The Beekeeper

The life of a beekeeper is one in the countryside surrounded by peace and tranquillity… right? Not if you are Jason Statham, because in his world, the occupation is slightly different. Behind the honey drizzled façade, Adam Clay (Statham) is a retired mercenary from a private agency known as “Beekeepers”, who is forced to come back into the game he left behind when a close friend falls victim to a scamming organisation. Beekeepers climb their way through the hive until they find the queen, and Clay is prepared to do all that is necessary to bring those responsible to justice, even if it means the President of the United States.

The movie is all action, all thriller and unashamedly so. Statham’s retired cover as a literal beekeeper would be enough to raise any eyebrows in normal society, as he clearly doesn’t fit the stereotypical mould of one, but he delivers enough pun-filled lines through a dodgy American/British accent to really ram home the idea that he truly does love bees. Naturally, it is during the fight sequences that Statham does what he does best. The one-on-one combat is truly exemplary, while other broader action sequences come across sloppy and uncoordinated, possibly due to the editing.

The cast as a whole is a talented hive and make a movie that could easily drown in its own silliness far more palatable through engaging interactions and dialogue. Josh Hutcherson is clearly in his “fun” era, playing characters that allow him to let loose, and he does so as the entitled, pain-in-the-backside millionaire Derek Danforth. Alongside him is Jeremy Irons who is arguably underused, but then he isn’t particularly built to put up much of a fight physically in an action movie like this. They all clearly have a lot of fun and because of this so does the viewer.

The scamming scenes are so deliciously slimy that David Ayer, of Fury and Suicide Squad fame, creates a clear villain from the get-go, and the concept of large organisations stealing money from vulnerable pensioners is something that is sadly relatable in modern society. The movie does, however, drag its heels through the fog of the action, with slow progression caused mainly through countless, quickly edited action sequences. A lot of the characters are literal caricatures, to the extent that it isn’t funny. If you are a dangerous underworld assassin, why wouldn’t you sit on the sofa with guns and grenades strapped to your chest at all times?

You spend more time laughing at what you’re watching rather than at the attempted slapstick humour and clichés that litter this movie. It is very hard to care about the characters on screen, even when the final climatic onslaught begins. Statham does his best to grunt and gruff his way through this choppy screenplay, but it is never truly enough to divert our attention away from the fact this it’s all just a little bit silly and ultimately meaningless.

Guy Lambert

The Beekeeper is released nationwide on 12^th January 2024.

Watch the trailer for The Beekeeper here: