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A CLASSIC (YET IMPERFECT)
“ONE MAN ARMY” FLICK
Within the action film genre, there lies a storied tradition of narrative storytelling that derives from the classic (yet always beloved) “one man army” yarn. There have been many of these films across the many decades of action cinematic history, yet they all roughly remain the same by having a protagonist character that is so dangerous, so skilled, so efficient that they are able to be sent into a scenario / mission and dispatching an incredible number of bad guys and emerge inevitably victorious by the time the film reaches its conclusion. Sometimes cheesy and over-the-top or flashy and visually fun, the “one man army” movies have certain have a cult following from this particular niche subgenre, with many studios producing numerous releases throughout the years. This includes such films like Die Hard, John Wick, Atomic Blonde, Rambo, Taken, the Bourne franchise, Man on Fire, and Equalizer just to name a few. Now, MGM Studios and director David Ayer present the latest film in the “one man army” presentation with the release of the film The Beekeeper. Does this movie buzz high with its action scenes or does it get swatted out of the sky with a rather shell of a story?
THE STORY
On a quiet Massachusetts farm, Adam Clay (Jason Statham) takes care of the bees for property landowner Eloise Parker (Phylicia Rashad), renting out space in her barn with the pair enjoying kind friendship towards each other. While Eloise is on her labtop one afternoon, she’s hit by cyber-attack, with Mickey (David Witts) leading a call center devoted to defrauding naïve individuals and depleting their accounts. Realizing all of her accounts, including one set up for charity, have been drained of all funds, Eloise commits suicide, leaving Adam to find the body. Losing the only person who cared for him, Adam is determined to bring down the criminals that were responsible for this heinous crime, working with his particular set of skills to kill them all. Trying to make sense of the situation is FBI agent Verona Parker (Emmy Raver-Lampman), who’s also Eloise’s daughter, and Derek Danforth (Josh Hutcherson), an arrogant and privileged young man who runs an underground empire of many scammer call centers, including the one that took advantage of Eloise, in the shadows of a family’s company. When one of his call centers gets torched by a reported single man and Mickey killed off, Derek becomes worried, seeking advice from family advisor / corporate security expert for Danforth Enterprise, Wallace Westwyld (Jeremy Irons), with the former director of the CIA recognizing the work of a “Beekeeper”, a special black ops unit that Adam himself was once a member of.
THE GOOD / THE BAD
Being a lover of movies, the action genre is definitely up there as one of my favorite genres to enjoy watching, especially the ones that involve the classic “one man army” narrative structure. Yes, I can admit it that some of such tales can be both farfetched and cheesy at times, especially when considering that one person (man or woman) can fend off against a slew of thugs, gangsters, bandits, goons, hired mercenaries, ex-soldiers, and a great host of nameless underlings grunts in some brutal takedowns. Be it personal revenge, seeking vengeance, finding justice, or acting like outside the laws as a “robin hood” vigilante, cinematic stories of “one man army” provides plenty of escapism for entertain value, looking for mindless action of single person (so brave, resourceful, skilled) that he take on the world. Movies of this particular caliber have been around for quite some time, especially within the 80s and 90s, which focused action movies having more grit and “larger than life” characters. Such personal examples of this can be found in some my favorites films such like Die Hard, Under Siege, Police Story, and Road House. However, these type of movies are not exclusive to those two decades, with 2000s eras (00s, 10s, 20s) still producing “one man army” narratives and adding more of either a certain type of visual style, more violence, or even a bit more engaging story to be told. Such films like Olympus Has Fallen, John Wick, The Equalizer, and Taken being such primes of these notion and are some of my favorites. In the end, while not the most groundbreaking or innovated storytelling artform for feature film, the “one man army” narrative does provide plenty of stylish fun and enjoyment in watching someone taking on hundreds of bad guys in violence fashion in a way that we only wish we could do to such vile scum.
This brings me back to talking about The Beekeeper (2024) review, an action thriller and the latest cinematic film to present the “one man army” narrative as the main premise. I can’t exactly remember when I first heard about this movie as I can’t recall much about when this project was first announced nor any type of tidbit information about it online. I think my first “notice” of this movie was when the film’s movie trailer began to appear sometime in Fall 2023 both online and in theaters (during the “coming attractions” previews). Of course, the film’s trailers toted a classic Statham fanfare, which I am mostly fan of his work, shells out the promise of plenty of vicious action stunts and thrills as he presumably tackles a large company of corruption of deception. So, I was quite interested in seeing this movie. However, Statham movies can be a sometimes “hit or miss” as I loved something like Wrath of Man, but I hated The Meg 2: The Trench. It’s a sort of “give and take” with his endeavors.
