The Beekeeper review

THE BEEKEEPER: 

JASON STATHAM STINGS IN SILLY ACTION FLICK! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

MGM AND MIRAMAX

Jason Statham in The Beekeeper

 

            Jason Statham (The Transporter franchise, Crank 1 and 2, The Expendables franchise) becomes the John Wickof beekeepers in The Beekeeper, the new action film from David Ayer (End of Watch, Fury, Suicide Squad). After a double whammy of misfires last year including the dull slog that was Meg 2: The Trench and the laughably bad, Expend4bles which I controversially called “So Bad It’s Good” despite it being unanimously panned by critics and audiences, I wasn’t sure what The Beekeeper would end up being when it was time to discuss it. 

            Was it going to be the movie that would make up for Jason Statham’s back-to-back duds from last year or would it just end up being another one of those and the beginning of his decline like many other action stars. Thankfully, not the latter as this is stupid fun that’s done well and even makes time for some effective drama amidst the over-the-top silliness. 

            The film follows Adam Clay (Statham), a seemingly normal beekeeper who makes honey and is a close friend to retired schoolteacher, Eloise Parker (Phylicia Rashad-Creed trilogy, Soul, Tick, Tick… Boom!). After Eloise falls for a phishing scam which results in her suicide, Adam takes vengeance into his own hands and he goes on a violent manhunt against the people who scammed Eloise as he is actually a former operative in a special organization known as Beekeepers who will stop at nothing until justice is served…and covered in honey. 

             The film also stars Josh Hutcherson (Zathura, The Hunger Games franchise, Five Nights at Freddy’s) as Derek Danforth, Emmy Raver-Lampman (The Umbrella Academy, Central Park, Dog) as FBI Agent Verona Parker, Jeremy Irons (Die Hard with a Vengeance, The Lion King, DC Extended Universe) as Wallace Westwyld, Jemma Redgrave (Howards End, Doctor Who, Love & Friendship) as President Danforth, Minnie Driver (GoldenEye, Grosse Pointe Blank, Chevalier) as Director Howard, Enzo Cilenti (The Theory of Everything, Game of Thrones, The Martian) as Rico Anzalone, Don Gilet (EastEnders) as Deputy Director Prigg, and David Witts (EastEnders, Recovery Road,Manhunt) as Mickey Garnett. 

            Overall, The Beekeeper doesn’t try to be anything deep or meaningful with complex storylines or interesting characters, it’s a dumb, silly action film and as far as those go it’s done well. I was entertained throughout and was laughing at the over-the-top action scenes and cheesy dialogue, it’s honestly a perfect movie to watch with your friends and a few drinks. 

            The movie doesn’t really have any surprises and goes pretty much the route you’d expect from a film like this, but what did surprise me early on in the film before everything went down was how heartfelt the chemistry between Adam and Eloise was. Even though there isn’t much screen-time of them together, you feel their friendship which is genuinely sweet and makes her inevitable demise all the more tragic. 

            It could have been an easily disposable action movie where Jason Statham fights a bunch of guys who pissed him off, but I’m glad for as ridiculous as this movie gets, there is a human element that anchors all the chaos. 

            Speaking of which, the action scenes are completely ridiculous and soaked in blood and honey (Not to be confused with that shitty Winnie the Pooh horror movie from last year) with a lot of kinetic energy during them. They aren’t John Wick or Jason Bourne-level, but the film gets very creative with the action specifically what Jason Statham uses to take the criminals out from slicing a man’s fingers off with a power saw to fighting another person with a gasoline pump at a gas station to smashing a jar of honey on someone and setting that person on fire. 

            Add in some cheesy dialogue, one-liners, and just as many bee puns as there were ice puns in Batman & Robinand you got yourself a sweet recipe for action movie goofiness with Jason Statham doing his shtick. This movie makes it perfectly clear that Statham is really good at what he does and he utilizes his charisma to give moviegoers a silly, fun time here. 

            Josh Hutcherson is also a standout as the man running the scam operations, Danforth who gives a delightful scenery-chewing performance in one of his rare antagonist roles. Hutcherson is a likable leading actor, but similar to Amy Adams wicked turn in Disenchanted, this film could hint at the beginning of Hutcherson portraying more prominent villain characters in his career because he is having a ball going over-the-top.

            The Beekeeper gives exactly what it advertises, a dumb, violent action movie with cheesy dialogue and Jason Statham doing what he does best. If you have a fondness for silly action films from the 90s or enjoy Jason Statham as an action star, this one’s worth buzzing into. 

The Book of Clarence review

THE BOOK OF CLARENCE: 

AN AMBITIOUS ALBEIT UNEVEN RELIGIOUS SATIRE! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: ** ½ out of 4

TRISTAR PICTURES

LaKeith Stanfield is about to turn the Bible upside-down in The Book of Clarence

 

            LaKeith Stanfield (Selma, Sorry to Bother You, Judas and the Black Messiah) and Jeymes Samuel (The Harder They Fall) join forces to bring one of the most unusual religious satires since Monty Python’s Life of Brian to the screen in the biblical comedy-drama, The Book of Clarence. The film is essentially a satire of biblical epics like Ben-Hur and The Ten Commandments and revolves around probably the last person you’d expect to become the new Messiah. 

