Most studio action movies follow a straightforward format. The hero loses his happy life and loving family to a criminal element, then adopts or returns to violence for retribution. The Beekeeper is no exception, presenting a narrative focused on a man who sees the world as a beehive and seeks to keep the colony in line. Though it seems by the numbers, there's more to this action-thriller than bee-puns and beekeeper punches.
Any action movie has the potential to spawn a franchise. Some argue that movies are sold more on characters than actors these days, but the ongoing career of Jason Statham suggests there are at least some exceptions. Statham's characters are usually unmemorable nobodies, but he's still dragged a few of them through franchises. The titular Beekeeper might struggle to return to the big screen, but he's not gone either.
The Beekeeper Review
Jason Statham stars in this bizarre conspiratorial mess packed with violence, bee facts, and righteous anger at phishing scams.
What is The Beekeeper About?
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Director |
David Ayer |
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Writer |
Kurt Wimmer |
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Stars |
Jason Statham, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Josh Hutcherson |
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Release Date |
January 11, 2024 |
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Runtime |
105 Minutes |
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Rotten Tomatoes Score |
71% Positive from 93 Reviews |
Adam Clay is a taciturn beekeeper dedicated to his quiet life with his favorite insects. He rents barn space from his kindly neighbor, retired teacher Eloise Parker. The film offers little information about Clay's life, but he takes time to thank Eloise, who he describes as the only person who ever cared for him. Eloise falls for a phishing scheme, with the traditional hacked hard drive computer pop-up. The leader of a group of snarky Silicon Valley twenty-somethings in a fancy call center leads her through a fake IT tutorial to steal her passwords before cleaning out her accounts. They rob her savings and the children's charity she operates. Eloise takes her own life in shame and misery. Clay arrives at her home for dinner, only to find her corpse and her FBI agent daughter, Verona. The officers briefly take Clay in, but after evidence clears his name, he shares a conversation with Verona and sets out for revenge.
Clay, not his real name, is a retired agent of a mysterious extra-governmental espionage and military outfit called the Beekeepers. He uses his former co-workers' connections to track down the call center that defrauded his friend. Clay drives to the expensive building, assaults the security, douses the room in gasoline, and burns it to the ground. The branch manager phones Derek Danforth, a slimy, drug-addled failson who inherited his father's business from his deceased dad and busy mother. He tells his underling to hire goons and track down Clay before chatting with his security director, former CIA director Wallace Westwyld. They fail, letting Clay kill each of them before using the manager's phone to threaten Danforth. Westwyld realizes what he's up against, tells him they're both almost certainly doomed to die and starts calling in favors to save them. Clay will fight to the top while Verona pursues him, pitting the Beekeeper against the government and the rich.
How does The Beekeeper end?
A new Beekeeper attacks Clay at a gas station, but he dispatches his unhinged replacement, inadvertently giving the FBI clues to his plan. Clay strikes a bank connected to the call center as Verona and her partner Wiley track him down. When they connect the dots and warn the higher-ups about the Beekeeper, they try to keep it quiet. Clay kills many private security men and beats up several SWAT team members before torturing a bank manager for information. He escapes after disarming Wiley, leaving him alive despite his attempts to stop him. Westwyld convinces Danforth to stay with his mother, the President of the United States. Verona and Wiley convince the deputy director of the FBI to write them a blank check. Westwyld hires an assassin who killed a previous Beekeeper. These forces converge on a birthday party at the President's beach house.
Clay sneaks into the mansion by impersonating a Secret Service agent before blending into the party. He kills the assassin in single combat. Derek Danforth hides with his mother in their office with the deputy FBI director. Derek explains his crimes to his mom, revealing that he used a state-sponsored data harvesting program to steal billions from innocent people, then funneled that money into her presidential campaign. He shoots the deputy director dead and takes his mom hostage. Clay hurts Westwyld to enter the office. He effortlessly kills Danforth and escapes out the window. Verona shouts after him but decides to let him go. Clay dons a hidden scuba suit and swims away, the credits rolling abruptly before he reaches the water. There is no post-credits scene. It's an awkwardly barebones ending.
The Beekeeper probably won't spark a franchise. The world has likely seen the last of Adam Clay, but more has been made of worse. Though the world is undeveloped and bland, it fits the engagingly odd narrative. Adam Clay is alive at the end of The Beekeeper, but with dozens of murders and countless assaults on his head, it's hard to imagine him relaxing with his hives after it's all over.