Still, I was hoping for the best in this movie and did plan on seeing The Beekeeper when it scheduled to be released on January 12th, 2024, and was one of the first movies of 2024 movie releases. However, due to my work schedule as well as my backlogged of trying to complete my 2023 movie reviews done, I didn’t get a chance to see this movie in theaters. I actually did get a chance to see the movie when it came to Prime Video streaming services and finally (after getting a lot of reviews done) was able to check this film out to see if it was worth some of the hype. And what did I think of it? Well, I liked it and enjoyed it for what it was. While feature does hit some bumps along the way within its narrative substance and several filmmaking execution nuances, The Beekeeper still has fun within its premise, providing Statham a cinematic vehicle to play around in and boast plenty of relentless action to make for a worth seeing. It doesn’t come to the same heights of something like a John Wick movie or even that of Equalizer installment, but it sure is a lot of fun to see Statham dishes out some brutal melee violence in such no-nonsense bravado that’s a joy to watch.
The Beekeeper is directed by David Ayer, whose previous directorial works includes such films as End of Watch, Bright, and Suicide Squad. Given the directorial past endeavors, Ayer does make the most of his time while helming this action feature and does seems to be having fun directing the movie. He definitely succeeds in making the film have the classic “one man army” mantra that fits perfectly well within the action subgenre. Ayer’s approaches the project with enough sense of gravitas in the feature’s main plotting, which does lend some credibility to the reasons why Adam is doing what he does throughout the movie following Eloise’s death, but never diverts the movie from being too serious, which certainly does make room for some comedy angst and humor to occur (breaking up the action scenes in a good way.
Naturally, this brings up the film’s action scenes and Ayer doesn’t fail in this regard, with the movie boasting plenty of fun see within these sequences. The staging of such moments is engaging and a treat to watch, seeing Statham’s Adam took on bad guy after bad guy with some creative and brutal violence scenes. This, of course, is the feature’s “bread and butter” and where Ayer shows a strong representation in this visual display. True, many other similar projects have done this narrative and provided good action scenes in this regard, but Ayer and his team are certainly enjoying staging and executing such moments to be captured on the big screen, producing violent and mayhem in a joyous glee manner. Plus, it’s not all just punching bad guys left and right as the movie does give Adam (Statham) plenty to work with in his various fighting scenes, including martial arts, knife play, and shootouts galore. As to be expected, such carnage in how the bad guys are dispatched by Adam are fun and creatively done, with few that might make you (the viewer) squirm in your seat. So, basically, action junkies out there will find what’s presented in The Beekeeper to their liking.
Naturally, this brings up some of the ridiculousness that the feature has in its presentation, with Ayer playing up such cheesy and hammy motifs (nuances and performances) within The Beekeeper’s narrative. With these types of movies, that’s usually the “name of the game”, with many action flicks, including those of the “one man army” endeavors, that have some over-the-top moments of violence and action sequences as well as character being a bit broad and “larger than life” at times, chewing through some cheesy dialogue lines as they come across a one-man wrecking crew protagonist. There are a few moments where this idea doesn’t work the right way, but, for the most part, Ayer makes the action flick relish in such ridiculous notions in a manner that offer some comedic levity in characters being a bit “theatrically bold” and goofily campy sometimes, offering a fun distinction to the film’s identity.
Additionally, a small, interesting angle is the large commentary message that the movie presents within its narrative. Of course, I am talking about phishing scamming, which is a real thing, and many have fallen victim to such deceiving acts. Callers pretending to someone’s bank or masking to be police officer or even an IRS agent are just some of the commonplace ones as well as ransomware being attached to emails other things across the world wide web. Such practice is truly despicable and pry upon the weak and naïve (commonly elderly citizens) in such a heinous act is “scum of the earth”. While I personally haven’t fallen victim to such a crime, I’ve known many that have, and it becomes quite an ordeal to go through in the following aftermath. I could go on and on about this subject, but you get the idea. So, bring it back around to The Beekeeper, using the main driving force behind Adam Clay’s vengeance being a phishing scam from someone he cared about (to a certain degree) is a good driving force for the feature to have. This then raise some fundamental questions about who profits from these scammers’ call centers across the globe and how much corruption is tied to it. It’s way to present such a vile act and definitely makes Adam Clay’s steely demeanor that much more fun to see him take down the “establishment” behind the film’s main scammer company (and the forces behind it). Reflecting upon the real world, the movie, while fanciful at times within its action, does give some poignant moments to stop and think about next time you open up some unrecognizable email or pick up the phone from an unknown caller. Spam and scammers are real and (sadly) the world doesn’t have Adam Clay to fight for us against them. So, my point is, just be cautious.
