The Beekeeper (2024, Blu-ray, Library Rental) Review

[SRW1000]

Studio:  Amazon MGM Studios
Release Date:  4/23/2024
Rating:  R
Film Grade:  C

The Story:  Eloise Parker has a nasty hornet problem in one of her farm’s buildings.  Fortunately for her, she has a benevolent beekeeper renting land from her.  Adam Clay quickly takes care of the hornet’s nest for Eloise, restoring calm to the property.

As Eloise is using her computer a warning message pops up, letting her know that it’s been compromised.  She quickly calls the number on the pop-up window to get help, unwittingly letting the scammer on the other end gain access to all of her accounts.  Within moments everything is drained, even from a charity account that she manages.

The thief picked the wrong victim, however.  For Adam Clay isn’t just a beekeeper, he’s a former member of The Beekeepers, a super-secret organization designed to keep the hive (USA) in order.  Clay uses all of his training and resources to extract revenge on the organization that took advantage of Eloise.

My Take:  The Beekeeper is a perfectly average action/revenge movie.  One can see similarities to the John Wick series (a lone avenger with connections to hidden organizations gets back at anyone who has harmed those around him), but not as well written, acted, or exciting as any of them.

Directed by David Ayer, this one falls closer to Suicide Squad than Fury.  Jason Stratham gives us his typical acting job; there’s no stretch of character here, just a straightforward, highly competent protagonist.  Emmy Raver-Lampman plays Eloise’s daughter who also happens to be an FBI agent and ends up doing her own investigation of the case.  It’s hard to say if it’s her portrayal of the character or the way that it’s written, but Verona is a really unlikeable person.  Harsh and abrasive even to the people trying to help, she’s hard to identify with or have any sympathy for and ends up hurting the movie.  Jeremy Irons plays an ex-CIA official who has ties to the shadowy business that is tied to the scammers, in a role that could have been expanded to make greater use of his talent.  Josh Hutcherson rounds out the main cast, having fun playing the ruthless slacker running the business in question. 

Video:  While shot digitally, the movie features lots of grain, which I imagine was added in post-production to give it a gritty look. (I searched for confirmation of this but couldn’t find anything.)  This doesn’t detract from the look of the movie, and actually enhances some of the closeups of the character’s faces in some shots.  There are also optical effects that some might find bothersome.  If you like lens flares and glare, you’ll love this movie.

There are plenty of dark scenes, and my projector had no problems rendering them clearly and preserving contrast.  There are a number of outdoor shots that have a lovely golden hue.  Other outdoor scenes have a natural look to them, with indoor shots varying by location.  This is a good-looking movie, but not spectacular.

Audio:  The Blu-ray features an Atmos track (yeah!) and it’s not bad.  Rewatching just to check the tops and wides, I found that they were mostly used for the musical score throughout the movie.  At times they were used for things like helicopters, overhead whooshing and such, but could have been employed to a greater degree to add more atmosphere to the film.  There’s a scene with a minigun that will give your subs a chance to shine.  It’s an typical action movie presentation with the surround sound effects you’d expect to hear, but nothing amazing or particularly engrossing.

Special Features:  None

Final Verdict:  If you’re a fan of Jason Stratham, you can bump up the film grade, but there’s little in this movie that you probably haven’t seen before.  Hampered by an abrasive side character, it’s lacking in emotional depth that might have helped temper its perfectly average plot. 

Even at a short 105 minutes, it feels overly long in stretches, due to the derivative nature of the storyline.  The revenge-against-phone-scammers angle offers some visceral satisfaction for anyone that can relate to being victimized by them.  The action scenes are well-done and the primary reason for watching it.  If any of that appeals to you, it’s worth checking out, but I can’t recommend it as a blind purchase.

Fun Quote:  “I’m a Beekeeper. I protect the hive.”

