Jason Statham has been one of Hollywood’s most reliable action stars for more than 20 years now.
The English actor, 56, shows no signs of slowing down. In the last year alone he’s starred in five additions to the genre – Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, Fast X, Meg 2: The Trench, Expend4bles, and now The Beekeeper, which teams the action stalwart up with director David Ayer.
Statham plays Adam Clay, a beekeeper who works in the barn on Eloise Parker’s (Phylicia Rashad) property. Parker becomes the victim of an elaborate phishing scam, which results in all of her money being stolen, as well as $2 million she protects for a charity. She later dies by suicide.
As Parker was the only person who ever cared for and showed warmth towards Clay, he immediately aims to get revenge against those responsible for stealing from her. It soon becomes clear that Clay isn’t merely a quiet and lonely beekeeper. Instead, he is a highly trained former operative for one of the most covert organisations in the US government.
Rather than simply pulverising the people who took advantage of Parker, Clay sets out to bring the entire multibillion dollar company, run by Derek Danforth (Josh Hutcherson), down in as violent and bloody a manner as possible. It quickly transpires that the company includes some prominent politicians. But, thankfully, Clay has no problem dishing out punishment to them, too.
The first half of The Beekeeper is an exhilarating dose of action filmmaking. Ayer and writer Kurt Wimmer waste no time in setting up the refreshingly simple plot and its stakes, before showing just how ruthless, smart and deadly Clay is.
While Statham might have been playing the same character throughout his action career, there’s a good reason why his popularity has endured. He is willing and able to deal with every action sequence that’s thrown his way. He can believably be lethal, intelligent, smooth, vulnerable, handsome, stylish, funny and look like an everyman, all while oozing a charisma and presence that means you can’t take your eyes off him.
Another reason The Beekeeper is so enthralling for its opening 50 minutes is because Ayer and Wimmer do such a good job of establishing why you should hate its villains. Plus, who doesn’t hate phishing scams and cold calls? All of which is amplified because Hutcherson, who is clearly having a ball playing Danforth, makes the villain so downright detestable.
It’s deeply satisfying to see Statham giving the arrogant and abhorrent cretins who work for him the comeuppance they so richly deserve, even if he does go somewhat overboard with his retribution.
During the film’s highs, watching Statham in full swing is enough to forgive The Beekeeper’s awful dialogue. Not only does this include an overabundance of bee analogies and references to hives, but Statham gives one speech about the elderly that’s so on-the-nose, sincere and out of place, it’s impossible not to laugh at it.
As The Beekeeper reaches its halfway mark, a question arises: Can it keep audiences emotionally engaged in Statham’s pursuit of vengeance while also raising the stakes and delivering the requisite action that the genre demands?
Unfortunately, it’s unable to maintain its momentum. While its fighting sequences do continue to deliver, The Beekeeper’s attempt to take its plot to another level detracts from the intimate revenge storyline that initially made it powerful.
At a certain point, Ayer seemingly embraces his inner Michael Bay and decides to go as over the top as possible with the film’s action sequences, especially in its preposterous and frankly rather stupid finale.
Despite its many obvious flaws, and its inability to keep viewers invested in its characters, The Beekeeper is still always fun to watch unfold.
More than that, it’s a highly entertaining alternative to the awards contenders currently populating cinemas in the build up to the Academy Awards, highlighting why imperfect dollops of cinematic escapism are just as important as serious and lofty films.
