The Beekeeper

The Beekeeper is a thriller about taking down cybercriminals. I don't think there has been a simpler hook for a film than what writer Kurt Wimmer and director David Ayer have made for this film. It's a nice distraction as I wait for the last few Oscar movies to play locally.

Adam Clay (Jason Statham) is a humble beekeeper who lives in the widowed Eloise Parker's (Phylicia Rashad) garage. They're pretty close friends, so he is naturally very upset when phishers clean out Eloise's accounts and drive her to suicide. After a natural misunderstanding with an FBI agent - Eloise's daughter, Verona (Emmy Raver-Lampman) - Clay decides to get revenge on the scammers. 

It turns out that, in addition to being a literal beekeeper, Clay is also a figurative Beekeeper, that being the codename for an elite operative who will go to any lengths to protect the innocent. He works his way up the corporate ladder to punish those who wronged Eloise. Meanwhile, Verona and her partner, Matt Wiley (Bobby Naderi), pursue Clay to quell his roaring rampage of revenge. Both quests become complicated when it's discovered that the phishers are funded by Derek Danforth (Josh Hutcherson), whose mother, Jessica (Jemma Redgrave), is the President of the United States.

We only see Clay and Eloise in one scene together before her fateful encounter. But it's enough to make you genuinely tremble and think "no, don't do it" as she boots up her laptop. David Witts goes above and beyond to make Mickey Garnett, the call center leader who personally swindles Eloise, an utter smug snake who sweet talks her into giving him her credentials while he laughs it up with his employees. That makes it cathartic when Clay blows up his call center, defeats a few goons and sends him down a river. It's a little more cathartic if you've ever fallen for a phishing scam (I almost did). 

Statham is quite compelling as Clay. His campaign is excessive, but his time with Eloise and Verona gives him some humanity. He further shows that humanity when he allows the call center grunts to evacuate. He's so compelling that his excessive use of bee-related one liners sound normal. His adversaries include his evil counterpart, Anisette (Megan Le), who challenges him to a destructive battle at a gas station and Lazarus (Taylor James), a mercenary who delivers the film's ultimate groaner. They both make the most of their limited screen times with their bombastic personalities.

A downside to making Garnett so excessively smug is that Derek, petulant brat that he is, almost looks reasonable by comparison. Jessica, meanwhile, has nothing to do with her son's cybercrimes, and is sympathetic even after Clay shoots Derek in the end. Jeremy Irons especially stands out as Westwyld, Derek's retainer and ex-CIA boss, who tries his best to deal with Derek's petulance, even if it means fighting Clay.

What else is there? Clay gets a pretty good fight at a second call center, including a rather inventive and brutal elevator trap for a few goons. Verona spends the film being the Gerrard to Clay's Kimble even before his rampage. Her following him is pretty much standard procedure law-upholding, though a bit understandable (i.e., the gas station fight), and thankfully doesn't drop the ball in her pursuit. There's some surprisingly stellar production design for the two call centers even if both look the same. I think that both centers' purple lighting seals the deal.

The Beekeeper isn't as deep as an actual hive, but at 105 minutes, it gets the matinee job done. Anyone looking for the next John Wick, which some reviews have already compared it to, will find its action sweet as honey. It's another star vehicle for Statham, and I don't think his fans will have it any other way. Onwards to the next review.