RESTRICTED Trailer (violence and foul language and contains minor spoilers): 

My Review System:
JVC DLA-RS3100 4K Ultra High-Definition Front Projector
Elite Screens Sable Frame B2 117” Width with Infinitely Variable Height
Monolith by Monoprice HTP-1 16 Channel Processor with Dirac Live
Monolith by Monoprice 7x200 Watts Amp
Monolith by Monoprice 3x200 Watts + 6x100 Watts Amp
JBL Studio 590 for Left, Center, Right, Wides, and Rears
JBL Studio 580 for Side Surrounds
JBL Studio SCS 8 for Tops
JTR Captivator 1400 Subwoofer X 4
Panasonic DP-UB420 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player
Oppo BDP-93
NVIDIA Shield Android TV - 4K
Xbox One X
HTPC Running madVR (work in progress)
Remote: URC MX-780
Mini DSP 2X4 HD controlling all subwoofers
APC S15 Power Conditioner with Battery Backup

[AVSCraig]

Thanks. I like Jason Statham movies, but I'm still on the fence with this one, and your review didn't change that. 

[SRW1000]

Since you like Stratham's movies (I'm indifferent to them), you may like it more than me.  I'd suggest renting it or catching on streaming rather than a blind buy.

For me, I can't see ever wanting to watch it again.

Scott

[Paul Heroy]

A couple of Statham movies go a long way. There are better written/executed ones like anything, but the template is very strong. 

[bmoney]

Wasn’t terrible. Worth a rental 

[AVSCraig]

Watched this Wednesday night with 5 friends and they all loved it. One friend said " that's my kind of movie ". Just a fun Statham action movie. In fact, they want to come back and watch it again!

[SRW1000]

Watched this Wednesday night with 5 friends and they all loved it. One friend said " that's my kind of movie ". Just a fun Statham action movie. In fact, they want to come back and watch it again!

Thanks for sharing, Craig.  I can see how a group viewing might be more fun than just a single or a couple.

Out of curiosity, was there anything that they particularly loved about it compared to most other action movies?

[AVSCraig]

Thanks for sharing, Craig.  I can see how a group viewing might be more fun than just a single or a couple.

Out of curiosity, was there anything that they particularly loved about it compared to most other action movies?

Good question. I've got a lot of Jason Statham movies in my collection - Hobbs and Shaw, Crank, The Transporter. I think my friends love a good kick ass action movie. I'd put Atomic Blonde, Baby Driver, Kick Ass and the Kingsman series, the John Wick series and the Equalizer series in there too. The bad guys got their asses kicked in a few new and creative ways in The Bee Keeper. Statham is fun to watch. Time to watch Crank again!

[SRW1000]

For the curious, this has just been added to Amazon Prime.

[Paul Heroy]

Watched it tonight with the wife. I think she liked it more than me but ... damn this was dumb even for the genre. It felt like a comic book with over the top characters and situations. Statham is Statham and his excellence at this role is the only thing that kept it somewhat watchable for me. With the templated plot & dialog this would not be a movie to use as an example of why AI is inferior to human writing.

We watched 3 movies this weekend, first time we've done that in a while.

Friday - American Fiction: A (Loved it in the theater and enjoyed it just as much or more the 2nd time.)
Saturday - Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire: C+
Sunday - The Beekeeper: D+ 

[AVSCraig]

Watched it tonight with the wife. I think she liked it more than me but ... damn this was dumb even for the genre. It felt like a comic book with over the top characters and situations. Statham is Statham and his excellence at this role is the only thing that kept it somewhat watchable for me. With the templated plot & dialog this would not be a movie to use as an example of why AI is inferior to human writing.

We watched 3 movies this weekend, first time we've done that in a while.

Friday - American Fiction: A (Loved it in the theater and enjoyed it just as much or more the 2nd time.)
Saturday - Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire: C+
Sunday - The Beekeeper: D+

I guess my guests that loved it fall into the 92% audience rating at RT's - 

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_beekeeper_2024