Action icon Jason Statham stars as the titular Beekeeper, an assassin retired from a top-secret, off-the-books branch of government designed to eliminate threats when all else fails. Statham keeps his bees at retired teacher Phylicia Rashad’s farm. When evil scammers steal her money, she commits suicide. That sets Statham off on a mission to kill anyone associated with the scammers. Also blow up their offices. But he can’t injure innocent civilians or any of the many law enforcement operatives who are soon on his tail.
Set in Springfield and Boston but shot mostly in Great Britain, this is the sort of brain-dead filler pushed into theaters before more “solid” material follows in the spring. Twenty years ago Statham (along with Corey Yuen and Luc Besson) changed action movies forever with the Transporter franchise. Its action was tough, physical, and logical, and it was clear that Statham did most of the stunts himself.
Since then he’s alternated between middling-to-fair action films and better-made comedies like Spy. No other action star among his contemporaries has been as successful for so long, largely because Statham is an outstanding physical performer. Also, he limits his dialogue the way Eastwood did with Leone.
But it’s 2024, and age has reduced Statham’s speed and range. He doesn’t kick as high, spin as fast, or jump as much. His fights are poorly staged and repetitive, mostly knocking a bad guy down while others wait their turn. Every now and then a nice touch emerges, like the kick Statham delivers while passing a groping villain on a staircase. But you don’t see a lot of combinations, or variations on previous moves. It’s just one punch after the other.
The Beekeeper moves lethargically, apart from action scenes where Statham kills everyone, sets offices on fire, and flees without a scratch. These bits test credulity. At one point he fights his way up three flights of stairs filled with foes, throws himself out a window, then pops to his feet and walks away.
Occasionally the script flips to smooth, oily ex-CIA director Jeremy Irons, who delivers his few lines expertly. Minnie Driver shows up twice as the current CIA director. Emmy Raver-Lampman is solid as an FBI agent pursuing Statham, as is her partner Bobby Naderi. Josh Hutcherson hams it up futilely as a drugged-out bad guy.
Writer Kurt Wimmer’s dialogue is heavy on things like, “He’s a beekeeper,” with many asides about hives. Director David Ayer has a good feel for tension, but less for pacing.
Statham remains a guilty pleasure, and I never tire of watching him administer a beating. It’s good to see him back in the action genre after misfires like the execrable Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre and what amount to cameos in things like Fast X. But The Beekeeper is little more than a place-holder in his career.
Credits: Directed by: David Ayer. Written by: Kurt Wimmer. Produced by: Bill Block, Jason Statham, David Ayer, Chris Long, p.g.a., Kurt Wimmer. Executive Producers: Andrew Golov, Thom Zadra, Mark Birmingham. Director of photography: Gabriel Beristain. Edited by Geoffrey O’Brien. Production design by Ben Munro. Starring: Jason Statham, Emmy Raver- Lampman, Josh Hutcherson, Bobby Naderi, Minnie Driver, David Witts, Michael Epp, Taylor James, Jemma Redgrave, Enzo Cilenti, with Phylicia Rashad and Jeremy Irons.
Photos: Top: Jason Statham stars as Clay in director David Ayer’s THE BEEKEEPER. An Amazon MGM Studios film. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios © 2024 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc. All Rights Reserved. Center: (L to R) Jason Statham as Clay and Jeremy Irons as Wallace Westwyld in director David Ayer’s THE BEEKEEPER. An Amazon MGM Studios film. Photo Credit: Daniel Smith © 2024 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc. All Rights Reserved.
In theaters January 12, 2024.
