The Beekeeper

Director: David Ayer
Starring: Jason Statham, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Josh Hutcherson, Bobby Naderi, Minnie Driver, David Witts, Michael Epp, Jemma Redgrave, Phylicia Rashad, Jeremy Irons
Running Time: 105 min.
Rating: R

★★★ (out of ★★★★) 

Those complaining we don't get nearly enough movies about beekeepers will be pleased that director David Ayer delivers an entertainingly over-the-top action thriller starring Jason Statham as its title character. An open invitation to check your brain at the door, this finds the ass kicking actor again stepping into that heroic vigilante role he's mastered throughout his career. The plot couldn't be simpler, as our quiet but deadly protagonist plows through armies of criminals, FBI agents, local law enforcement and anyone else preventing him from administering some John Wick-style justice.

The protagonist's occupational duties go a bit further than you'd expect, also working as another type of beekeeper who's tasked with "protecting the hive" that is the United States. And like 007, this isn't exactly the type of job you just retire or walk away from. Initially content to call it a career by leaving the violence and adventure behind, a ruthless scam brings him back to get even. But this time it's personal, with this enforcer dirtying his hands to do what the law can't or won't.

Adam Clay (Statham) leads a quiet life as a beekeeper, renting space in a barn owned by retired school teacher and philanthropist Eloise Parker (Phylicia Rashad), who commits suicide after falling victim to an online phishing scam that drains over $2 million from her bank account. After discovering Eloise's body, Adam is questioned by her daughter, FBI agent Verona Parker (Emmy Raver-Lampman) who tells him the bureau is attempting to track down the company that did it. Instead, Adam takes matters into his own hands by destroying a call center and using his ties with a shadow organization called the Beekeepers to locate the data company's vice president, Derek Danforth (Josh Hutcherson). 

As Adam closes in, the whiny Derek begs for help from security head and former CIA director Wallace Westwyld (Jeremy Irons). But despite his many connections and access to hired mercenaries, an extremely dangerous Adam proves unstoppable, in the process exposing a massive cover-up with far reaching implications. It's up to Verona and FBI partner Agent Wiley (Bobby Naderi) to somehow stop his rampage, even as her very personal connection to the case indicates she may not want to.

This scam itself is commonplace, but it's still gripping to watch each step of the process unfold on screen in such detail. A key strength of Kurt Wimmer's script is its focus on this vulnerable senior being taken for a ride by a slimy, obnoxious call center manager (David Witts) and his boiler room of heartless minions. An effective hook that helps audiences sympathize with the victim, it simultaneously gives Adam even greater motivation to restore what he calls a sense of "balance" to society.  

Eloise not immediately contacting her FBI agent daughter after being scammed can be chalked up to the emotional trauma of the moment, but the bureau's of little help anyway. That's the purpose of beekeepers like Adam, even as we wonder why the government doesn't just dedicate an eighth of the resources they throw at him toward cracking down on these crimes. It's an idea not lost on the film every time this commando vanquishes an obstacle standing between him and Hutchinson's spoiled nepo baby character. As Westwyld, Jeremy Irons brings some welcome gravitas, knowing the hole Derek's dug himself into and wanting no part of it. But in the end, he really has little choice.

At this point, Statham could probably play this part in his sleep, with Adam donning disguises, sneaking in and out of secured buildings and using guns, knives, bombs, martial arts to casually clobber everyone in sight. Existing on the periphery of these thrillingly staged and sometimes unintentionally hilarious action scenes is the notion Verona's chasing the man avenging her mother's death, making her job that much harder. And Raver-Lampman conveys that inner conflict subtly in a movie where restraint isn't the top priority. 

Just based on the insanely high body count and how early the beekeeper enacts revenge, you'd think this could end within the first thirty minutes. In actuality, the mission's just beginning, with Adam's quest eventually reaching the highest level of government. Those in his path will find out the hard way that it's never a good idea to kick a hornet's nest, especially one belonging to a wrecking machine dead set on exterminating the queen of the hive. Taking a straightforward, apolitical stance against agencies that leave the most helpless without recourse, The Beekeeper implies someone like Statham could come in handy. Or better yet, it reminds us that the system should never be broken enough for us to need him.