The Accountant 2 is a superior sequel to its now decade-old predecessor, honing in on the franchise’s strengths in Bernthal and Affleck’s star power. Eight years after the Chicago incident in The Accountant, 2 sees Treasury Department agent Raymond King (J.K. Simmons) from the original film get gunned down in the midst of a chase. With no other options, King’s partner and fellow returning TD agent Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) must contact King’s shady autistic accountant associate, Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck), to figure out the puzzle leading to King’s death. With too many moving pieces even for Wolff to decipher, he contacts his trained contract assassin brother Braxton (Jon Bernthal), and the trio uncovers a complicated line of crimes connected to a shady cartel group involving the lives of several children—and one of the trio’s new lethal adversaries.

The Accountant 2 completely steps the game up from its predecessor. Instead of relying on the underwhelming darkness that the now decade old original tried and failed at executing, 2 leans heavily into Bernthal and Affleck’s budding star power. Whether they argue, plan, or hash things out, the pair come across as real brothers with legitimate issues between them. “Do you not miss me because of me, or because of… your condition?” a tear-jerked Brax asks Chris on top of the latter’s small mobile home, to which Chris only continues avoiding eye contact and speaking sternly. As demonstrated in the original, these brothers grew up with an abusive father who trained them to essentially be glorified hitmen. That wedge still defines their time here, especially as Brax tries desperately to show affection and loyalty to Chris with no matched response. It’s both painful and relatable, and the most robust component of this long-awaited sequel. The pair is also hilarious together, especially when off duty, making Accountant 2 twice as consistently hilarious as the original.

While the narrative is convoluted, dragged out and similarly underbaked much like the original’s—a whole sect of hacker kids get introduced only to be used as tools, and a new side character gets an inorganic ending—The Accountant 2 is effectively enlivened by its main stars and more legitimized stakes. The rest of the cast, both old and new, reinforce the duo’s actions and the weight of it all; Brax’s light interrogation of a few prostitutes to understand who their boss is and how abusive he is hers intensified by these brief characters’ convincing trauma-induced tremors and deadened gazes. Watching the antagonist’s final wishes almost come to fruition, as kids get gun-butted in the head and thrown alive into a mass grave, is terrifying. More should be done in future to structurally strengthen this now two-film formula, but The Accountant 2 already proves itself to be a fun, unexpected improvement. For action fans, cast fans, and fans of the originals The Accountant 2 is an on-the-books good time.

Opens in theaters Friday, 4/25