I’m not allergic to bees; just this movie.
Jason Statham’s Adam Clay is a former operative of a secret organization known as “Beekeepers,” which follows all the rules of ordinary bees. How to protect the hive, how to pollinate the plants, and what to do if a queen bee can’t produce the right male bee. He also moves on a beekeeper working on a humble farm.
That’s the set-up for “The Beekeeper,” which has the potential to be a B-movie (I’m not saying “Bee” because these puns have worn out their welcome) and has a concept that I could relate to, but is too bombastic to be fun.
His story begins with his kind elderly neighbor Eloise Parker (Phylicia Rashad), whose story ends when she gets scammed by a Wall Street-like phishing company, best known for sending people viruses on their computers, telling them to transfer all their money for protection, and guilt trip them when they say they accidentally gave her money. Given her age, since she’s no laptop expert, it makes it easy for them to deceive her. And therefore, all her money is gone, and she’s left with no choice but suicide.
Now, you’re probably wondering how I could relate to this movie? I didn’t fall for these scams, but my bank account was hacked by someone in Arkansas. Fortunately, my bank resolved the problem and I moved my funds to another bank. You’re dreaming if you think I’m gonna tell you what bank I use.
Anyway, Mr. Clay decides to stroll in that very same company with two gas cans to burn it down, and without any guns, he can make his way through. Thus making himself some kind of John Wick. No guns, just fists.
This grabs the attention of the criminal mastermind Derek Danforth (Josh Hutcherson), who seems like a cousin of the Chris Pine psychopath in “Horrible Bosses 2” with his sinister immaturity, but is actually the son of the U.S. President (Jemma Redgrave), and the one a C.I.A. director (Jeremy Irons) has grown tired of babysitting. They also have a variety of some very stupid looking henchmen trying to take out Mr. Clay. For example, you get a gas station scene that requires one of them to use big machine guns to take him out, but he’s able to turn the tables on them.
As I continued to watch “The Beekeeper,” I learned it was directed by David Ayer, who should be reconnecting with his roots. You know when he did the screenplays for “S.W.A.T.” and “The Fast and the Furious,” among others, and when he directed brilliant pieces like “End of Watch” and “Fury.” I think his choice of action, make-up, and behaviors seemed to be indulged by his 2016 movie “Suicide Squad,” which still sucks even today.
Watching these scammers get their violent comeuppance made me feel good, especially since I’ve been victimized, but it feels too easy to take us in Mr. Clay’s world. And there’s a supporting character in the form of Parker’s FBI Agent daughter (Emmy Raver-Lampman), who almost blames Mr. Clay for her mother’s death, but immediately apologizes to him for that. She can fool herself into believing that the law is the law when it comes to the beekeeper’s slaughterings (especially since they’re all implicated with the company that scammed and killed her mother), but she’s glad he’s punishing the scammers.
Statham does better work here than he did recently in “Expand4bles,” especially when he channels familiar action heroes, but he deserves a better script than what the movie can provide for him. Half of this movie I liked, and half of it I disliked. It’s like pouring honey on burnt toast.