the film’s better than expected visual stylings. Randall’s script works best as a meshing of two different ideals for the genre: on the one hand, when he’s playing directly into what’s expected of the rom-com subgenre, it's a sweet and sugary delight. When he’s playing into the awkward “fish out of water” elements present from Jay and his interactions with Naveen’s family, it's a really funny delight as well, just a more cringy one.

Like the two families, the meshing of the elements is where the film shines the brightest and creates some of its best moments: the actors get to shine, the script gets to shine, and the entire project is at its strongest points. “A Nice Indian Boy” is short, remarkably sweet, and a near perfect example of what the genre has to offer. With a pair of charming leads, a smooth and great look, and an exceptionally funny and big-hearted script, it's a wonderful little film that virtually anyone can watch and be thoroughly entertained by. 5/5