Films for Breakfast

How does one even go about reviewing The Beekeeper? Upon first glance, it may seem like your usual, run-of-the-mill January-released action flick with an interchangeable, reliable, and recognizable action star in the leading role. It certainly checks all the boxes for that type of film. However, something that was apparent to me very quickly when watching The Beekeeper is how “in” on the joke the film is – a film that borderlines parody at many moments but never loses its grit and edge when it comes to the action. The film follows Adam Clay (Jason Statham), although no one investigating him or being threatened by him really knows who he is. All we truly know about him is that he is enjoying a quiet life as a beekeeper and seemingly has a past he doesn’t like talking about. That is until a group of incredibly unlucky scammers target someone dear to him and they quickly feel the wrath… or sting?

To say that David Ayer has had a tricky and scattered career in the last decade would be a bit of an understatement. Ayer really blew people away with his work on the screenplay for Training Day back in 2001 and found success in writing the original Fast and Furious film in the same year, he has directed some pretty well-liked movies such as Fury or End of Watch; however.. you also can’t talk about Ayer without talking about the mess that was 2016’s Suicide Squad or even Bright and The Tax Collector, two films that not many people saw and even less enjoyed it. In many ways, despite all of his films having action elements, The Beekeeper feels like a departure from what Ayer likes to do. Where he often, for better or worse, focuses on characters and has action as a backdrop – The Beekeeper is a full-fledged shoot-em’ and punch-em’ up action film with the cheese of a late 80s/early 90s vehicle that would’ve starred one of Statham’s Expendables co-stars.

The only difference is where those older movies would’ve featured antagonists like corny 90s hackers, Russian mobsters, or drug dealers – The Beekeeper is far more ambitious and modern with its approach on who is a villain. In the film, Clay targets so many groups of people – whether it be crypto bros, telemarketing scammers, hackers, and even corrupt politicians in Washington. And right when you think that’s an insane route for a movie called The Beekeeper to take, you learn that there is John Wick-level lore involved with not only Statham’s character but the organization known as The Beekeepers as a whole that I wouldn’t dare spoil for anyone.. but it’s absolutely hilarious and delightful if you’re on the films’ wave-length.

David Ayer may have had some misses these last few years, but he does a hell of a job directing the action sequences here. There are several moments where the action is incredibly well-staged and is genuinely nice to look at. Something that he’s always been good at as a director is implementing surprising levels of grit and tension to his action in a way that makes the audience feel immersed within the story and situation, and The Beekeeper is no exception. There’s a fight sequence at the end where the music drowns out and all you’re left with are the bone crunches, punches, and grunting… and it’s absolutely awesome. He kind of kills it here.

There isn’t a whole lot to Statham’s performance here that you haven’t seen before, which isn’t a knock, because he’s incredibly great at doing his schtick and he’s beyond reliable when you need this type of roll played. The characrer of Adam Clay, or The Beekeeper, feels like a culmination of every cliche you could imagine about a Jason Statham-esque character compiled into one guy. He has every bit of lore you could possibly make-up, and his jurisdiction for justice has quite literally no borders. Right when you think the man is wrapping things up with all the scammers he’s targeting, he packs it up and decides he needs to take on corrupt politicians in Washington. Insane stuff.

The supporting cast is genuinely quite impressive. Jeremy Irons is acting his ass off here, with some a truly impressive monologue and a handful of hilariously theatrical line-deliveries. Every single antagonist that Clay comes across in the film is delectably unlikable and practically has you rooting for them to get killed in the most brutal way. But Josh Hutcherson as an entitled, rich brat running these organizations is the best use of this trope I’ve seen since John Wick went after the Russian mob’s son in the original 2014 film. Hutcherson is an actor I really like, but he plays this role as a little conniving asshole so incredibly well that you can’t wait for Clay to take care of him.

You could spend all-day critiquing the film for plot holes, script issues, dialogue, etc. – but if you’re on the same wavelength as The Beeekeeper, it is simply one of the most entertaining films you’ll see in quite sometime. I was laughing and clapping in delight along with the rest of the audience as Statham moved from set piece to set piece, all in the name of justice and looking out for those who can’t defend themselves.

4/5