Regardless of the quality of the work he’s been in, one of our finest contemporary action stars will always be Jason Statham. Yes, the bald brit is back to grace our silver screens to kick ass and take names. This time, Statham plays Adam Clay; a man on a vengeful mission once a part of a powerful organization called “The Beekeepers” and on the way, the film carries discussions on the meaning of justice, law, and how damn annoying crypto-bros are. January is usually the cinematic dumping ground for studios, but you’ll have a safe bet of a good time with a movie like The Beekeeper.

 

Coming from director David Ayer, he’s able to give us a fun, schlocky, but sometimes rocky and unsatisfying ride. Though there's enough of that Statham Mayhem™, some of the action scenes he delivers are fun; however, most of them feel repetitive and borderline incomplete. As the action gets going, it’s very hit and miss in the action department. There are a few that thankfully stand out and are loads of fun, but there are others that felt rather pointless, and way too jarring. Ayer’s direction here is solid though! Though he doesn’t exactly impress here, he does the job in delivering some brutal violence from Adam Clay’s rage, and it was something I felt Ayer was relieving in and wanting to do more of.

 

The script is pretty straight forward, simple, and fun. Revenge-action vehicles are always fun, and Statham is really showing he’s having so much fun navigating through this film; other characters Emmy Raver-Lampman and Bobby Naderi coming in as FBI agents investigating Clay’s vengeful rampage, and this felt like a neat side story to weave into Clay’s crisis of justice, and there’s an interesting meditation on what is really just in this kind of situation. Also, I have to say, this is the first time I’ve seen Josh Hutcherson in a villain role, though it does seem like he’s having much fun with this, too much plot for too little of character from him. As prominent as he is through the film, the material he is given is a bit lacking and disappointing.

As hit and miss as this was, I still had a pretty good time with it. It’s hard not to when you’re watching Jason Statham mow through everyone on screen, but the team behind The Beekeeper really made sure to make this stand out a little bit among Statham and Ayer’s respective bodies of work.