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.