- Starring
- Jason Statham, Josh Hutcherson, Jeremy Irons
- Director
- David Ayer
- Rating
- R
- Genre
- Action, Thriller
- Release date
- January 12, 2024
Overall Score
Rating Overview
Rating Summary
The Beekeeper has long been a steward of an essential ecological balance, with their practices intricately tied to global food production and biodiversity. Throughout history, the art of beekeeping has transcended civilizations, where the value of honeybees was revered not merely for their sweet honey but also for their pivotal role in sustaining ecosystems. In the modern era, beekeepers harness a blend of traditional wisdom and innovative techniques, utilizing advanced hive management systems and protective gear to ensure the vitality of their bee colonies. Moreover, beyond the realms of honey production, many beekeepers have become passionate advocates for preserving bee populations. They actively combat threats like colony collapse disorder and champion sustainable agricultural practices that prioritize pollinator health, recognizing the interconnectedness of bees with our planet’s well-being.
The Beekeeper
Adam Clay is a retired extra-governmental super-assassin known as The Beekeeper, who rents space in a kind woman’s barn where he lives and works as… a beekeeper. When she falls prey to a predatory phone scam and loses everything, Clay will dust off his murder boner and work his way up the criminal food chain, smoking out the hornets who destroyed “the only person who’s ever taken care of [him].”
The Beekeeper wants to be John Wick so bad it hurts, but it is a B movie in every sense of the word, with virtually all of the tropes that you’ve come to expect: hard nose and jaded FBI agents, corrupt government officials, mafia bozos, explosions that go boom, and an unstoppable killing machine mowing through generic baddies.
Phylicia Rashad, best known for playing Claire Huxtable in The Cosby Show, plays Eloise, the ill-fated victim of phone phishing. It’s unfortunate that Rashad was never really able to find a home in Hollywood after years of coming up with excuses for not accepting beverages from The Cos because she is far better than this movie deserves.
The rest of the cast follows suit and offers better performances than the script warrants. Jason Statham does his thing, while Jeremy Irons phones it in better than most modern performers at their best.
Much like he did in Five Nights At Freddy’s, Josh Hutcherson benefits from playing a role that doesn’t demand more than he has to offer, and rounding things out is Emmy Raver-Lampman, who plays a role that was undeniably written for a man, the hard-nosed and jaded FBI agent with a backlog of cases and a drinking problem. The cards were already stacked against her, but her impersonation of this male archetype is probably as much as anyone could hope for.
With forgettable villains, a tired and underdeveloped script, and rinse-and-repeat action scenes, The Beekeeper isn’t worth much. However, it is a perfect movie for a drinking game.
The Beekeeper Drinking Game.
(best played with mead and honey BBQ wings)
- Take a Sip:
- Whenever Jason Statham’s character mentions “protecting the hive” or when bees are used as a metaphor.
- Whenever there’s a reference to hornets or smoking out hornets.
- Each time you spot the color yellow in a scene.
- Take a Shot:
- Whenever Jason Statham engages in a fight scene.
- For every explosion in the movie.
- When there’s a close-up shot of a bee or a beehive.
- Chug Your Drink:
- When Statham makes a dramatic decision on someone’s fate.
- Whenever someone mentions or is shown beekeeping (actual beekeeping).
- Hive Mentality:
- Everyone raises their glasses and toasts whenever Jason Statham delivers a classic action movie one-liner.
- Hive Protector:
- The last person to take a sip or shot must take an extra one whenever the term “hive” is mentioned for the next round.
Remember to drink responsibly, and feel free to adjust the rules based on your preferences and the intensity of the scenes in the movie.
WOKE ELEMENTS
Unfortunately, The Beekeeper isn’t safe from the modern Left’s hive mentality, and it has been tainted with a smattering of wokeness.
But I Thought That Diversity Was Our Strength
- Can we just stop? Obviously not every Indian or Middle Easterner is a call scammer, nor is every call scammer an Indian or Middle Easterner, but can we not pretend like almost all call scammers don’t originate from somewhere outside of the U.S.?
- Not only are the call scammers in The Beekeeper white Americans, but they are also wealthy and prominent white Americans.
- To be fair, the call center employees are diverse. It’s the brass that’s white. Damn systemic racism even keeps the criminals down.
- Not only are the call scammers in The Beekeeper white Americans, but they are also wealthy and prominent white Americans.
It’s A Man, Baby
- The main FBI character was clearly written for a man, and while the actress playing her does as good a job as anyone could under the circumstances, it still comes across as a DEI Halloween costume.
- She’s maybe 5′ 8″ and 20 lbs overweight, but she easily dispatches a much larger fit man in hand-to-hand combat.
