By Daniel Paiz

Jason Statham’s action-packed “The Beekeeper” is our unexpected first Cypher Flicks review of 2024. Director David Ayer (Training Day, Fury, End of Watch) teams up with Statham (who also produces this film) to tackle internet scammers in a very John Wick-like manner. This action thriller throws out the age-old question of does one do things the legal way or the just way; the answer to that is a bit blurry for everyone besides the beekeeper.

Protect the Hive

Adam Clay (Jason Statham) is a man who appreciates keeping bees and works to improve his surroundings. His neighbor Eloise Parker (Phylicia Rashad) appreciates his help and has looked after him for the unknown time he’s been around. The retired schoolteacher runs into a problem of her own that Clay unfortunately is just out of reach to help.

Parker’s laptop flashes a large message on her screen, advising her she needs to call a number for tech support. This form of scamming targets older adults due to their lack of computer literacy; Parker (Rashad) plays into the scammer’s hands with ease. After authorizing access to the alleged United Data Group help team to fix her computer, the accounts are zeroed out. Parker is tragically beside herself. A grim outcome results from this series of events.

Parker’s daughter, FBI agent Verona Parker (Emmy Raver-Lampman) finds Clay, who had arrived to deliver some honey to his sweet neighbor. The younger Parker believes Clay has something to do with what’s happened, but crime lab results paint a different picture. The two quietly mourn while discussing the impact of the elder Parker.

Both discover the results of the scam, and both agent and beekeeper embark on their own paths to find revenge. Parker and her FBI partner agent Matt Wiley (Bobby Naderi) begin to unravel who United Data Group is a part of, while Clay stings his way through those cashing in. This might be the first time in history nefarious scammers should flinch at the sight of honey.

Queenslayer

Mickey Garnett (David Witts) and Derek Danforth (Josh Hutcherson) are two individuals who are racking up the dollars and cents from those in need of tech support. The former is a call center boss, while the latter is the one who oversees the call centers and is the one who found a way to use data mining algorithms to cash in. Both are seeing thousands of dollars a day roll in, leading to millions of dollars a month from all of the call centers.

Danforth is under the watchful eye of retired CIA director Wallace Westwyld (Jeremy Irons), who is doing so as a favor to the son’s mother (despite how much it exasperates him). Westwyld goes unheeded and ignored by the arrogant and sloppy Danforth, who does not comprehend every action has a plausible consequence. It seems the younger Danforth has been on his current path too long to depart from his descending trajectory.

This character might be the only irredeemable person in this film. He also represents the arrogance of society’s wealthy and powerful until it’s too late. His outlook is an equal counter to Clay’s humble and singular focus on finding justice. One seems disconnected from living, while the other understands he can die at any time but continues onward anyway.

Reasons to go (or not)

Those who enjoy action and appreciate doing the right thing regardless of the cost will appreciate this film. There are several reminders throughout that laws and rules are set up by those in charge and, like everything in life, have flaws. It’s nice to see Clay methodically work his way through greedy middlemen who lack humanity and style in equal measures. The fight scenes flow quite well and emphasize the beekeeper’s experience and skill sets. The consistent amount of underestimation Clay faces pulls in the audience to appreciate and even chuckle at how woefully underprepared each combatant is.

That unpreparedness actually is so constant that it does grate a bit on this viewer towards the end. The final big fight against Westwyld’s (Irons) newest hire Lazarus (Taylor James), is where Clay faces some true competition and bleeds a decent amount of his own blood. It is surprising that every prior opponent at best could only land a few scratches on the honey harvester. Also, the combination of obliviousness to some things and meticulous planning for others by Danforth (Hutcherson) is a bit exasperating; this level of boneheaded denial of reality is hard to find.

Despite the relative ease Clay has, and the arrogance of Danforth, this film is a lot of fun. There’s a satisfaction to what Clay does. If world-building of the Beekeeper program happens, then the John Wick series might have a worthy adversary. One can only hope.