The latest action adventure for Jason Statham, The Beekeeper, has proven to be hugely popular with both critics and audiences alike, with the movie even breaking a Rotten Tomatoes record for the action star. The Beekeeper currently stands at 70% from audiences and 94% from audiences on the review aggregator site, meaning it has the highest rating of any first entry in a Jason Statham-led franchise. Not only that, The Beekeeper is also now just one of two of Statham’s franchise starters to earn a “Fresh” rating on the site, and his first ever to score over 90% from audiences.
So, alongside becoming the #1 movie worldwide and having a current global office total of $41.6 million, it’s certainly looking like The Beekeeper has been a big success for The Stath. Making it much more likely that The Beekeeper will eventually get a sequel (which better be titled The Beekeeper: 2 Bee or Not 2 Bee).
Statham has become well-known for flying the flag for old-school, no-nonsense action fare, with his charismatic, gruff persona and hugely impressive martial arts skills often scoring big with action movie fans…but not so much with critics.
Other franchises with Statham in the lead include the likes of The Transporter, which holds a 54% critics rating against a 73% audience rating; Crank, which has 62% from critics and 71% from audiences; and The Expendables’ 42% critics score and 64% audience score; while The Mechanic and The Meg each hover around 50% across the board.
Some of the highest rated Statham movies on Rotten Tomatoes include Furious 7 (81% from critics, 82% from audiences), Wrath of Man (67% critics, 90% audience), and Safe (60% critics, 59% audience), with his highest rated movie being the 2015 action comedy, Spy (95%, 78% audience). All of which demonstrates how positive the reaction to The Beekeeper has been.
The Beekeeper is out now in theaters, and follows Jason Statham as the mysterious beekeeper Adam Clay. When a friend dies by suicide after being conned in a phishing scam, Clay’s brutal campaign for vengeance takes on national stakes after he is revealed to be a former operative of a powerful and clandestine organization known as “Beekeepers.” Directed by David Ayer from a script written by Kurt Wimmer, The Beekeeper stars Jason Statham alongside Emmy Raver-Lampman, Josh Hutcherson, Bobby Naderi, Minnie Driver, with Phylicia Rashad, and Jeremy Irons.
Collider’s Nate Richard heaped praise on Statham and his action hero screen presence.
“In The Beekeeper, Statham once again gives his utmost commitment to the role, with his one-of-a-kind screen presence where he can make beating people up feel so cinematic. He can play these kinds of parts in his sleep, but he never phones it in.”
Screen Rant’s Mae Abdulbaki, meanwhile, applauded Statham’s unique affinity for action.
“The Beekeeper may have a thin story, but Jason Statham is up to the task when it comes to the brutal, engaging & even ridiculous action sequences.”
While MovieWeb’s Will Sayre found issue with the movie, he could not keep his eyes off of The Stath.
“Plus, the devilishly handsome Statham finally dons at nice suit in the third act, and you might just find yourself failing to take your eyes off him.”
The Beekeeper was released earlier this month courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios under the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures banner. You can check out the action-packed trailer for The Beekeeper below.