Politics, Thy Name is Identity
- The black female FBI agent immediately opens up a can of identity politics to suggest that Jason Statham’s character is being treated differently than someone swarthier.
- The FBI in the film DO treat Statham’s character differently than any other human being of any color would ever be treated under the circumstances…ever. And it’s done so that she can deliver stupid race inequity lines.
James Carrick
James Carrick is a passionate film enthusiast with a degree in theater and philosophy. James approaches dramatic criticism from a philosophic foundation grounded in aesthetics and ethics, offering insight and analysis that reveals layers of cinematic narrative with a touch of irreverence and a dash of snark.
37 comments
JG
January 19, 2024 at 2:30 am
First paragraph says it all: “The Beekeeper wants to be John Wick so bad it hurts, but it is a B movie in every sense of the word, with virtually all of the tropes that you’ve come to expect: hard nose and jaded FBI agents, corrupt government officials, mafia bozos, explosions that go boom, and an unstoppable killing machine mowing through generic baddies.”
Perfect! Just the kind of mindless stuff I like! Just like the video games I play. Sometimes I just watch movies because there are actors I like to watch. Sometimes they even have story lines -bonus! Looking forward to seeing it! Thanks!
James Carrick
January 19, 2024 at 3:15 am
No one in Hollywood sells a fake punch like Statham.
Brad Williams
January 19, 2024 at 11:19 am
The plot was for sure stupid and the final showdown was nonsense but I turned off my brain and still enjoyed it.
Jonathan Warren
January 19, 2024 at 10:41 pm
Best catch phrase ever…. Have you thought about Estate Planning?
Hamster
January 20, 2024 at 1:20 am
There was one memorable baddie, the South African dude.
James Carrick
January 20, 2024 at 1:32 am
If I’m being honest, I don’t remember. lol.
But in my defense, I see a lot of movies.
Don
January 27, 2024 at 11:15 am
Wait 85% based is woke-ish? I got issues. Not concerned about the call center as the central element of a FICTIONAL plot. I think you’re stretching a little trying to say the victim’s daughter is written as a man. Didn’t see that. Aside – thought she was gonna go Smecker the whole time and help, how awesome could it have been to have the brother show up and do operator stuff too instead of dying in service? Having her be a black woman at all raised my antennae, sure, but do you doubt the actual FBI is that woke? And no points for a story about a president with a corrupt, drug addicted son who built a family enterprise on crime and used ill-gotten gains to get the president elected? Complete with deep state conspiracy and feds who are actually worthless and figure out plot elements 30 minutes after us and constantly have to say them out loud? I mean I defended it as fiction but can you think of any real life parallels? I guess I’ve gotten a thick skin or something but I wasn’t much bothered by wokeness with this one and walked away tickled with how based the social commentary was.
Correct that it’s a budget John Wick, though. Idk if I understand the meaning of B-movie, I didn’t really feel that unless you’re throwing the entire action film genre in there, to me it was a basic action film with Jason Statham and you got exactly what you thought you were getting
Don
January 27, 2024 at 11:18 am
Ahhh sorry double comment but, you rated this lower than Mean Girls?? 1 of the 2 will ever pass in front of my eyes and it’s this one I’ve already seen
Sweet Deals
January 27, 2024 at 8:03 pm
Regarding the above commenters, I have a story about this kind of movie.
I had a friend who told me she brought her husband to see a chick flick with her. I think it was “Crazy Rich Asians” (which I haven’t seen). As soon as the film started, her husband immediately fell asleep. There was a brief moment during the film where a chef performed a very impressive food-chopping sequence. He woke up to watch that, and then fell back asleep again.
Meanwhile, sometimes I’m standing in the same room while my Dad watches action movies. In my head, I see a man walk into a room, shoot a hundred nameless thugs, walk into another room, shoot another bunch of nameless thugs, and move on. Even though hundreds of human beings have died, I personally have difficulty caring about the movie because the plot has not advanced and none of the characters have developed. My Dad, on the other hand, is totally riveted and doesn’t want to miss a single second of the action.
I guess when it comes to movies, people have different standards on what it means to be entertained. I’d prefer a movie where I can actually remember what happened and the story stays with me long after it ends. But for others, a forgettable but exciting roller coaster ride is fine, too.
Erik
January 30, 2024 at 12:19 pm
85% based? I’m 5 minutes in, and I’m supposed to believe that a traditional Indian scammer call center is just a bunch of greasy white guys?
Then the line later, the daughter saying “I’m just supposed to ignore the big white guy with a knife in her living room?” Why add “white guy” to that line, unless you’re pushing a narrative that a white guy doesn’t belong in a black persons house unless they’re up to no good?
