Jason Statham once upon a time was a guy who seemed like he was going to carry the torch and deliver a brand of unique action film roles. And then somewhere around 2010, he kind of backtracked and just reverted to playing the same variation of Jason Statham that we’ve seen well in to fifteen years now. “The Beekeper” is the latest in a line of what the internet are now labeling “Dad movies” where your everyday Joe becomes a bonafide angel of vengeance. This time directed by David Ayer and written by Kurt Wimmer, the pair team to deliver, so far, one of the stupidest action movies of the year.
I can see “The Beekeeper” probably becoming a camp classic years from now in the way Brian Bosworth’s “Stone Cold” became a camp classic, but right now the movie is just ridiculous from start to finish. Going along the line of one word or two syllable action movies starring middle aged actors delivering the smack down on those nasty Gen Zer’s, “The Beekeeper” stars Statham as Beekeeper Adam Clay. Clay is a devoted beekeeper who has devoted his life to bees, and lives a life of solitude as a beekeeper living down the road from his only friend, an elderly widow, played by Phyllicia Rashad. After she becomes the victim of a telephone scam and commits suicide, Adam comes out of retirement (a la “John Wick”) and goes back in to the world of beekeeping.
Adam in his past life was a special kind of agent known as “beekeepers.” What did they do? Top secret action movie… stuff…? One character describes “beekeepers” as those that “protect the hive.” What the hell that means is anyone’s guess. Are there other beekeepers out there? It’s never explained. What exactly do beekeepers do? It’s never explained. Are the beekeepers one entity or a whole organization? It’s never explained. Why are beekeepers above the CIA and Secret Service? It’s never explained. Is Adam supposed to be a bee protecting the hive, or a queen slayer killing the hive? I don’t know. Writer Wimmer often gets confused with his bee metaphors.
In either case, Adam starts out delivering the smack down on call centers and then it soon escalates in a massive espionage mission. The movie can never seem to decide how absurd it wants to get (here call centers are massive stages that look like game shows teeming with Gordon Gecko wannabes), and per contractual obligation (?), allows Statham to beat everyone up. Meanwhile he’s pitted against the likes of a stationary Jeremy Irons, and Josh Hutcherson, of all people. “The Beekeeper” is a silly, often obnoxious action film that takes its whole bee metaphor seriously. It drives home the whole bee aesthetic, ad nauseum, to where even a bad guy even mutters “To bee or not to bee.”
I still like Jason Statham and still consider him a fun action movie star. I hope someday he starts trying again.