**This post contains MINOR spoilers**
The Story- Adam Clay (Jason Statham), a member of the elite and top secret special operations force known as the Beekeepers, comes out of retirement to seek justice for his neighbor and friend, Eloise (Phylicia Rashad).
Eloise’s daughter, FBI Agent Verona (Emmy Raver-Lampman) and her partner, Matt (Bobby Naderi) follow Clay’s path of destruction, leading to Derek Danforth (Josh Hutcherson) and his lucrative phishing operation. Former CIA director, Wallace Westwyld (Jeremy Irons) tries to use his influence to protect Derek. Clay is determined, but a startling discovery might derail his plans for vengeance.
My Thoughts- Jason Statham brings his usual brand of focused intensity and relentless determination to Adam Clay. Clay is a lethal and unstoppable killing machine, but Statham also shows a humane layer for the character. You can tell Clay deeply cares about Eloise, because she’s kind to him and treats him like a human being. Clay is deadly serious about his mission to destroy the scamming call centers. There’s compassion in him, because he knows only the lowest form of scum would steal from the elderly.
Josh Hutcherson is a perfect fit for Derek, and Hutcherson plays the spoiled and narcissistic brat role with ease. Derek is a lazy idiot, a fool who wouldn’t last one day in the real world without his family’s wealth. Hutcherson does a good job of portraying Derek as someone who’s easy to hate. The way he dresses, he has to be told to sit down like a small child, and he skateboards into his workplace? Yep. Adam Clay truly is the hero in this story.
Garnett (David Witts) and Rico (Enzo Cilenti) are Derek’s stooges. They’re both sleazy snake oil salesmen. Witts and Cilenti nailed their characters, and the flashy and tacky suits were a nice touch. They try to act like big shots, but they ironically turn into blubbering cowards, when Clay confronts them.
Raver-Lampman and Naderi had good chemistry as partners. Verona doesn’t fit the profile for the common FBI agent, but she’s smart and gets the job done. Matt is a little more strait-laced, and he’s a family man. Verona and Matt provide some decent laughs, and Raver-Lampman and Naderi did a good job of playing off of each other’s characteristics.
Jeremy Irons provides the robust screen presence of a veteran actor. Wallace’s main purpose is to deliver the warnings as the harbinger of doom throughout the movie. Irons’ seriousness, as he explains the grim nature of Derek’s situation lets you know drawing the attention of a Beekeeper is a catastrophic mistake, and it’s the last mistake you’ll ever make.
I had an indifferent reaction to seeing The Beekeeper trailer a while back. Is this going to be a comedy? Are they really going to try and do a more serious film with beekeeping tied into the story? I was actually surprised how well things worked out here. You can see how seriously Adam Clay approaches beekeeping. The scenes with Clay performing his beekeeping duties are treated with respect, and you can see he has a genuine passion for it. I expected a lot of silly quips and jokes about bees, but beekeeping and everything that goes into it plays a big part in Clay’s character traits. Clay is presented as a wrecking ball that smashes anything in his path. Sure, they had a gold mine of bee and honey jokes at their disposal. I’m sure Statham could’ve pulled it off, if they decided to go that route. The path they chose works better playing to Statham’s strengths and it’s a more impressive feat, because they didn’t take the easy way out.
The clever weaving for the inner workings of beekeeping tying into the story with Clay’s mission was fantastic. Clay’s determination to protect the hive, while filling the role of a queen slayer plays into the big reveal towards the end. It makes perfect sense, because it’s easy to see why Derek is a defective offspring.
Clay easily tears through most of the opposition, including Wallace’s team of big bad special ops guys. The fight at the gas station with the current Beekeeper, Anisette (Megan Le) worked as a showcase of the old guard vs the new school. Anisette was more unhinged, but Clay’s discipline trumped her recklessness in the end. Remember, Anisette was supposed to be the surefire solution to stop Clay. It’s a crucial turning point, because Wallace knows he’s running out of options to guarantee Derek’s safety.
The Beekeeper is a hard hitting action thriller, featuring a solid cast, with Jason Statham’s strong presence leading the way. It’s a brutal story of vengeance that has a good old school action movie feel to it. The Beekeeper moves fast with a good calculated pace, and Statham delivers the goods during the home stretch, as he fiercely pushes through each obstacle to complete his mission.
Rating-7/10
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