Time: 105 Minutes
Age Rating: R16 – Violence, offensive language, drug use & suicide
Cast:
Jason Statham as Adam Clay
Emmy Raver-Lampman as FBI Agent Verona Parker
Josh Hutcherson as Derek Danforth
Jeremy Irons as Wallace Westwyld
Jemma Redgrave as President Danforth
Minnie Driver as Director Howard
Phylicia Rashad as Eloise Parker
Director: David Ayer

I was interested in The Beekeeper, a Jason Statham action movie directed by David Ayer. It absolutely delivered on what it set out to do, and it was very entertaining for what it was.

The first act does a pretty good job at setting everything up for the rest of the movie. It establishes the hateable villains, the stakes, and makes clear Jason Statham’s motivations to go on his revenge path, which are understandable and it’s easy to be on his side. Surprisingly the movie is willing to take things a little slow and focus on characters just talking, before Statham jumps into the action. The second act can halt a little in its pacing, but I wasn’t really bored. In the third act, it takes a fun and silly unexpected turn, ending on a really high note. I was actually impressed at the tonal balance. The movie largely takes itself seriously, however there are little moments of humour, and much of the film is absurd. There is so much talk of bees and hives, and the film includes so many bee facts in the dialogue that it’s actually impressive. The highlight is when characters would talk seriously about the main character and how much of a threat he is, but instead of talking about the Baba Yaga, they are talking about a beekeeper. Everyone takes it so seriously that it comes around to being funny. The Beekeeper still knows the genre it is, it is self aware, just not self conscious. The movie is definitely not without its flaws. The story is actually decent enough and I was engaged with it, but it is definitely predictable. As per other action movies like this, there’s an obligatory FBI subplot which doesn’t add much to the plot. However, that aspect was handled a little better than what I was expecting. There’s definitely some clunky dialogue as well (especially with regards to exposition), but the cheesy and corny dialogue does enhance the experience somewhat.

Jason Statham is reliable as ever, delivering very well in the action and easily gets you on board with his mysterious and deadly protagonist. Emmy Raver-Lampman and Bobby Naderi play the FBI agents; they have a fun buddy cop dynamic which makes them enjoyable to watch. That plus the fact that Raver-Lampman’s character is connected to the event that sets Statham on his path does make the FBI subplot work somewhat. Josh Hutcherson and Jeremy Irons are fun as the villains. Hutcherson is enjoyably hateable as a CEO of a company which scams people out of their money, and it is a very different role from what he’s played before. Irons is good as always, he can sell anything in a movie, even when he’s having to verbally convey the threat of a beekeeper. The movie definitely needed more of him.

David Ayer is the director and it is well made, it’s probably one of my favourite movies from him, his best since Fury at least. It is well shot with very nice visuals. The action is really solid, very well crafted, choreographed, edited and shot. It definitely stretches credibility with the fact that Statham often takes on multiple armed people at the same time, but they still have a sense of realism to them. And of course, the movie has plenty of over the top moments, with Statham using practically anything and everything as a weapon. Admittedly, any sense of tension is kind of missing since Statham doesn’t experience injury or even hindrance in most of his action scenes. That said, at least that’s in line with the mysterious and unstoppable aura that he’s meant to be projecting.

The Beekeeper is a silly, over the top and very enjoyable Jason Statham action thriller with some solid and entertaining action sequences. If you know what kind of movie you’re going into, it’s a fun ride.