The Beekeeper Movie Review

“The Beekeeper” is a movie guaranteed to generate some ‘buzz’. But will this equate to good publicity, or will it ‘bee’ a typical January mediocre movie release? That would depend on how much you like (or at least tolerate) action star Jason Statham. And how much you like explosions, violence, and bloody beatings…

Adam Clay (played by Jason Statham) is a man retired from a very specialized force. Now, he tends to his bees on a farm in rural Massachusetts. His friendly neighbor, Eloise Parker (played by Phylicia Rashad), lets Clay use her barn for beekeeping activities. She is snagged one day by a shady group of cybercriminals.

They drain all of her bank accounts. She is so distraught that she commits suicide. Clay is very upset at this fact. He is found at her house by Parker’s daughter. Agent Veronica Parker (played by Emmy Raver-Lampman) is with the FBI. At first, she thinks Clay was responsible. But he is cleared, and she tells him about all the stolen funds. Clay thinks that Eloise was a good person and this wrong needs to be set right.

Luckily, Adam Clay has retired with a ‘very particular set of skills’. He used to work for a secretive group known as “The Beekeepers”. When law enforcement fails, ‘The Beekeepers’ step in to set things right. You know, ‘protect the hive’ sort of things… Agent Parker knows nothing about Clay’s very super-secret past. She will soon know a lot more.

Agent Parker and her partner – Agent Matt Wiley (played by Bobby Naderi) – find they have no leads on the computer scam artists. Adam Clay has a way to find out more information. He pays a visit to the nearby criminal scam call center. When he leaves, the building is in ashes and some bad guys are dead. But he is able to get a lead on the higher-ups.

The head of the organization is a total sleazeball named Derek Danforth (played by Josh Hutcherson). He gets his special ‘security consultant’ to figure out how to stop this nutjob, Clay, who is on a rampage. His security guy is Wallace Westwyld (played by Jeremy Irons). He is the ex-director of the CIA, so the man has connections.

Clay is about to target another of the call centers in Danforth’s empire. Westwyld gets some high-level ex-military security to protect the Boston location. He is also able to get a squad of FBI SWAT team members involved to secure the perimeter. Adam Clay cuts through the multi-agency protection like a honey drips from a knife.

Agent Parker and Agent Wiley are able to identify Adam Clay as the one-man wrecking crew. More buildings are in ruins, and more bad guys are dead. Wallace Westwyld has been told of the secret society of The Beekeepers. He knows that they are not to be messed with. The Beekeepers had attempted to send one of their own to stop Clay. Of course, that did not work out either. They refuse to try again.

Derek Danforth is not that worried, but he is super pissed. That one guy is starting to tear down his little illegal empire. He does not want his mom to know about it. After all, his mom is the President of the United States. She does not know that Derek helped fund her campaign with the ill-gotten gains. Wallace Westwyld tells Danforth that the only way he can be protected to spend the weekend with his mom, and a boatload of Secret Service agents.

The whole group is in the summer home compound, surrounded by security forces and Secret Service. Agent Parker and Agent Wiley are there, to also protect the people in the house. Inside are Derek Danforth, and his security chief, Wallace Westwyld. And, oh yeah – the President is also there. The only one who is not supposed to there is Adam Clay. Or is he?

Of course, Adam Clay outwits the Secret Service and the Danforth hired goon squad. He is able to fight against scores of agents, all heavily armed. Each one has had a course in marksmanship from Imperial Stormtroopers. Not a single shot hits Clay. It is up to him to take out the ‘Queen Bee’ with the defective offspring. Will he take out the President, or the morally bankrupt son, Derek Danforth…

“The Beekeeper” is a well-made action that sets reality to one side as it allows Jason Statham to pummel stuntmen left and right. Statham shows that he capable of playing this type of role, for which is well known. He plays the bald beekeeper in his typical, physically gruff fashion.

Some other standouts are Emmy Raver-Lampman, playing the FBI Agent torn between duty and her own family tragedy. Jeremy Irons is also welcome, as he delivers his lines with heavy dose of sarcasm dripping like pure honey. Josh Hutcherson is also good as the young brash ‘nepo baby’ with a dark soul.

The creative idea that the movie toys with is the super-secret group of “Beekeepers” who are outside the law. This group is in some ways similar to the “Kingsmen” (see “Kingsman: The Secret Service” movie).  Adam Clay has the stealth skills and fighting prowess of a Jason Bourne. He also has the shooting and fighting skill of John Wick.

The movie goes a bit astray in attempting to be too serious while the story veers off into comic book type action. Sure, if there was an organization like “The Beekeepers”, Adam Clay would be the guy who was the best Agent. But they just let him retire, so he can raise… bees?

“The Beekeeper” is a Jason Statham slugfest of violence and mayhem. The story begins with a somewhat plausible scenario. But as the level of action goes further and bloodier, it becomes a little bit un-BEE-lievable…