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In Massachusetts, Adam Clay (Jason Statham) carries on a quiet life as a beekeeper living in a barn and shares a warm friendship with the farm's landowner, Eloise Parker (Phylicia Rashad). While Clay is busy tending to the bees one afternoon, Eloise falls for a phishing scam, with the fast-talking, slimy Mickey (David Witts) tricking her over the phone before draining all the money from her accounts, including a charity fund that she manages. Horrified and devastated, Eloise promptly commits suicide, and Clay discovers the body before encountering Eloise's FBI agent daughter, Verona (Emmy Raver-Lampman), who struggles to make sense of the situation. With law enforcement unable to stop the scammers who habitually defraud senior citizens, Clay uses his connections to track them down, swiftly finding the location of Mickey's call centre. Clay is a retired member of a black ops unit known as the Beekeepers, and his career turned him into a highly competent, resourceful, and dangerous assassin capable of orchestrating a relentless killing spree to avenge Eloise's death. Clay also intends to target Mickey's boss, a technology executive named Derek (Josh Hutcherson), who frantically turns to a security expert and former CIA director Wallace Westwyld (Jeremy Irons) for assistance.
The Beekeeper's premise is timely in 2024 since cyber criminals work to scam innocent people every day, and watching Clay furiously unleash upon these unscrupulous tech bro scumbags is the best type of satisfying wish-fulfillment action cinema. Ayer leans into the corniness of action flicks of yesteryear, portraying Clay as an impossibly ingenious and unstoppable force of nature who remains a few steps ahead of his enemies, and there is some over-the-top, badass dialogue to boot. Indeed, The Beekeeper is cheesy to its core, with one-dimensional characters and dialogue that makes the expositional scenes sound like a parody of action flicks. However, it is all sold in the correct spirit. The movie's only genuine downfall is a subplot involving the FBI and Verona, which is the least interesting part of the plot. The complication involving the government trying to capture Clay threatens the sense of fun, especially considering the lapses in logic as the titular Beekeeper evades and fights federal agents without major repercussions. One would also suppose that if Verona could not officially support Clay in his revenge mission, she would sneakily assist him or enable him since her mother was a victim, but it takes the character too long to come to her senses.
Ayer understands precisely what action fans crave, and he delivers the goods in spades. With an R rating, The Beekeeper is remarkably violent, with Ayer adding a hard-hitting, visceral edge to Clay's murder spree, allowing for satisfying and creative kills. Ayer favours a grittier aesthetic compared to the John Wick movies, and cinematographer Gabriel Beristain (Ayer's Street Kings) captures the action scenes with smooth handheld photography, amplifying the intensity without turning the superb choreography into a confusing blur. After watching Statham do battle with enormous digital sharks and maintaining a presence in the ongoing Fast and Furious franchise, it is all the more satisfying to watch a film like The Beekeeper, which is light on phoney CGI (a couple of explosions notwithstanding), with Ayer instead favouring practical effects and grounded action scenes, including old-fashioned shootouts and brawls. Ayer makes the most of the modest $40 million budget, and the picture feels vehemently theatrical instead of a cheap, straight-to-streaming, B-grade distraction. Admittedly, the production design is exaggerated, with the call centres looking colourful and fancy, like high-class nightclubs, and the story requires a certain suspension of disbelief (scammers typically work in other countries, not a short drive from their victims in the United States), but this hardly matters in the grand scheme of things, especially when the movie is so entertaining.
Although Statham essentially plays another variation of the same action-hero character, he is a lot of fun in roles like these and he does it exceptionally well. Now in his fifties, Statham still has the physicality to credibly portray an accomplished man of action, and his grizzled, emotionless line delivery is ideal for the character of Clay. Meanwhile, Josh Hutcherson vehemently plays against type as the villain here, relishing the chance to take on the role of a slimy, dishonest nepo baby who tries to talk tough but only comes off as pathetic. Hutcherson is not a formidable or memorable villain, but that is where Jeremy Irons steps in. The perpetually reliable Irons adds a touch of gravitas to the proceedings, submitting an incredibly engaging performance as one of the only people who can recognise the dangers that Beekeepers pose. Also of note is Phylicia Rashad (from the Creed movies), who adds an appreciable warmth to the story and shares wonderful chemistry with Statham, ensuring a believable motive for Clay's rampage.
For Statham fans, The Beekeeper is a must-see, standing alongside films like Wrath of Man and Safe as one of his best solo action movie offerings. Running at an agreeable 105 minutes, the picture does not outstay its welcome, and Ayer ably maintains a fast pace without sacrificing narrative or editing coherency. Additionally, the lore at the centre of The Beekeeper screams franchise potential, as one can certainly imagine enjoying further action-packed adventures with Clay (the ending leaves room wide open for this) and spinoffs set in the same universe.
7.2/10
