Whereas it’s being offered as one other simple Jason Statham motion flick, The Beekeeper is method higher than you suppose.
Reality be advised, I had little to no real interest in seeing The Beekeeper. Whereas I really like motion movies, I felt burnt out by Jason Statham’s most up-to-date run of films, together with The Meg 2, Operation Fortune, and Expend4bles. My chief grievance about Statham was that he all the time performed characters that have been too completely tailor-made to his persona and that his combat scenes had turn out to be predictable, with him hardly ever going through off with an opponent that appeared like a reputable menace. Thus, I had no qualms about assigning the overview to certainly one of our different critics, Tyler Nichols, who did an ideal job together with his (optimistic) write-up. To be clear, don’t think about this a “overview”. It’s extra an an editorial.
So why did I trouble seeing The Beekeeper if I assumed I’d hate it and had no intention of reviewing it? Easy – I used to be bored on Saturday afternoon. With nothing to do, I made a decision to take a look at a matinee, primarily as a result of I learn a rave overview of Kurt Wimmer’s script a short while in the past, which promised the movie was removed from routine. But, as a lot as I like Equilibrium, Wimmer’s title isn’t all the time an indication of high quality to me, with him one of many guys behind Expend4bles. My preconceived notions concerning the movie have been unsuitable – The Beekeeper is certainly one of Jason Statham’s greatest films.
In the event you’ve solely seen the trailers, you may not get what’s so particular about this film. By necessity, the trailers don’t reveal the varied twists and turns that make this a quasi-classic. There’s a cause Amazon/MGM did sneak previews final weekend and why it’s set to make extra on its first weekend than Expend4bles did in its total North American run. Persons are loving this film.
Kurt Wimmer’s script may have been straightforward to screw up, however this film has the right combo each behind and in entrance of the digital camera. David Ayer’s course is impeccable, with him clearly understanding the task. In some ways, this can be a loving homage to Cannon Photos and their run-of-action films from the eighties. These films had extremely excessive ideas (such because the Soviets making an attempt to begin WW3 in Invasion USA), and the truth that they by no means fairly had the price range to again up their ambitions was a part of their appeal. However, Ayer’s obtained the ability and funding to comply with The Beekeeper’s wildly bold premise to its gonzo, off-the-wall conclusion, with this initially routine revenge film finally having practically apocalyptic, country-destabilizing stakes within the finale.
In some methods, it would assist to consider The Beekeeper as a slasher movie, with Statham’s Adam Clay an unstoppable behemoth within the vein of Jason or Freddy Krueger. You’ll nearly really feel unhealthy for the villains have been they not such a completely despicable group, with Josh Hutcherson delivering a legitimately glorious efficiency because the tech bro from hell. He performs the top of an information mining firm that cleans out the financial institution accounts of the aged, just for them to focus on a candy previous woman (performed by the universally beloved Phylicia Rashad) who, sadly for the unhealthy guys, occurs to have been type to Statham’s lonely beekeeper. These guys are so unhealthy that not solely do they clear out her financial institution accounts, however additionally they wipe out a kids’s charity she runs, leaving her so distraught that she commits suicide. So proper there, you wish to see the unhealthy guys pay – and boy do they.
However, the place The Beekeeper’s true genius lies in how each motion sequence builds on the final, with the stakes getting larger and better, to the purpose that the FBI, the Secret Service, and the CIA are all making an attempt to cease Clay. Why is he so expert? He belongs to an ultra-secret community referred to as The Beekeepers, who exist to maintain the powers that be in examine – by way of no matter means needed. Nobody is above answering to the Beekeepers. In the event you suppose you recognize the place this film goes, you’d be unsuitable, with the final twenty minutes working as each pure carnage and a quasi-satire of recent motion films, with the mythology of The Beekeepers so “on the market” that it seems like a winking send-up of The Excessive Desk from John Wick.
By way of all of it, Ayer retains the tempo propulsive, with a mic drop ending that had the viewers I noticed this with cheering. DP Gabriel Beristain gorgeously shoots it, and the forged is great, with Jeremy Irons taking part in towards kind as maybe one of the crucial frightened (reasonably than horrifying) film unhealthy guys of all time. By way of all of it, Statham is completely deadpan, and for as soon as, his invincible facet appears acceptable for the character, whose expertise are portrayed as otherworldly. The movie additionally accommodates certainly one of Statham’s greatest combat sequences, the place he lastly meets his match in a mercenary (performed by Taylor James in a hilariously “on the market” efficiency) who as soon as managed to kill a beekeeper (however misplaced a limb within the course of). He even takes a little bit of a beating in the direction of the top, teasing a sequel the place he may – doubtlessly – go up towards an equally expert Beekeeper (somebody like Scott Adkins can be nice). Statham is legitimately terrific in it, lastly getting an superior, memorable hero to play for maybe the primary time since he stopped taking part in The Transporter. This might be his Rambo.
Granted, The Beekeeper will not be for everybody. It’s so over-the-top and unapologetic that it will not be for you if you happen to want motion films grounded and straight-faced. The B-plot, the place Rashad’s FBI agent daughter (performed by Emmy Raver-Lampman) tries to cease Clay additionally by no means actually works, because it’s laborious to know why she’d be looking the person making an attempt to avenge her mom’s loss of life. However, The Beekeeper is a gem that retains increase steam and throws in every thing however the kitchen sink. In the event you suppose you have got it pegged, do your self a favor and see it. The stakes are larger than you suppose, and it’s a continuous, adrenaline-packed blast. Is it a B (or “bee) film? Hell sure it’s, nevertheless it’s been designed to be among the finest B-movies ever made. In someways it jogged my memory of Godzilla Minus Zero, in that it’s most likely the absolute best model of what they have been making an attempt to make. with Minus Zero aiming to be the perfect ever Godzilla film (mission completed). The purpose right here was the make the perfect rattling Jason Statham B-action film ever, and I feel they simply about pulled it off.