Only 5 minutes and the wokeness is all over.
James Carrick
January 30, 2024 at 12:50 pm
Yeah but that’s pretty much it. Just those painful 5 minutes.
dad
February 7, 2024 at 8:01 pm
All it takes is 5 seconds. I am the sucker if I pay for that in time or money. I won’t be a complete sucker and fund a racist, sexist campaign against me.
James Carrick
February 7, 2024 at 8:13 pm
I don’t blame you. I’m the same way, but my goal here is to provide info, not marching orders.
Ricardo
March 6, 2024 at 6:56 am
When you see an empowered black fat woman acting all feminist during the whole movie and an FBI agent taking care of the children, and good government officials being black or female while the bad ones being white, then you know there is some ideology in the movie. Nevertheless a badass killing the bad guys in the old fashion way compensates for the trash.
My question is :why would they put woke trash into a movie whose public is 99% men? I am black by the way and I enjoy a good action packed movie the same wether the actor is Statham or Denzel, what I dont like is fat women and babysitting FBI agents sending messages with an agenda in my movies.
James Carrick
March 6, 2024 at 1:05 pm
Coming up with this movie’s woke score was a bit challenging because, sure, the white politicians were the bad guys, but 1. it was a white woman and not a man, and 2. They were totally ripping on Hunter Biden. So, there was some give and take. That’s why we detail the woke elements.
Lewis
May 9, 2024 at 1:28 pm
It’s ESG criteria at this point, can’t have a kickass white male protagonist without an equally capable or superior female “poc”, gotta have afro hair, white protagonist must be portrayed genuflecting to “poc”, you see the same tropes repeating now in all media because its mandated for the production or required to boost ESG scores and access grants.
Clippers32
July 11, 2024 at 8:00 am
Or using the term “sex workers” instead of the correct terminology (whores, prostitutes).
Clippers32
July 11, 2024 at 7:57 am
How about the fact that any figurehead that matters is black and/or female. Or the Mob being involved in scam centers AT ALL. That’s. Not an American racket let alone a Mob racket.
James Carrick
July 11, 2024 at 9:41 am
Yeah, I got the impression that the reason the call centers weren’t in India or the Middle East was more a matter of film logistics than wokeness. It seemed to me that the filmmakers wanted to keep Statham’s character in the U.S., so he could drive around in his beatup American pickup and such, so they contrived the stupid Mob story.
Goy Bernstein
March 9, 2024 at 7:37 pm
Yeah, should be other way around according to statistics.
Matt
January 30, 2024 at 2:46 pm
I’ve found that a lot of Lionsgate titles (whether DTV or theatrical or even BOTH) avoid being woke. They’re not always the best films, but some are better than average. A recent one called Mob Land avoids wokeness. At least as I can tell. Two recent ones (the boys in the boat and Iron Claw) also avoid this trap. I even read a social media comment about boys in the boat where someone foolishly called it “the whitest movie ever” I’d love to see the reaction if that comment was reversed on some films. Keep up the good work.
Damien
February 2, 2024 at 12:18 am
85% WOKE
President is a mega rich white women and bad.
President’s son is mega rich white man and bad.
FBI main characters are DEI, FBI deputy director is black.
Most all of the bad people are white, except for Statham.
sjb
February 5, 2024 at 5:45 am
That’s Hollywood baby!
But in all seriousness, I doubt they even realise they’re doing it these days, it’s so ingrained.
Luke
February 5, 2024 at 10:37 pm
They know. The government is funding these DEI movies. It’s part of their agenda.
Raphael
February 2, 2024 at 9:27 am
Thanks for shining light on the wokeness of this movie. I would add one thing to the drinking game :
-drink everytime a white competent man would be in the position of the diverse cast role. Ex: president of USA, Asian FBI captain, the girl beekeeper etc…
Luke
February 5, 2024 at 6:39 am
This movie is 85% woke. Besides Statham, every bad guy is white and everyone else is a minority. It’s a DEI movie funded by the US Government.
Kessler
February 5, 2024 at 7:26 pm
As usual, white guys are the bad, immoral characters and the black actors are cast as righteous. It’s the safe option for the producers. It’s so damn obvious they made this conscious choice and it’s enough for me to check out of the movie. With this woke BS infecting the population like something from the Bodysnatchers, I will be re-watching movies exclusively from pre-Trump era (yes, that’s what triggered the libs to go full retard)
Clippers32
July 11, 2024 at 8:05 am
Obama being selected (not a typo) is what caused LGBT, DEI etc to go mainstream and it was in 2014-15 where I noticed people getting canceled or banned online for so-called “hate speech” aka calling them out for their racist and immoral DEI.
dad
February 7, 2024 at 7:58 pm
I didnt make it past the moment a few minutes in after the woke call center when fat afro got the drop on Statham in his own house. I quit the movie there.
dad
February 10, 2024 at 3:12 pm
Didnt make it past the first 10 minutes. The call center, then the DEI costume was enough warning to save the 90 minutes.
