I don’t know about you, but sometimes I find comfort in a predictable movie – even in a new release like “Beekeeper.”
Beekeeper has lead actor Jason Statham doing what he does best by punishing villains in the most brutal and efficient ways possible.
While the overall plot of the film is pretty weak and irritating, at least I can count on Statham to make the bad guys pay with their lives and it’s strangely satisfying despite its predictability.
Overall, it’s not very groundbreaking by way of special effects or an exceptionally stellar cast, the movie gives Statham plenty of room to take out his vengeance and I appreciate that.
The Beekeeper is an action thriller film directed by David Ayer and written by Kurt Wimmer.
The film stars Jason Statham, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Josh Hutcherson, Bobby Naderi, Minnie Driver, Phylicia Rashad, David Witts, Jemma Redgrave, and Jeremy Irons.
Clocking in at 105 minutes long, the movie is rated R for strong violence throughout, pervasive language, some sexual references and drug use.
Eloise Parker (Rashad) is a retired schoolteacher who lives by herself in the Massachusetts countryside, but she has a tenant in her barn, a man named Adam Clay (Statham), who leads a quiet life as a beekeeper.
One day, Eloise falls for a phishing scam and is robbed of over $2 million, the majority of which belongs to a charity organization she manages.
Devastated, she then takes her own life.
After Clay finds her body, he is immediately arrested by Eloise’s daughter FBI agent Verona Parker (Lampman).
After Eloise’s death is ruled a suicide, Clay is released from police custody.
Verona tells Clay that the group that robbed Eloise has been on the FBI’s radar for a while, but is difficult to track.
She is pessimistic that they will ever be brought to justice even if they are found.
Wanting justice for Eloise, Clay contacts the Beekeepers, a mysterious organization, to find the scammers responsible.
Clay receives an address for the scammers: a call center known as UDG, run by Mickey Garnett (Witts).
Clay goes into UDG’s building, and after scaring off the employees and taking down a handful of Garnett’s men, blows it up.
Garnett informs his boss, technology executive Derek Danforth (Hutcherson).
Danforth sends Garnett to kill Clay; Garnett and his thugs find Clay and follow him to his barn.
There, Clay quickly kills them all except for Garnett, whose fingers he cuts off before releasing him.
Garnett calls Danforth while stopped at a bridge, informing him that Clay is a Beekeeper.
Clay, having followed Garnett, kills him while Danforth listens over the phone, and then warns Danforth that he is coming after him.
Danforth goes to talk to Wallace Westwyld (Irons) about Clay and the next steps that should be taken.
Wallace, the former head of the CIA, is currently running security for Danforth Enterprises at the request of Derek’s mother, Jessica (Redgrave).
Concerned, Wallace contacts the current director of the CIA in hopes of stopping Clay.
The director contacts the Beekeeper organization and learns that Clay has retired from them.
However, that’s only the beginning on the lengths that Clay is willing to go to balance the scales for Eloise’s death.
While I didn’t find Beekeeper to be something groundbreaking or terribly fresh, I did enjoy watching the bad guys get their just desserts and the film is left open enough for the possibility of a sequel.
So, if you’re a fan of Statham’s or looking for some violent karmic retributions, check out Beekeeper in theaters now.
