With the success of the JOHN WICK franchise, it’s no wonder that other studios and action stars want to jump on the bandwagon. In recent years we’ve seen similar gun fu films from Charlize Theron (ATOMIC BLONDE), Chris Hemsworth (the EXTRACTION films), Iko Uwais (THE RAID 2), and even funny guy Bob Odenkirk (NOBODY). Now it’s Jason Statham’s turn in THE BEEKEEPER and this film, more than the others, clings more closely to JOHN WICK’s premise of a retired one-man army seeking revenge after his beloved pet or, in this case, pets get killed by some bad guys.

Adam Clay (Statham, OPERATION FORTUNE: RUSE DE GUERRE; THE MEG) lives a quiet life off the grid as a beekeeper in rural Massachusetts, renting a corner of a property owned by retired schoolteacher Eloise Parker (Phylicia Rashad, the CREED films). One day, Eloise falls for a phishing scam and sees her life savings, as well as those of the $2 million charity that she administers, disappear before her eyes. Distraught, she kills herself and her daughter, FBI Agent Verona Parker (Emmy Raver-Lampman, TV’s THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY), thinks Clay is responsible. After forensic tests confirm his innocence, Clay decides that scamming old people out of their money is just not on and he decides to take revenge on the purpetrators. Tracking them down to a call center known as UDG, he goes to their building and blows it up. UDG, which is headed up by sleazy tech bro Derek Danforth (Josh Hutcherson, FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S), is part of Danforth Enterprises, and its head of security, Wallace Westwyld (Jeremy Irons, HOUSE OF GUCCI; RED SPARROW), is the former head of the CIA. Westwyld knows who Clay is and what beekeepers like him are capable of. Needless to say, it’s not looking good for Danforth especially after his boys retaliate by destroying Clay’s beehives.

I am truly not sure if screenwriter Kurt Wimmer (EXPEND4BLES) intended to write such an hilariously ridiculous story but director David Ayer (SUICIDE SQUAD; FURY) certainly saw the humour and leaned into it in a big way. THE BEEKEEPER doesn’t try to be anything other than what it is — a one-man wrecking crew who delivers vengeance to a well-heeled criminal and his gallery of rogue henchmen who deserve the ass-kicking that’s about to come their way. Even though the story has more than its fair share of plot holes and clichés, the numerous beekeeping puns that Clay, Westwyld and CIA Director Howard (Minnie Driver, CINDERELLA) toss out are delivered with such deadpan earnestness that you can’t help but find them amusing.

Statham is well-suited for this type of role and he delivers plenty of high kicks and rapid-fire punches that audiences are expecting. The fight choreography isn’t quite up to the standard of the JOHN WICK films and Ayers employs a fair bit of shaky camerawork to cover up the shortfall but, even so, it doesn’t take away from the whole silliness of the story. Equally amusing is a third act revelation that is reflective of something that is happening in the US today.

Not surprisingly, THE BEEKEEPER leaves open the possibility that we’ll be seeing more adventures of Adam Clay in the future. If they’re as wonderfully bonkers as this one is, I’m all in.

THE BEEKEEPER is opened in Hong Kong last Thursday (January 18th). It’s not cerebral by any means but it is a lot of fun.

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