The Beekeeper, action star Jason Statham’s latest outing, has viewers wondering if the movie’s titular organization is real. Directed by David Ayer, whose writing credits include 2001’s The Fast and the Furious and 2003’s S.W.A.T., and penned by Salt’s Kurt Wimmer, The Beekeeper is stacked with action-movie vets on both sides of the camera. Although the Amazon MGM Studios release stars Statham, the cast is rounded out by relative genre newcomers, including Emmy Raver-Lampman, Josh Hutcherson, Minnie Driver, Phylicia Rashad, and Jeremy Irons. That said, would-be viewers are eager to watch The Beekeeper, which is poised to be one of the year’s first blockbusters.
True to form, Statham’s Adam Clay spends much of the film dispensing action-movie justice in over-the-top set-pieces and gunfights. What helps set The Beekeeper apart, however, is the titular clandestine organization at its core. Clay is a former Beekeepers’ operative, adding a John Wick-like element to the movie’s story. Like any good ex-operative, Clay gets back in the game when someone close to him winds up dead. In The Beekeeper, it’s Clay’s friend who dies by suicide after falling for a terrible phishing scam. Eager to exact revenge against the company that’s responsible, ex-Beekeeper Adam Clay sets out on an action-packed journey.
For better or worse, The Beekeepers are not a real clandestine organization. While The Beekeeper leans into its invented group in order to carve out a juicier story, the film is pretty much a vehicle for Statham to do what he does best: exact revenge — even when he’s ludicrously out-gunned. Despite its paper-thin story, the R-rated The Beekeeper boasts some buzz-worthy ideas. It’s version of illicit, secret organizations is a watered-down stab at John Wick-inspired world-building, but, nonetheless, The Beekeepers serves its purpose. For starters, it helps flesh out Adam Clay’s backstory; instead of being an ex-CIA operative, Clay is different.
Adam Clay isn’t afraid to work outside the legal system — or a rigid set of morals. The made-up Beekeepers works for the purposes of the movie, even if it isn’t a real-life government organization. That is, the actual Beekeeper program, replete with its shadowy manner and nebulous intentions, offers something unique. Although The Beekeeper is light on the details, the movie — including The Beekeeper’s ending — sets up enough of a hook for its titular group to promise deeper exploration in a potential sequel. Plus, the conceit sets up some of the movie’s best, unintentionally funny lines, with Clay vowing to protect his hive.
Is There A Real-Life Organization That Inspired The Beekeepers Movie?
Even if The Beekeepers aren’t an actual government organization, that doesn’t mean Wimmer wasn’t inspired by a similar group. The Beekeeper’s titular organization doesn’t seem to have a real-life counterpart, though it’s nearly impossible to say given the group’s clandestine nature. If the point of The Beekeepers is to be so secretive, so under-the-radar, then the average person wouldn’t know if such a shadow organization existed in real life. Despite The Beekeeper’s lack of post-credits scenes, it’s possible a potential sequel will explore the group more. For now, given The Beekeeper’s penchant for the absurd, however, it certainly seems like the stuff of action-movie fiction.