The Beekeeper Movie Review
The Beekeeper is a 2024 action thriller film directed by David Ayer and written by Kurt Wimmer. The film was released in the United States by Amazon MGM Studios under the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures label on 12 January 2024.
The Beekeeper stars Jason Statham as… you guessed it, a beekeeper, who is more than meets the eye. When his friend and landlady falls for an internet scam that wipes out her entire savings, he steps up to shake tables and protect the hive…
The Good
Its another Jason Statham movie, with him playing his signature typecast – tough, no-nonsense antihero with a gritty demeanour and dry one liners.
The Beekeeper is an action-packed movie with Jason Statham’s Adam Clay delivering biblical vengeance as if he is God’s right hand or maybe the Boogey Man – with a John Wick homage going on. A moment in the movie took me back to a John Wick scene where a Mafia Boss is telling his son its not about what he did, its whom he did it do…
“When a Beekeeper says you’re gonna die,... you’re gonna die.”
Bee puns anyone? This movie is full of them, from the hilarious to the cringeworthy- but hey wether you laughing at the movie or with the movie, a laugh is a laugh.
“To bee or not to bee, that is the bloody question,”
The movie also serves as warning to not fall for internet cons… them tech bros will clean you out stay safe on these streets.
The Bad
It’s a predictable and formulaic trope, with a video game structure where you work your way up each level till you get to the big bad boss – but hey no one watches a shoot-em up action movie for its depth and dialogue.
The characters are rather one dimensional, we never get to understand how or why exactly Adam Clay feels his landlady is part the hive which he protects considering her daughter seems hellbent on stopping his crusade…
The movie slows down when its trying to be rational, pacing through a stalemate conflict between civilised law and vigilante justice; it is a its best as a mindless action movie on which you are taking a dizzying ultraviolent ride.
The Ugly
The violence can get rather excessive and bloody as Jason Statham dispatches nameless bad apples with impunity.
While one might root for Adam Clay as the stakes raise, it also raises a question on whether we should let vigilantes with a singular focus become queenslayers – what if they are wrong?
Final Thoughts
The Beekeeper is mindless action with a smattering of bee references… If you are a Jason Statham fan or generally love action movies the question is have you gotten round to watching this movie yet?…. Otherwise this movie is not for you.
Fun Fact: At the time of writing this review The Beekeeper is the highest grossing movie of 2024.
Your thoughts.. if you will?