Lastly, Ayer makes the movie has steady pacing throughout much of the film, which clocks in at around 105 minutes (one hour and forty-five minutes). This does help in keeping up the relentless momentum throughout much of the picture’s presentation, which does propel everything forward and doesn’t get too entangled in several side plot details or any type of unnecessary threads. Again, Ayer knows what viewers want from this movie and, while this tactic may come at the cost of a few things in the shaping of the movie (more on that below), this offers the project to have a clear narrative that moves forward at a brisk pace and tells its story by getting in and out in a tight manner. Overall, while not as perfected as it could’ve been, Ayer does give the feature a jolted fun of action vengeance throughout the feature’s runtime, offering a breezy and violent action-oriented project that works well within the confines of the movie and gives another entertaining entry in the long running “one-man army” subgenre.
For its presentation, The Beekeeper certainly looks good and does have the “keeping up appearances” from today’s industry standards of modern-day action movies. That’s not to say what’s presented definitely works (and works well) for the feature’s background setting and visual flair (as it does), but there isn’t a larger emphasis on such fine detailing. Of course, the film’s setting does work well within the narrative structure of the picture, which does a have some grounded sense of realism in the feature’s locations (interior and exterior portions) as well as clothing attire and hair / make-up. Plus, some of the set-pieces to provide a great sandbox playground for Adam Clay to fight off against dozens of nameless goons and thugs, wreaking havoc and mayhem in the process. Thus, the film’s “behind the scenes key players, including Ben Munro (production design), Sophie Newman (set decorations), Kelli Jones (costume designs), and the entire art direction team for their efforts in bringing Beekeeper’s world to life on the silver screen in a way that’s pleasing to the eye and gives context for Adam Clay’s story of justice and revenge. Also, the cinematography work by Gabriel Beristain is pretty good and helps build upon some of the film’s intense action sequences with plenty of visual style and creative camera angles throughout. Lastly, the movie’s score, which was composed by Jared Michael Fry and David Sardy, provides plenty of musical composition flourishes that enhances some of the suspense and thrills of the action scenes as well as adding a nice soft layer of melodrama motifs within the character dialogue moments. Overall, while not a totally memorable soundtrack, Fry and Sardy’s work gets the job done and is solid throughout.
Unfortunately, The Beekeeper does have some problems within its undertaking, shaping, and overall execution that, while doesn’t distract from the action enjoyment of the feature, still weighs the project down from reaching the excellent likes of similar “one man army” endeavors such as John Wick or Equalizer. How so? Well, for starters, the plot of the movie (and the supplement material) around it is quite linear, but certainly takes a backseat throughout much of the film. Indeed, there is a definite straightforward angle to the main narrative being told, which (as mentioned above) can be a good thing and keeps the feature lean on such uninteresting or “filler” moments that make the bloat the plot. That being said, the story is quite stripped down to the bare minimum in order to keep the feature’s pacing moving rather quickly as well as taking more time to action sequences. While that may be a good thing from time to time, this results in the actual story feeling weak and limp at times, which is strange because the script that was penned by Kurt Wimmer certainly has ideas that wish to be fleshed out within the plot of the feature (i.e. scammers preying on the weak, corporate greed, and political intrigue). Such substance in the narrative (as highlighted above) is indeed welcoming, but Wimmer’s script presents these details and merely glosses over them, leaving a lot of the material left unanswered and unexamined throughout, which (again) is confusing because that’s what the film’s plot sort of wants to talk about and engage viewers with. Thus, The Beekeeper loses its larger commentary message in favor of action.
As for the story itself, it’s definitely predictable and commonplace for the action genre, which can be seeing as both good and bad. Going into this flick I knew that this was going to be the case, so it didn’t bother me as much. However, there is no denying the fact that the movie’s story does play out in an all-too familiar fashion. The setup is there, but the journey of Adam Clay’s vengeance is easily plotted out with very little surprises along the way, which does make for a somewhat redundant arc from most of the story and characters. There is a lot of missed opportunities that Wimmer’s script doesn’t examine, including Beekeeper organization, which is left shrouded in mystery for much of the story, and Adam Clay’s backstory. There is also the goofy dialogue lines that some character spout in the movie that feel a bit too campy. Of course, this plays up some of the more ridiculousness of the feature’s premise, but some moments just feel a bit out of place with such clunky dialogue. Again, the movie ants to say something about the characters and the plot that gets them all entangled up in, but that bit of extra information from the script just isn’t there in. Thus, the traditional trajectory of the film’s plotting and story feels formulaic at times and, while not what most have come to see from this particular feature film, a bit more substance would’ve been beneficial.
