May 20th is World Bee Day so I thought I’d post a review of a movie called The Beekeeper 🐝 

This was one of the movies I watched on a recent long flight to Croatia. I wasn’t initially enthused about this, as Jason Statham’s last two movies I saw (Wrath of Man and MEG 2) were awful, but both my hubby and I thought this would be a fun distraction to pass the time on the plane and it was.

Stratham plays Adam Clay, a beekeeper living a peaceful life in the country. He’s friendly with his neighbor Eloise (Phylicia Rashad), a retired educator who rents out her barn to Adam. But it’s a Jason Stratham action movie, so of course that serenity wouldn’t last long. When Eloise falls for a phishing scam and ends up losing everything she has in the bank, she commits suicide out of desperation. Though Adam is arrested briefly by Eloise’s daughter Verona (Emmy Raver-Lampman) who happens to be an FBI agent, he ends up helping the Feds track down this elusive criminal group that’s been scamming people.

Director David Ayer doesn’t waste much time in giving action fans what they want, that is Statham going ballistic and hellbent on vengeance. Statham is best as a taciturn, no-nonsense vigilante mode, a la The Transporter. As the movie goes on, it’s revealed that Adam was part of a classified government program code-named Beekeepers (natch) that even the FBI doesn’t know about. He’s since retired from that program, but oddly enough he takes a job as an actual beekeeper??

In any case, the movie makes Adam like a superhero-type agent who’s way more badass than most security agents/soldiers sent by the criminals to bring him down. All the violent fight scenes that leave his opponents seriously injured or dead while he remains unscathed make me recall THIS hilarious monologue Statham did in SPY as I watched him take down one baddie (or several) without breaking a sweat… “I’ve swallowed enough microchips and shit them back out again to make a computer. This arm has been ripped off completely and re-attached with *this* fuckin’ arm.” Ha!

The supporting cast is filled with an odd mix of talents. Josh Hutcherson (whom I haven’t seen since The Hunger Games) is deliberately hammy as a brash, cocky, and wildly irritating tech exec Derek Danforth whose real identity is revealed in the third act. I’m surprised to see Jeremy Irons in this movie as he is barely given much to do as a former CIA director Wallace Westwyld turned head of security for Danforth Enterprises, the company behind all the scam operations. Same with Minnie Driver in a blink and you missed it cameo as a CIO director. The reason why Wallace is tasked to protect Derek at all costs is revealed towards the finale, though it’s all quite predictable.

Written by Kurt Wimmer, the script isn’t really all that concerned with realism so your enjoyment depends on how much you’re willing to stretch your suspension of disbelief. Don’t expect even a smidge of character development either, we’re supposed to just accept the enigmatic nature of every single character, including the protagonist. I’m just glad they didn’t bother adding an unnecessary romantic angle to the story. My biggest issue is with Raver-Lampman as Verona who’s grossly miscast as she’s not believable at all as an FBI or anyone in law enforcement. I read in her bio that her roots are in musical theater so she should stick to that genre.

Despite the flaws, I still had a good time watching Statham brutally beat up and maim a bunch of goons + those unlucky enough to be on his bad side. The finale is so bombastic and even more ludicrous than the setup, yet somehow it managed to be quite satisfying. It’s Statham’s answer to John Wick + the Equalizer (his agent probably said, why can’t you be both?) At 56, the British actor is still fit and athletic, and he’s fully aware his strength is not in acting but in performing killer action scenes. The Beekeeper is not the most buzz-worthy action flick but the Stath is still the bees’ knees in the action genre.

Have you seen The Beekeeper? I’d love to hear what you think!

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