The Beekeeper is often incomprehensible, frequently entertaining and the surprise box office hit of the year (so far).
It is the latest in a long series of bizarrely-premised Jason Statham action movies where the British hardman single-handedly takes out entire armies of gunmen.
But for minor plot details and the occasional directorial flourish, The Beekeeper, Hummingbird, Parker, Wrath of Man, Wild Card, The Mechanic, Safe – I could go on – are basically the same movie dressed differently.
So why has The Beekeeper become such a box office hit, raking in over $140-million at the time of print and sitting atop the worldwide standings for 2024?
Well, a lot of it has to do with a poor competing slate, including one of the worst superhero movies of all time in Madame Web.
That has certainly helped to clear a pathway at the cinema for The Beekeeper, but there is also a vigilante aspect to it that fits the current cultural discourse.
Statham plays Adam Clay, a high-powered secret agent that operates outside of the bounds of the established US security services.
‘Beekeepers’ are empowered to do whatever they think is necessary for the good of the ‘hive’ – ie. the general population.
Seriously, if the metaphors in this movie were any more on the nose you’d get a nosebleed.
Clay has retired from ‘beekeeping’ when the events of the movie start, but surprise surprise, he is drawn back in for one last job.
His kind elderly landlady is scammed out of her lifesavings and he takes it upon himself to bring down the whole organisation that robbed her.
The organisation ends up having ties to some of the most powerful politicians in the country, and Clay figures he might as well take them out too.
In the space of 60 exhilarating minutes after the plot groundwork is laid, Statham basically says about ten words and kills about 300 people – one of whom is an unbelievably crude South African villain.
It’s absolutely nonsensical of course, but has plenty of overlap with anti-government sentiment in the US and elsewhere that has slowly bled into the mainstream.
There are no doubt plenty of Adam Clay wannabes that feel like they could make a change if only they could get to the people in power.
Perhaps that’s overreading a movie about mindless violence, but it has certainly made an outsized impact.
It’s no masterpiece, but if action is what you are looking for, then The Beekeeper delivers in spades.
Rated 18 for Violence and Language.