Ayer’s direction for the movie also plays a hand in this demonstrating and, while he definitely does stage some great action interaction scenes throughout, there is no denying the fact that the director needs a bit more finesse within The Beekeeper’s staging and execution overall. Some sequences feel a bit too much “on the nose” and come off as just plain campy at times, especially with the cheesy dialogue lines here and there. Again, I know that it’s part of the classic “one man army” routine that has worked in the past, but Ayer needs to interject a bit more extra “oomph” to the feature to make it stand out more in the similar ways that John Wick did with its visual style in its sequels or in story narration department in something like that Equalizer did with its installments.
Perhaps my biggest pet peeve that I had with The Beekeeper was in the feature’s final closing moments where the film abruptly ends, and the credits begin to roll. The final “big conflict” moment feels very haphazardly rushed and doesn’t give enough time (in the picture) to give proper resolution to this particular climatic scene, including the fallout and aftermath of such events that took place. In truth, the ending felt a bit underwhelming because of the lack of content that’s provided in such a way to close out the film’s story in a satisfying way. This also includes what happens to several characters in the film and what their ultimate fate is by the time the movie concludes. Honestly, it feels like such additional material was originally planned in the film’s principal photography, but was edited out completely for a leaner runtime; robbing a satisfying ending that feels a more ambiguous and incomplete rather than wholesome concluding on a good note.
The cast in The Beekeeper is a mixture of recognizable and unknown acting talents, which (in my book) is a good mixture and everyone on the project seems to be having fun playing their characters (be it lead, supporting, or minor) roles. The characterizations, however, (as outlined above) leave a lot to be desired, with many of the players in the film being quite broad and one-dimensional. Thus, the movie relies heavily on the actors and actresses lend their screen presence to the proceedings. A prime example of this comes in the form of the main protagonist in Adam Clay, who is played by actor Jason Statham. Known for his roles in The Transporter, Crank, and Wrath of Man, Statham has always been a perfect fit for being a “man of action” within all his character, providing plenty of daring-do sequences and fighting with various weapons against his enemies. He’s clearly a good action star (both in lead and supporting roles) and it comes across the way (the right way) in this particular movie. In fact, The Beekeeper is (for all tense and purposes) a vehicle for Statham to drive around in, building the feature around his stereotyping architype character that he’s always known for playing and creates a sandbox playground for his (and his character) to beat up guys in. To that effect, Statham is fantastic in this respect, providing plenty of fun and amusement as he takes down bad guy goons one after the other in classic Statham fashion. He truly does carry the film on his screen presence shoulders and does so wonderfully. Perhaps the only really major downside is that there isn’t much to the character, with Adam Clay being a rather generic one-note protagonist to follow. He’s a man on a mission, with steely determination to get there and stop anyone that gets in his way, but there very little characterization to him. Perhaps this would be fleshed out further if a sequel is greenlit. Overall, Statham is great in the role and, while his character isn’t well-rounded, this speaks to the man of who Adam Clay…..speaking more with his fists than with his words.
Behind Statham, actor Josh Hutcherson (The Hunger Games and Bridge to Terabithia) takes the other major spotlight in the movie as Derek Danforth, a sleazy and egotistical young man that runs several phishing scam call centers as part of his family’s company. There isn’t much to the character beyond what I mentioned him to above as he’s clearly set up to be the main antagonist for the feature and nothing more than that. Hutcherson does a good job in playing up the smarmy attitude and bravado for Derek (character that you love to hate) and to see him cower in fear of Statham’s Adam is satisfying to watch. Is he the best villain for this type of movie? No, but it works for what the film’s story requires with Hutcherson playing the part well.
In a more supporting role, actress Emmy Raver-Lampman (The Umbrella Academy and Central Park) gives a familiar (yet effective) portrayal of Verona Parker, Eliose’s daughter and FBI agent who follows Adam Clay’s whereabouts. Raver-Lampman’s acting talents are good and I have nothing wrong with how she plays the character, but there is familiar take on the classic “beat cop” who is always one step behind the main character (or bad guy) in these narrative scenarios. For the movie, it’s fine as I didn’t expect much from it, but it plays up the trope of the law enforcement figure who is following the clues to uncovering the truth about everything. As a sidenote, actor Bobby Naderi (Bright and Prison Break) as gives a decent performance in playing Verona’s partner FBI agent Matt Wiley, with the pair having a playful “back and forth” banter throughout the film.
