WFG RATING: A

MGM and Lionsgate presents a Miramax/Cedar Park Productions in association with Punch Palace Entertainment. Directed by David Ayer. Produced by David Ayer, Bill Block, Jason Statham, and Kurt Wimmer. Written by Kurt Wimmer. Cinematography by Gabriel Beristain. Editing by Geoffrey O’Brien.

Stars Jason Statham, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Josh Hutcherson, Jeremy Irons, David Witts, Michael Epp, Taylor James, Jemma Redgrave, and Phylicia Rashad. 

Jason Statham once again becomes a one-man army against a new brand of enemy in David Ayer’s latest awesome action fest. 

Adam Clay is a beekeeper who is renting property from an elderly woman, Eloise Parker. Clay has earned Mrs. Parker’s respect to where they have become friends. One day, Mrs. Parker becomes the victim of a phishing scheme and ends up losing all the money she has left. When Clay heads to bring her honey, he is confronted by Eloise’s daughter Verona, an FBI agent. Clay suspects foul play despite the fact Eloise killed herself after losing everything.

When Clay learns the location of the call center who destroyed Mrs. Parker’s life, he sets the place ablaze and gains the attention of Derek Danforth, the mastermind behind the operation and whose mother runs the biggest industrial company in the country. When Derek plans to do something about Clay, he soon learns Clay is no ordinary beekeeper but a retired secret operative who was part of a program called “Beekeeper”. Verona finds her moral compass in jeopardy when she must choose between helping Clay out or turning him for his actions. 

David Ayer’s latest action thriller is a throwback to the one-man army motif but set in the world of phishing and hacking scams that has become a real-life serious problem today with elderly people losing money over these types of schemes. And of course, who better today to plan the one-man army than Jason Statham?

In the first act, we see Statham as the genuine good guy, the titular beekeeper who makes honey and happily shares it with his good friend Eloise, played by the iconic Phylicia Rashad. It is her death that sets the stage to show Statham’s Clay as the other brand of “beekeeper”, a retired operative hired to do jobs the government can’t control or attempt to do. In other words, he’s the back-up but clearly with revenge as the motive for the film. 

Emmy Raver-Lampman, who showed a comedic side to things in Gatlopp, gets to show her range of acting here in the role of Eloise’s estranged FBI agent daughter Verona. At first, she is reluctant of Clay, but soon learns that he’s not a bad guy. However, since his actions are deemed illegal by federal law, this puts her moral compass in question. On the one hand, she is glad someone is there to assist in finding those responsible for her mother’s suicide but yet as an agent, she knows she might not have a choice but to try to turn him in. 

Josh Hutcherson brings a sense of the modern-day villain to the role of phishing mastermind Derek, who tends to go to Wallace Westwyld, played by icon Jeremy Irons, for advice on how to take out Clay. However, Westwyld doesn’t want to see the company crumble because of the actions of the president’s son. He even warns him that he knows who Clay is and that he better be careful. Especially when Statham goes into action mode with Jeremy Marinas serving as the film’s fight coordinator. There are some insane action moments that sees Statham singlehandledly take on all comers. 

The Beekeeper is a great action film that has Statham doing what he does best when he is solo, plus an excellent supporting role for Emmy Raver-Lampman as an agent whose moral compass comes into question. Action fans will most certainly enjoy this one.