A blast of an action thriller headlined by a solid Jason Statham and slimy villainous turn by Josh Hutcherson, The Beekeeper takes its B-movie premise to deliriously entertaining heights.
The Beekeeper boasts a winning combination of star Jason Statham, director Day Ayers (End of Watch), and writer Kurt Wimmer (Equilibrium), resulting in a knock-out of an action film that is filled with colourful characters and an engrossing story that taps into real-world issues without taking itself too seriously.
Statham stars as Adam Clay, a man with a past and army-of-one who declares war on an organisation of cyber scammers who target oblivious elderly people, one of whom (Phylicia Rashad) is a close friend.
The head of this criminal enterprise is Derek Danforth (Josh Hutcherson), and this is where things get interesting: evoking the likes of real-life scumbags such as “pharma-bro” Martin Shkreli and crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried, the easily despisable Danforth is also a key player in political and intelligence circles, Ayers and Wimmer (possibly) influenced by current scandals in US politics in the creation of the character.
Portraying Danforth is Josh Hutcherson, who brings the right douche-bag energy in his portrayal of a pampered sociopath tech-bro who has no qualms destroying the lives of those he considers inferior; that is when he is not bust trying to find his “chakra” during hilarious moments of corporate spirituality. Villains are often cookie-cutter in these kinds of mid-tier budget action movies, yet Hutcherson curves that trend with a villain that’s easy to hate and who provides the perfect counter to Statham’s gravel voice action hero.
Statham is his usual dependable self here. Ayers knows just how to utilise the bald Brit’s action hero strengths: hard stare; sparse dialogue; and plenty of scenes of the Stath laying waste to multiple assailants. The only thing that irritates is one bee-pun too many.
Colourful minor characters – among them Taylor James as a South African mercenary and Megan Le as a demented super-agent – adds to the sweet action thrills that The Beekeeper serves with glee. With the potential for a sequel, another spoonful of this B-movie gold would be a treat.