            Christian movies aren’t usually my cup of tea and I tend to avoid anything put out by Pure Flix, The Kendrick Brothers, or Sony Pictures’ Affirm Films as I often find them too manipulative and heavily focused on getting their message across over putting out a good product. There are exceptions to this like the already mentioned, Ben-Hur and The Ten Commandments as well as Martin Scorsese’s Christian films, but usually modern Christian movies just make me roll my eyes whenever I see a trailer for them and often the films themselves will either live up to their lame trailers or be even worse. 

            That’s not the case here, I was interested when I first saw the trailer for The Book of Clarence and looked like it was going to be an irreverent Life of Brian-style satire on Christianity and topical themes from the Bible. I certainly got elements of that here and the comedic aspects of it are probably the best parts of the movie, but I also got a rather disjointed and confused film that tries to find a middle ground between religious satire and just being another religious movie. 

            The film follows streetwise but down-on-his-luck, Clarence (Stanfield) struggling to find a better life for his family, while fighting to free himself of debt. Captivated by the power and glory of the rising Messiah and his apostles, he risks everything to carve his own path to a divine life, and ultimately discovers that the redemptive power of belief may be his only way out. 

            The film also stars Omar Sy (The Intouchables, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Jurassic World) as Barabbas, Anna Diop (The Messengers, 24: Legacy, Titans) as Varinia, RJ Cyler (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Power Rangers, White Boy Rick) as Elijah, David Oyelowo (Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Butler, Selma) as John the Baptist, Michael Ward (The A List, The Old Guard, Empire of Light) as Judas Iscariot, Alfre Woodard (Cross Creek, Love & Basketball, 12 Years a Slave) as Virgin Mary, Teyana Taylor (Stomp the Yard: Homecoming, Coming 2 America, White Men Can’t Jump (2023)) as Mary Magdalene, Caleb McLaughlin (Stranger Things, Concrete Cowboy, Shooting Stars) as Dirty Zeke, Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Secrets & Lies, The Cell, Spy Game) as Amina, James McAvoy (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, X-Men franchise, Unbreakable trilogy) as Pontius Pilate, Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, The Imitation Game, Marvel Cinematic Universe) as Benjamin, Nicholas Pinnock (New World Disorder, Dark Encounter, For Life) as Jesus, Babs Olusanmokun (Black Mirror, Wrath of Man, Dune (2021)) as Asher the Torturer, Tom Glynn-Carney (Dunkirk, Tolkien, House of the Dragon) as Decimus, and Tom Vaughan-Lawlor (Becoming Jane, Love/Hate, Avengers 3 and 4) as Antoninus. 

            Overall, The Book of Clarence is easily one of the most ambitious films in recent years and its humor and handling of the subject matter will likely be very subjective amongst audiences. But the film’s unique visual style and strong performances make the movie entertaining and help give it a distinct personality. 

            For me, I felt the film’s tone was all over the place and honestly both the comedic and dramatic aspects are done very well. However, they often clashed with each other to the point where it’s hard to determine whether you should laugh or be emotionally impacted by what’s happening onscreen. 

            One moment you’ll have a cartoony moment where a light bulb appears over someone’s head when they have an idea or there’s a goofy visual gag, but then it’s followed by an intense scene where a person is getting whipped or something like that. The only way I could describe it would be if Life of Brian was also trying to be a real Christian movie half the time and it feels very uneven and inconsistent as the film goes on. 

            With that said, there is a lot I liked about this movie such as the production design that really makes the film seem large and epic especially the shots of Matera. When the comedy was focused, I got some laughs out of the jokes and the performances are solid especially LaKeith Stanfield’s ne’er-do-well architype for Clarence who delivers some of the funniest bits in the film. 

            Omar Sy is also a standout as a seemingly immortal fighter slave who accompanies Clarence on his journey and reminded me a lot of André the Giant from The Princess Bride in terms of his appearance and personality. He also has probably the most badass scene in the entire film.

            I also got a kick out of the film’s visuals, besides the cartoony light bulb gag there’s also this drug sequence where Clarence and his friend are getting high and everyone’s floating in the air that’s really funny and a scene where Clarence and his love interest’s eyes flash colors as they’re speaking to each other. The soundtrack is also great with a surprisingly effective use of funk music and an energized dance number in the film, I might have to seek it out on iTunes soon. 

            The Book of Clarence is a mixed bag for me, but that doesn’t overshadow the elements of it that work. Had the film taken more of a Monty Python’s Life of Brian approach or something like Aaron McGruder’s The Boondocks or Black Jesus, I think we could have gotten a consistently hilarious and clever satire on Christianity, as is it’s a decent one with some bumps along the way. 

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