★★½
A beehive consists of a really intricate social hierarchy, with each bee fulfilling a objective that advantages the higher good of the hive. When a bee goes rogue, one thing should be achieved to guard the hive, a job that Jason Statham does very properly as, The Beekeeper. After all, we’re not simply speaking about bees right here, and David Ayer’s motion thriller follows the lifetime of an ex-killing specialist and his quest to make issues proper on the planet. The movie is stuffed to the brim with over-the-top motion sequences and shootouts, and it even has an honest setup that may make the viewers’s blood boil. Questionable appearing and a repetitive format make the film drag because it plods alongside, however at instances The Beekeeper additionally delivers an adrenaline-pumping spectacle.
Adam Clay (Jason Statham) is a retired Beekeeper, a member of a super-secret extremely labeled group of specialist killers. In retirement, Clay continues to be a beekeeper in a extra literal sense, when a lonely senior citizen, Eloise Parker (Phylicia Rashad), commissions him to maintain bees on her property. At some point, Eloise falls for a vishing rip-off, and her accounts are wiped of hundreds of thousands of {dollars}. Shocked and distraught, Eloise commits suicide, a grotesque sight discovered by Clay and her daughter Verona (Emmy Raver-Lampman). When Verona, an FBI agent, finds out why her mom killed herself, she vows to take down the prison group. Realizing how gradual and unjust the authorized course of is, Clay decides to take issues into his personal palms and kill all the way in which to the highest.
From the bounce, The Beekeeper does properly at making the viewers offended and sympathetic. Watching a senior citizen get preyed upon and have her life financial savings worn out is one thing that occurs all too typically. One will really feel the identical sense of revenge that drives Adam Clay, even after realizing these characters for only some minutes. The senseless motion is kind of satisfying at first however shortly turns into stale because the highway to the highest takes a bit longer than it ought to, and Statham’s character isn’t actually hampered by any weaknesses.
Outdoors of Statham’s monotone killing machine persona, the appearing in The Beekeeper is forgettable. The banter amongst supplementary characters is often inserted for comedic impact and is nearly at all times eye-rolling. Lots of the villains appear to be miscast, as Ayer actually leans into the “crypto-bro” persona for the unhealthy guys, which doesn’t appear to be a match for the unstoppable Beekeeper.
Moviegoers more than likely know what they’ll be getting earlier than watching The Beekeeper and won’t be upset on that entrance. There may be nothing groundbreaking right here, as Ayer delivers a senseless motion flick and an entertaining revenge-fueled romp by Massachusetts. Though the 105-minute run time begins to really feel gradual about midway by, it’s price sticking round till the tip, if solely to see if The Beekeeper can full his mission.