The Beekeeper was directed by David Ayer, the man behind the original Suicide Squad movie. He was also a writer on the original Fast and Furious movie, as well as Training Day.
This movie stars action movie mainstay Jason Statham, as well as Emily Raver-Lampman and Jeremy Irons.
Jason Statham’s Adam Clayton character is working as a beekeeper here, as well as being a retired member of a secret operative organization known as the Beekeepers. He goes on a vengeance campaign after a friend of his is wronged, causing tragedy that he just can’t stand for.
The Good
The best parts of the movie are exactly what you would expect. The action sequences are really cool, well-put-together, and fun to watch.
Adam Clay is a one man wrecking crew, and death is certain for anybody that gets on his wrong side. Jason Statham does a great job of playing a stoic man of few words, and for the most part he doesn’t even use guns. So it’s interesting seeing all the unique ways that he takes all of his enemies out.
I recognized Emily Raver-lampman for her role in the Umbrella Academy, and she was great here, too. As an agent who experiences tragedy early in the movie. She was great in some of the dramatic beats, but I was a little annoyed by some of her character’s choices and the allegiances that she chose throughout the movie.
Jeremy Irons is in the movie almost exclusively to let the audience know just how bad ass Adam Clay is and how screwed his associates are because they happen to cross him., and he did a great job at that too. If I was Josh Hutcherson character. I would have been kind of annoyed at how negative he was. Me.
The circumstances around what sets off the events of the movie were relatable and had me all clays sigh right from the jump.
The Bad
I know. It sounds like the movie was just buzzing along, but I do have my gripes, the first of which is Statham’s plot armor. I think we made it three quarters of the way through the movie before he faces off against anybody that gives him even a little bit of a challenge. With the sheer amount of people that he faced. There’s no way he would have made it that far without suffering more. And these weren’t just goons either. Some of these were trained and armored operatives.
You could tell they were shooting for something kind of similar to the John Wick movies. They did a lot of world-building with the whole Beekeepers being a secret organization and thing. That kinda reminded me of the Continental and the John Wick movies and then the way he was just tearing through all these people was kind of John Wick-esque too. I wish this movie did just a little bit more to differentiate itself from those movies.
There was a scene at a gas station that I didn’t really care for. It introduced a character that got just a little bit too cartoony for me. It didn’t seem like it fit in with the rest of the movie.
Then I thought the whole theme of him being a beekeeper and then being in an organization called The Beekeepers just felt a little bit shoehorned in there for me.
The Verdict
I went into this movie expecting it to not be very good. And there were a couple of things that happened in the movie that made me not want to like it. But despite my criticism, I did enjoy this movie. I think anyone else who enjoys action movies would enjoy it as well, so it has my recommendation. I think you should go see.
So let me know what you thought of the beekeeper in the comments, and I’ll catch you on the next review.
