The Beekeeper (2024)

 

Bees are an integral part of our world; without them, planet Earth would not flourish. They are fighters, for sure. But what happens when you use the bee metaphor in the case or real world scenarios? You would get the feature film “The Beekeeper”, an action film starring Jason Statham, written by Kurt Wimmer, and directed by David Ayer. The movie enjoys itself with its copious amounts of action in its hour and forty five minute runtime. Although, the film does have some issues that are quite noticeable, they do not hinder the overall experience whatsoever. “The Beekeeper” is an interesting concept with its title, and a decent action film that grabs your attention to the very end.

The story centers on a man named Adam Clay (Statham), who enjoys taking care of bees for an elderly lady. One day, the woman gets scammed and commits suicide, leaving Adam all alone. But he's not alone. It turns out that Adam is what's known as a Beekeeper: a special forces agent that is tasked on finishing the job, no matter the cost. Now, Adam is on a mission to take down those responsible for hurting and killing an innocent person, all the way down to the proposed queen of the group.

With “The Beekeeper”, it does have some good qualities about itself.

For one thing, as stated before, the movie flows at a rather nice pace. It does have room to breath, and knows when to slow down to take advantage of the current situation. There was never a boring moment, and it kept me invested all the way throughout.

Statham does a good job with what he's given, and considering he has made himself known in the action genre, his participation here is fine. As does the rest of the cast, they complete their parts just fine with the material being given to them. But, for the most part, this movie is mostly centered on Statham.

The direction by Ayer is fine, as well. It seems as if this movie is his foray for directing. I say this because, the films that Ayer made prior were all action oriented projects. Films like “End of Watch” and “Fury”, for example, are all action films that Ayer has directed, and, just like “The Beekeeper”, utilize action properly.

Speaking of the action, “The Beekeeper” employs both choreographed staged fighting and explosives to make use of the current situation. Most of the fighting comes directly from Statham, and it works beautifully. Every hit, punch and gun fight is timed, packs a wallop, and can be very big in its final execution. Plus, the use of CGI is limited (at least, from what I could tell), and is used primarily for the much bigger explosions.

And that's probably the best part about the movie in general: it is fun, and doesn't take itself too seriously. If you want a movie that just shuts off your brain, and doesn't take itself too seriously, then this is the movie for you.

Well, that's not to say that the movie has some problems.

For starters, while most of the cast is good, their characters are not that memorable. For instance, two characters named Verona and Matt (played respectively by Emmy Raver-Lampman and Bobby Naderi) who are both FBI agents, don't really have much of a personality. Most of their character traits include wanting to solve the case as quickly as possible, while Verona just wants to avenge her mother.

There is also the villains of the group, and while their motivation is clear, there is really nothing likable about them. They're just there to be there. Even the performances by Josh Hutcherson and Jeremy Irons don't really deliver that much of an impact. They're not that threatening, and only give an excuse to be in the main character's way.

And that can be attributed to the writing. Kurt Wimmer, just like Ayer, is mostly known for action movies like “The Beekeeper”, and they are pretty much the same concept. Big tough guys come in with explosions, and then proceed to go and save the day. Sure, the writing can be fun at times, but when it takes itself seriously, the movie can get a little boring at times. Perhaps, if the the writing took itself less seriously, and putting more emphasis on fun, the the movie would have been good.

As with everything else, they are fine. The sound coordination and editing is fine; it is a treat for the ears, and you can hear every punch and gun shot distinctively just fine. The music by both Dave Sardy and Jared Michael Fry, is kind of a mixed bag. On the one hand, the opening theme isn't too bad to listen to, but on the other hand, the rest of the score can be pretty forgettable.

In conclusion, “The Beekeeper” does have a few standout moments to take in, but if things could have been improved, then we would have a pretty solid action flick. But as is, this almost like a real bee: it does put up a fight, but can't manage a victory.