I knew before I went that this was going to be an action thriller and it was! I was never bored in this film.
At first, I was angry at a company that cheated Eloise Parker (Phylicia Rashad) out of her life savings and money from a non-profit she managed. So, mentally, I was encouraging Jason Statham’s character to go kill all the young criminals running a phone scam to dupe older people, who are not used to doing everything on a computer, out of their life savings; especially since so much of this is being done today to seniors. Needless to say, I took it quite personally.
Adam Clay (Jason Statham) commits brutal vengeance on a national telephone scamming company after his elderly friend, Eloise Parker, is cheated out of her life savings. Eventually, he is revealed to be a former operative of a powerful organization known as “Beekeepers,” a secret, most secret group of the government.
We all remember Phylicia Rashad as wonderful mother Claire Huxtable from the Cosby Show. She is excellent in this very small but powerful role as Eloise.
Emmy Raver-Lampman plays an FBI agent, Verona Parker, who also happens to be Eloise’s daughter. Bobby Naderi is Verona’s partner. Josh Hutcherson is the villain, Derek Danforth, a little jerk who runs the scam. Academy Award winner Jeremy Irons is Wallace Westwyld, retired CIA chief, and Jemma Redgrave is President Danforth.
I was sometimes confused by Eloise’s daughter’s reactions but as it turned out she was right. As an FBI agent she did not support or aid Adam Clay. I would have thought she would have been his ally but often as not she was hunting Clay.
Jason Statham seems to play the same character in every role he plays but he only seems to play the dark menacing type whether he’s the villain or the protagonist. I would like to see him stretch himself as an actor. I think he can do it.
The screenplay was written by Kurt Wimmer. “The Beekeeper” strikes at a problem in our society that didn’t exist before the internet and there are several plot twists that distinguish this film from the mundane movies like the “John Wick” series. Also, there is a richness of characters that often doesn’t exist in suspenseful thrillers.
David Ayer directed “The Beekeeper.” He does a great job of keeping the film raw, real and emotional.
If you like action, adventure, thriller films then you need to go see “The Beekeeper.” It is currently showing in Edwardsville and Alton. I give it 4 stars.