When his elderly friend is scammed out of her life savings, quiet beekeeper Adam Clay sets about finding the con artists responsible and exacting a violent revenge.
Suicide squad’s David Ayer directs Jason Statham in this Sky original film written by Expendables 4 scribe Kurt Wimmer.
As you’ve probably guessed, Statham’s Clay is no ordinary Beekeeper, he’s actually a retired member of a clandestine organisation known as… ‘The Beekeepers’.
This secretive and feared group of commandos operate above the government and act in the best interests of the country.
So when his friend is wronged, a furious Clay comes out of retirement and sets out on his vengeful quest.
The scam artists run by Josh Hutchersons rich kid Derek Danforth are not prepared for someone with Clay’s background, and after seeing their operation significantly disrupted by the Beekeeper, Derek calls in his mothers powerful friend Wallace for assistance. The part of the unscrupulous Wallace is taken by Jeremy Irons, who is on top form as the besuited sleaze-bag.
Emmy Raver-Lampman is Verona, the daughter of Clay’s tragic friend, who also conveniently happens to be the FBI field agent tasked with tracking him down. There’s also a blink-and-you’ll-miss-her appearance from Mini Driver, which suggests most of her part now resides on the cutting room floor.
Wimmer’s script is clunky at best, and desperately hammers home the Beekeeping analogy, despite it making very little sense.
Having worked for the notorious Beekeepers, actually keeping bees doesn’t seem like the greatest cover for a retired agent looking to keep a low profile in his twilight years. In fact everything Bee related seems like it was shoehorned in after the films title was agreed upon. Clay, could easily have been a former marine or navy seal and the film would have lost nothing.
Having said that, seeing the Stath bring violent retribution to the bad guys never fails to be entertaining. He’s completely unstoppable here, taking out heavily armed squadrons with his bare hands and walking away without so much as a scratch.
Only in the final scene, against Wallace’s bizarre South African hit-squad (who seem to have been parachuted in from an 80’s Schwarzenegger film) does he sustain any sort of wound.
Whilst it never reaches the heights of peak Statham, The Beekeeper is not without its charms.
Played completely straight faced despite the absurdity, this is enjoyably preposterous nonsense which action fans will completely lap up.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Paul Steward
X @grittster
26/01/24