Fabricio
February 11, 2024 at 10:22 pm
Its a cheap version of John Wick, “Mr. Nobody” is much better than this, also have many woke elements
Bushblocker
May 23, 2024 at 9:39 am
Great review. I wish I had listened and not watched it. I can’t believe how bad the dialogue is in this movie. The writer has a lot of credits to his name, yet no one has figured out he can’t write. I liked his movie Equilibrium, but now I’m questioning that.
The black FBI agent is awful. She can’t act and can’t stop eating Cheetos, apparently.
I’ve received about a million scam phone calls by now. None are white, and all have been foreign.
Derek Tombrello
June 30, 2024 at 8:37 pm
I’m sorry, but this was the most woke crap I’ve seen in a while. Mainly because I don’t normally watch “modern” hollyweird, but I figured “It’s Jason Statham. How bad can it be?” Boy was I wrong!
* EVERY. SINGLE. bad guy is white. EVERY. ONE. OF. THEM.
* EVERY. SINGLE. good guy is non-white. EVERY. ONE. OF. THEM. with the exception of Statham himself, and that depends on how you view his actions, I guess.
* MADAM President? I mean… current year, right?
* The Active Beekeeper is a 98-pound-soaking-wet strong-independent-don’t-need-no-man diversity hire Mary Jane who somehow takes beating after beating from Statham and comes back for more without so much as a scratch. Whereas the GUYS he pummels all do down in a single hit.
* Of course the “we’ll just ignore the big white guy” comment you mentioned.
The main FBI chick is nothing but a bargain basement, low rent Pam Grier wannabe. That guy with the accent at the party… I don’t know what nationality he was supposed to be, but that was nothing but a cartoon caricature. The other party goers – at a Presidential function, no less – are all dressed like their at a rap party. Several of the party-goers even try to take on Statham. Seriously? How many Presidential party attendees are going to take on a on-man-army in hand to hand combat? And where did these party-goers get firearms… again, at a Presidential function? The one chick entertaining at the party – I think she was playing with fire or something… while I tend to like girls with curves, you want to tell me that that is the body shape of people who normally perform like that?
I REALLY wanted to like this. Both I and the missus REALLY like Jason Statham. We have never seen a movie he was in that we didn’t like. Until last night.
James, I like your site. I like what you are doing here, but I think you are being WAY too generous with these movies in your WokeRatings.
James Carrick
June 30, 2024 at 10:08 pm
As easy as life would be if everyone saw everything the exact same way that I do, it’s never going to happen. I keep the comment section open and have added the Audience Woke Score because I want our site visitors to get the best information possible. Within the next few years, the plan is to transform this site into an aggregate site like Rotten Tomatoes with carefully curated conservative reviewers submitting their opinions on films.
Until then, it’s just you guys and me.
Mr Right
July 12, 2024 at 2:23 am
Uhh guys:
Madame President (a president who unfairly won the election) = Joe Biden
Kid CEO (a rich but indecent fraud) = Hunter Biden
This movie is anything BUT woke, it only includes minorities so it shows primarily Democrat voters to realize what is actually happening in our country. 🤦🏽
snyderssoapbox
July 27, 2024 at 11:54 pm
This entire movie would have been better without the DEI FBI female agent chasing after him. Her character was not necessary. It would have been a much better movie with Jason just getting revenge for the murder of the kindly old woman who befriended him. The agent did not make sense, unless she was there simply to let him go after he got vengeance for her as well. It put me off the entire movie.
Jeff
July 30, 2024 at 9:11 am
I just finished up watching this. I knew what i was getting myself into before hand: Jason Statham, ex miliary badass guy who can’t be stopped, has the corny lines before he beats someone up, etc. But yes, right away I was put off by the afro fbi agent, able to get the drop on him and capture him. The big white guy comment. The fact that every important person has to be black, the bad people have to be white. Suggesting whites are inherently evil and the blacks run things and are much smarter. The rich entitled white kid, bc ya know, all whites have money bc they inherit it from their parents. I read comment about it being a shot at hunter biden, I can see it being taken that way but surely not their intention. All in all, the dei stuff lessened my enjoyment of the movie substantially