Title: The Beekeeper
MPA Rating: R
Director: David Ayer
Starring: Jason Staham, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Josh Hutcherson
Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins

What It Is: “Adam Clay” (Statham) is a man who’s never had anyone care about him. When he is shown kindness by his elderly neighbor Eloise (Phylicia Rashad) this is not something he’ll forget. When Eloise is taken advantage of by some nefarious characters running a malware scheme she ultimately ends her life. Now the man she shown kindness to will do whatever it takes to avenge her death and “protect the hive”. He might be in for more of a challenge then he thinks.

What We Think: David Ayer is back baby! Not only is this his best effort since Fury which came out almost a decade ago. He’s certainly made movies since then, but none of them have been what one would call…good. Here he goes back to basics. Doing the things that made him great. Too often he’d aim to go too edgy and it fell entirely flat. Here his lens is in all the right places and having Jason Statham at the front of the marquee is a BRILLIANT idea. Statham takes his bad man with limited words schtick and makes every single person pay. Josh Hutcherson is highly unlikable and perfect as the smarmy tech bro running the whole operation.

Our Grade: B+, I love a good action flick. I enjoy them even more when they’re unhinged and are extremely violent without compromise. This is always where Ayer can lose an audience by going overboard. Here he balances the line wonderfully and the result is a badass Statham the likes of which we’ve missed on the silver screen. See this one immediately. It is a fantastic action film and a great way to kick off your 2024.