In “The Beekeeper,” one man’s brutal campaign for vengeance takes on national stakes after he is revealed to be a former operative of a powerful and clandestine organization known as “Beekeepers.”
“It looks like a tornado came through here!” – Agent Verona Parker.
Never were truer words spoken. Not just about Statham’s character, Adam Clay, in “The Beekeeper,” but pretty much all of the characters he has played throughout his career. Like Schwarzenegger and Stallone before him, Statham has cemented himself squarely as an action star. While he might diverge a little with the occasional dramatic project, “London,” or more humorous action comedies such as “Spy,” with Melissa McCarthy and Jude Law, he sticks to what he does best: action thrillers.
In “The Beekeeper,” Statham plays Adam Clay, a mysterious man with no past. When we are introduced to him, he lives in a barn that belongs to Eloise Parker (Phylicia Rashad), a retired older lady who lives alone on an isolated farm. Eloise manages her retirement account, as well as an account for a charity she owns, but when hackers steal her information and empty all of her accounts, she takes her own life.
When her daughter, Verona (Emmy Raver-Lampman), an FBI agent, turns up at Eloise’s house and finds Adam there and her mother dead, he becomes the prime suspect, but he is promptly released when there is no evidence linking him to the crime. He informs Verona that he was living in the barn on her mother’s property and that she was the only person ever to help him, but when she tells him that she took her own life because hackers stole all of her information and emptied her accounts, he calls in a favor from an old friend and locates the company responsible for her death and sets out to exact revenge, working his way to the very top.
“The Beekeeper” is in no way original and borrows heavily from many movies that have come before it. Films like “The Bourne Identity,” “John Wick,” “Jack Reacher,” “The Equalizer,” and the list goes on, stories about characters who have shadowy and enigmatic pasts and are then revealed to be retired operatives of some clandestine organization who use their learned skills to avenge the death of someone close to them. That is precisely what “The Beekeeper” is about, and going in, you know that it stars Jason Statham, so you get exactly what you paid for – 105 minutes of pure, unadulterated action.
The first half of the film plays out more seriously, with Adam’s need for solitude being his priority, but after Eloise’s death and knowing how kind she was, especially to him, his anger takes over. He throws everything to the wind to track down the responsible people, working his way through all the middlemen until he reaches the top, where he learns the President of the United States is involved.
Statham is Statham; he always plays himself in every movie, and that’s okay; we go to see a Jason Statham film because we know what to expect. At a sprightly 56 years old, he still manages to kick ass and put younger action stars to shame. Jeremy Irons is wasted in a role that is nothing more than a glorified cameo, the sort of role he could play with his eyes shut, but I have to give kudos to Josh Hutcherson. Known for mainly playing good guys, here, he is disgusting and loathsome, a nasty piece of work who deserves his comeuppance.
Director David Ayer, known for “Street Kings,” “End of Watch,” “Sabotage,” “Fury,” and “Suicide Squad,” infuses the film, especially the first half, with gritty realism, but as the movie progresses, that one element gives way to exaggerated shenanigans and loses all sense of genuineness. If he kept the hard-hitting, realistic overtones prevalent initially, “The Beekeeper” could have been a classic. As it stands, though, it is typical action fare from Statham but somewhat disappointing coming from Ayer, especially knowing what a great filmmaker he can be.
In Theaters Friday, January 12th
