Review: In the bonkers 'The Beekeeper,' Jason Statham has more than a bee in his bonnet
ABC News
If you’ve been searching for a movie where Jason Statham gravely vows to “protect the hive” an implausible number of times, you have found it
Secret agents and murderous assassins seem to lurk in increasingly mundane places.
Remember “The Accountant" with Ben Affleck? Or “The Tax Collector” with Shia LaBeouf? Or more recently, how about “The Bricklayer” with Adam Eckhardt? You probably don't — none of these films were exactly Oscar winners. But there's probably a notary public somewhere wondering when he's going to get his Liam Neeson treatment.
“The Beekeeper,” the new Jason Statham revenge thriller, may have them all beaten — or at least bee-ten. The film, directed by David Ayer (who also did “The Tax Collector”) has found probably the widest disparity yet between innocuous occupation and savage killer. As bodies accrue, so do the double takes from those confused by the source of all the mayhem. Again and again they utter in disbelief: “A beekeeper?”
Believe it, honey. “The Beekeeper” carries that ludicrous premise as far as it can, and then well beyond. If you've been searching for a movie where Jason Statham gravely vows to “protect the hive” an implausible number of times, you have found it.
The bee metaphors — there is even, rather impressively, a “To bee or not to bee” reference — come fast and furious in “The Beekeeper,” a movie that flirts with a so-bad-it's-good vibe but is too serious to quite pull it off. It can be divertingly bonkers, but ends up a rather grim and slipshod “John Wick” ripoff.
