Finally, real cinema is back. After months of your endless “for your consideration” awards bait mayhem, Hollywood has finally settled into the month where “trash” cinema is dumped into cinemas when no one is looking. It’s a grand tradition, one as old as time, and The Beekeeper fits that bill.
Except, sometimes, it’s good to clear your head of drama surrounding heavy issues, put your mind on autopilot, and forget the troubles of the world when a handsome, bald-headed hero wants to do what’s right. Sure, you won’t walk away from The Beekeeper feeling smarter for the experience. However, when someone relentlessly defends the honor of Clair Huxtable, you don’t question it.
You just enjoy the ride.
Jason Statham stars as Adam Clay, AKA The Beekeeper, a highly trained secret agent who has retired. Clay has been enjoying life, taking things as they come. He lives in the country, where he harvests honey from bees—an activity that provides structure and fosters a connection with nature, mindfulness, and focus.
Clay rents a space from his neighbor, Eloise Parker (Phylicia Rashad), whom he holds in high regard, stating she was the first person to care for him. For Clay, life is peaceful and fulfilling. However, that changes when he visits Eloise’s house one night to thank her for her kindness with a jar of his sweet honey. Upon receiving no response at the door, he enters the house and discovers that she has taken her own life.
Sadly, Ms. Parker fell victim to a phishing scam, resulting in the loss of everything, including her retirement funds and the children’s charity she financially oversees—amounting to over 2 million dollars. Now, Mr. Clay wants revenge on those responsible for Eloise’s demise. That honor goes to Derek Danforth (a comically over-the-top Josh Hutcherson), the owner of a data-mining company preying on older adults.
The Beekeeper is directed by David Ayer, who has experienced both highs and considerable lows in his career. Collaborating with a script from Kurt Wimmer, whose filmography includes action remakes Total Recall, Point Break, and one of 2021’s worst films, The Misfits, doesn’t bode well for the movie. The script often feels like an exercise in controlled chaos, displaying unevenness throughout.
For example, the film doesn’t firmly ground itself in reality, but the raw, bare-knuckle fight scenes featuring Statham offer a personal and visceral revenge action experience. Verona (Emmy Raver-Lampman), Eloise’s daughter and an FBI agent seeking justice, adds to this intensity. As the film unfolds, it introduces a mythology about “Beekeepers,” resembling a comic book or graphic novel.
Many might initially think Ayer aims to create a new John Wick series but opts out sooner than expected. While the film portrays Clay as a man comfortable in flannel and blue jeans, other assassins don flamboyant attire that practically screams, “Look at me!” Given the program’s ultra-secretive nature, such attire and behavior appear misplaced. Moreover, retiring as a “beekeeper” only to become a literal beekeeper might not be the wisest choice for living out one’s life in secrecy.
However, The Beekeeper can be relentlessly entertaining. While one might envision it as a potential franchise akin to the John Wick series, it actually shares more similarities with Ayer’s revenge thriller, Law Abiding Citizen. Revenge entertainment remains popular today, as evidenced by Prime Video’s Reacher.
After watching The Beekeeper, viewers may enjoy the satisfying, bone-crunching, knuckle-busting, and lip-splitting escapism. The type that likes to drag its villains across concrete, leaving the taste of asphalt in their mouths and shards of glass in their foreheads.
The great Roger Ebert once said that if you love movies, you must also love genre films. We have to recognize that films like Ayers are made for a certain demographic, and on those terms, they succeed. Yes, The Beekeeper has obvious flaws. The dialogue is trashy. Certain scenes elicit howls, such as a villain threatening his own mother with a gun.
Ayer’s The Beekeeper prioritizes entertainment and isn’t afraid to push beyond conventional tropes to deliver the thrills that audiences currently crave. This revenge thriller serves as a cathartic, non-stop, explosive action film with some personality that, for better or worse, gets the job done.
The Beekeeper will debut exclusively in theaters on January 12, 2024, courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios.
The Beekeeper is a revenge thriller that's a cathartic, non-stop, explosive action film with some personality that, for better or worse, gets the job done.
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I am a film and television critic and a proud member of the Las Vegas Film Critic Society, Critics Choice Association, and a 🍅 Rotten Tomatoes/Tomato meter approved. However, I still put on my pants one leg at a time, and that’s when I often stumble over. When I’m not writing about movies, I patiently wait for the next Pearl Jam album and pass the time by scratching my wife’s back on Sunday afternoons while she watches endless reruns of California Dreams. I was proclaimed the smartest reviewer alive by actor Jason Isaacs, but I chose to ignore his obvious sarcasm. You can also find my work on InSession Film, Ready Steady Cut, Hidden Remote, Music City Drive-In, Nerd Alert, and Film Focus Online.
