I Finally Watched Jason Statham's The Beekeeper, And I Think People Are Sleeping On A Really Fun And Thrilling Action Movie

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Can we get more of The Beekeeper?

 

 

 

 

 

In the final weeks and days of 2024, I played a serious game of catchup with movies I wanted to see but never got around to watching. One of those, Jason Statham’s The Beekeeper, ended up being one of the most fun experiences from the entire 2024 movie schedule, as wild as that sounds., and I’m bummed I slept on it for so long.

Though our official review of the David Ayer-directed action flick called it “too stupid to be great, too grim to be properly entertaining,” I found myself laughing, pumping my fist in the air, and having a hell of a time. That said, I think that while it’s not the best action movie ever made, The Beekeeper is a fun and thrilling experience that a lot of people are sleeping on, and I think that needs to change.

Jason Statham stars as Clay in director David Ayer’s THE BEEKEEPER. An Amazon MGM Studios film Photo Credit: Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios © 2024 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc. All Rights Reserved.

I Expected This To Be A Simple Revenge Thriller

When I saw The Beekeeper’s first trailer, I thought the movie would be like a lot of Jason Statham’s action movies from the past decade-and-a-half, in that it would be a rather simple revenge-focused thriller where he kicks a lot of ass. And yeah, that is somewhat true, considering the movie follows Adam Clay (Statham), a highly skilled assassin-turned-beekeeper who goes on a violent rampage, but it was still a ton of fun.

This action thriller starts like a lot of other similar movies from the genre with Clay getting back into the game after his only friend in the world is scammed out of millions of dollars before killing herself, but that’s just the beginning. I even thought that Clay showing up at a call center and burning it to the ground would be about as crazy as the movie would get. Oh, how it has never felt so good to be so wrong.

 

Josh Hutcherson as Derek with blonde hair in The Beekeeper.

Instead, The Beekeeper Is An Over-The-Top Action Spectacle That Goes To The Top Of The U.S. Government

I love action movies that get more and more over the top as the story unfolds and reveal that what initially felt like something small is in reality part of something much larger. In the case of The Beekeeper, the call center scheme that kicked off the story is actually part of a massive nationwide scheme involving high-ranking members of the United States government.

This progression of the story (which reaches some wild heights in the final act) creates an over-the-top action spectacle that is a whole lot of fun to watch. Was it ridiculous watching Jason Statham come up with unique ways of killing people (more on that next) or listening to all kinds of “beekeeper” puns through it all? Yeah, but David Ayer’s ability to find a proper balance of comedy, action, and explosive set pieces ended up creating an exciting and thrilling experience.

 

Jason Statham and Jeremy Irons in The Beekeeper

 

I Can't Get Over Adam Clay's Inventiveness And How He Doesn't Rely On Guns

One thing I really love about The Beekeeper is the fact that Adam Clay doesn’t always rely on guns to do his dirty work. Sure, he shoots a henchman or two by the time everything is said and done, but he mostly maims, kills, and blows up all kinds of bad guys in highly inventive ways.