Beekeeper goes right to the top

Beekeeper – 2024
Director David Ayer
Screenplay Kurt Wimmer
Starring Jason Statham, Jeremy Irons, Josh Hutcherson, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Bobby Naderi, Minnie Driver, Phycilia Rashad, Jemma Redgrave

Jason Statham movies have the range of late Charles Bronson. The difference is that Statham is more fluid and finds more creative ways to take out the bad guys. Still, if you’ve seen one of his films, you have seen most of his output.

I admit, I wanted to watch Beekeeper because I thought he might take a few guys out with a swarm of bees. This does not happen. Nonetheless, by the time this viewer realized that wasn’t going to happen, I saw Jeremy Irons. Then I saw Minnie Driver. I had already seen Phycilia Rashad. How many name actors did they have in this film?

Well, if you include Hutcherson and Redgrave, that’s five. It was enough ammo for me to stick the film out until the end. Yes, Beekeeper is a secret code for government spook. There is a whole force of these guys working for the government. Statham’s Adam Clay is retired, but we can still consider him extremely dangerous.

There is not a lot of humor in the film, aside from creative killings. There are several middle managers in the field of scamming old people out of their money. This viewer enjoyed the guy who leaped off the bridge, for lack of a better word.

There is a place in cinema for revenge films. This film quadrupled its budget of $40 million. For me, that place is on a hot, lazy Sunday afternoon, with the AC roaring in the background.

(*** out of *****)