The Beekeeper Review - This Might Just Be Jason Statham's John Wick

The Beekeeper Review: David Ayer directs Jason Statham in an action-packed drama, The Beekeeper. This title has a sweet meaning, but I dare you call this film or the Beekeeper's character sweet. That's sour and spicy, for sure. Jason Statham has done popular action films like Transporter, The Italian Job (a thriller), The Mechanic, The Expendables, and Fast & Furious movies, but has struggled a bit in the recent past. The Beekeeper is an answer to that struggle, maybe. We all know plenty of kick assss action movies, but John Wick has that universal recognition like no other film when it comes to the pure, mad action genre in this millenium. The Beekeeper might just be that John Wick kind of chapter in Jason's book. This is not an exaggeration, but a comparative statement, and don't misread "might be" as "is". It's an arguable statement to avoid direct comparisons and fan wars.Eloise Parker (Phylicia Rashad), a retired schoolteacher who has never done a bad thing in her life and has devoted her time to charity, is scammed by a huge online racket. Devasted, she commits suicide. Adam Clay (Jason Statham), a beekeeper working at a garage, shared a good bond with her. Eloise's daughter, Verona Parker (Emmy Raver-Lampman), is an FBI agent, and she arrests Adam for his mother's death. Soon, the investigation reveals that it was a suicide, and then Clay is released. Verona informs Clay that the group that scammed her mother has been on the FBI's radar for some time but is difficult to track. Adam then takes his own path to find the gang and runs mad on a murder spree. His last target is Derek Danforth (Josh Hutcherson), who tries his best to stop him, but he is unaware of what a beekeeper means and how dangerous he is. I don't think I should give away any spoilers on Beekeeper's identity and work and how he takes on the entire gang alone, so let's keep that part fresh for your viewing experience.Kurt Wimmer writes a basic revenge drama, and the screenplay adds some thrilling and brutal moments. Each time the Beekeeper is out hunting, he stings, and he stings sharply and on the right spot. Some nerve-breaking killing moments will have your eyes filled with blood, and there will be a lot of blood in front of your eyes as well. The Beekeeper has some insanely ridiculous theories about its main character and his features that look ridiculously unbelievable, but also ridiculously entertaining. I mean, let's say you want a hero who can beat anybody to pulp, can burn down any place, can breach security even at the president's party hall, and then come out of everything without a scratch. Wouldn't you freaking love him and scream for him? Kurt Wimmer has written Adam Clay, aka The Beekeeper, with all those features. The only problem with his writing is that it follows all those traditional packages you've been served for years. Predictability is not good for any film, unless it's a known/true story.Let's talk about Statham Man. He is a killer—a real one, I mean. Hobbs and Shaw showed his calibre and why he deserves to be one of the leading action stars in the F&F franchise, but sadly, the makers are too busy with others even after 10 movies. This man deserves a solo action movie like The Beekeeper to prove his talent. He scares hell out of everyone in movie, be it antagonists, cops, or even the bigger players in this game. Emmy Raver-Lampman gets a few good scenes, but even those aren't healthy ones. Josh Hutcherson is your rich, spoiled brat and, as expected, a greedy man and a drug addict. What more can you expect from him? Jeremy Irons plays the interesting character of Wallace, which I think had more scope but is cut short because he didn't really enter the game of blood. Phylicia Rashad and Jemma Redgrave's support is really helpful.The Beekeeper is a wacky action flick with superb action choreography. Geoffrey O'Brien's editing keeps it short and quick, with a gripping runtime of 100 minutes excluding credits. You'll see some decent framework by Gabriel Beristain that could have done better, especially the creative part of long action set pieces. The film has a few loopholes that should have been covered with some emotional quotient, but what's done is done now. The sound design and production design have been okay. It's good to see the man who made the first installment of the Fast & Furious franchise come up with such a violent flick that isn't about logic but is hardly illogical as far as a crowd-pleasing experience is concerned. Nevertheless, he delivers a worthy action drama for the devotees of the genre and devotees of Jason Statham. That retrograded ambition from 2001 could have been avoided, or, better yet, this film could have been made much earlier to have a better impact. But it's not that corny anyway. So, order your popcorn and sit for this 100-minute action-packed ride, and try and ask your theatre manager to skip the intermission break.