Unfortunately, several the side characters, who are several big names, are a little bit underutilized and aren’t completely fleshed out the right way within their limited screen time on the feature. This includes actor Jeremy Irons (The Lion King and Lolita) as former CIA Director Wallace Westwyld, actress Phylica Rashad (Creed and The Cosby Show) as Adam’s tenant landlady / Verona’s mother Eliose Parker, and actress Minni Driver (Good Will Hunting and Phantom of the Opera) as the current CIA Director Janet Harward. Irons gets the most screen time of this group, with his character of Wallace acting as a bit of expositional plot point here and there as well as bouncing off many character conversations with Hutcherson’s Derek throughout. Irons’s gravitas sounding voice lends credibility as well as his screen presence is solid, but there isn’t much to Wallace in the Beekeeper, including the film’s ending where he’s a bit forgotten in the final moments (again, sort of the problem I had with the conclusion not really tying up the loose ends properly).
Rashad has always been a talented actress and provides plenty of warmth and soul within her context of her character of Eliose, especially for Adam. However, she’s only in the film for small screen time percentage, which is odd because she is supposed to be the driving force for both Adam and Verona throughout much of the picture. As for Driver’s Haward, she only has like two scenes in the movie and doesn’t really amount to much, which is disappointing, especially given the fact of Driver’s credibility as an actress.
Rounding out the rest of the cast, includes actor David Witts (EastEnders and Manhunt) as call scammer lackey Mickey Garrett, actor Michael Epps (Secret Invasion and Beyond Valkyrie: Dawn of the 4th Reich) as Pettis, actor Taylor James (Samson and Vikings: Valhalla) as ex-special forces personnel leader Lazarus, actor Enzo Cilenti (Free Fire and In the Loop) as Rico Anzalone, actress Megan Le (Medical Police and No Matter What) as a Beekeeper enforcer Anisette, actor Don Gilet (EastEnders and Meadowlands) as FBI Deputy Director Jackson Prigg, and actress Jemma Redgrave (Doctor Who and Holby City) as Derek’s mother Jessica Danforth. Most of these characters only have anywhere between two or three scenes in the movie (some only one), but, despite their limited screen time, still make a small memorable performance in their respective characters.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Discovering the death of a friend, who was taking advantage of by corrupt greed, Adam Clay makes it his mission to personally take down the organization behind the money scams by any means necessary in the movie The Beekeeper. Director David Ayer latest film takes the classic “one man army” trope and runs with it, creating an action-oriented film that caters to that particular niche subgenre that takes names and definitely kicks some bad guy butt in some brutally fun style. While the feature does struggle with its thinly sketched premise (feeling limp and perplexed in how it wants to present everything) as well as making its character too broad and a rather rushed ending, the movie still rises above those challenges thanks to Ayer’s direction, a steady (and breezy) film pace, great action sequences, several nods and winks to corrupt greed and phishing scammers, a relatively good presentation, and another steadfast performance from Statham. Personally, I thought that this movie was good and a fun to watch. Yes, the narrative pieces and characterizations were quite simplified and needed to be expanded upon as well as the rushed conclusion needed to be given a more proper close out to the story being told. Yet, I still found the picture to worth watching and wasn’t disappointed with it, especially all of the action fighting sequences that were both relentless and thrilling to watch. Does the movie succeed in what it wants to accomplish? Yes, it does. Could the film have been expanded and improved upon? Yes, in several aspects. Yet, the final product of the feature will find some type of throwback action novelty within its cinematic presentation. Thus, my recommendation for this movie is a favorable “rent it” as I’m sure fans of the action genre will find this feature to their liking in all of its violent mayhem thrills of revenge and Statham badassery, while causal moviegoers might find amusement in it for a “one time” viewing experience. The conclusion shows a possible continuation in this world of infamous Beekeeper organization as well as a return of Adam Clay. Can a franchise be built around this time? There’s a possibility, but it would need to be a bit more fleshed out (something akin to what John Wick: Chapter 2 did for the John Wick series). In the end, The Beekeeper, despite its shortcomings and flaws, still delivers a fun rollercoaster ride of a feature film, defining its existence with Statham’s prowess of ass-kicking, no-nonsense approach to beating up bad guys and taking down corrupted individuals in blazing (yet cheesy) classic “one man army” fashion.
3.6 Out of 5 (Rent It)
Official The Beekeeper Website Link: HERE
Released On: January 12th, 2024
Reviewed On: September 20th, 2024
The Beekeeper 105 minutes long and is rated R for strong violence throughout, persuasive language, some sexual references, and drug use
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