The title seems self-explanatory, yet this is a film layered withconnections to bees and one who deals with them daily. A hidden element is that there can be mass destruction that awaits when bees get angry. Jason Statham brings on that fury in The Beekeeper. With an opening introduction of archived science reels related to bees, the film may feel like it is a scientific experiment at first. The story unfolds though in a direction of violence and fatalities. The Beekeeper is bee extermination with a twist. The bees do not get exterminated, the bad guys do as The Beekeeper goes on a hunt that is relentless and lethal leading to absolute mayhem.
In the film, Statham is Adam Clay. He is a man that is a beekeeper for a woman named Eloise Parker (played by Phylicia Rashad). Adam does bee projects on Eloise’s property. Eloise becomes the victim of hackers and all of her bank accounts are drained. This leads Eloise to commit suicide. Her death puts Adam on a journey of vengeance. He hunts down the company that scammed Eloise. The daughter of Eloise is Agent Verona Parker (played by Emmy Raver-Lampman), and she is a detective. She is on the case along with her partner Agent Matt Wiley (played by Bobby Naderi). They try to hunt down the hackers, however Adam is ahead of the game. He burns down the building where the call was made which led to Eloise’s death. The man who runs the whole hacking game is a wealthy entrepreneur named Derek Danforth. He is one of the heads of Danforth Enterprises. Derek is a punk, rich boy and money has always been his way out of his problems. His ego is out of control, but is it enough to stop Adam from coming to kill him and put a deadly halt to his hacking operations?
Adam states, “I take care of bees,” and he sure does. His words declare his faith to Eloise because she meant a lot to him. The film’s writing is true to the revenge genre. Derek has an assistant with him at all times. That assistant is Wallace Westwyld(played by Jeremy Irons). Wallace is like an Alfred to a young Bruce Wayne, but for the wrong reasons here in his relationship with Derek. He tries to talk sense into Derek however, Derek’s ego is still too ahead of him. Wallace tells Derek that Adam’s goal is “To kill his way to the top of the hive.” His lethal huntwill not come to an end until the ones who caused others to suffer will suffer themselves.
The Beekeeper kills rapidly and leaves a minimal trail of destruction. That is because the pieces come together quickly. It mimics the fascination of a bee hive, yet takes a turn into a killing spree. The premise of evil lurking is the main vein of the writing in The Beekeeper. It is an unstoppable and mind-boggling thriller that is different and pure Statham.
Statham is The Beekeeper, and he will not stop until everyone that is an enemy suffers. Irons is the one who knows the layers of meaning of a beekeeper—he knows the philosophies, sayings, actions, and how bad the dangers will get for Derek. This is a journey where the action is non-stop and it invites you along for the ride. There were moments where my mind felt that it was kind of predictable however, there was a revolving door of unexpected outcomes that managed to blow my mind. This is a different experience for a Statham thriller. The layer of having a fascination for bees created a platform for the damaging aspects and a rollercoaster ride of craziness. Three out of four stars for The Beekeeper.
Movies with Tarek 