Jason Statham’s career has provided us with some of the best action movies of our day, including his roles in The Expendables and The Fast and Furious franchises. For his next offering, Statham has teamed up with director David Ayer for the new action-thriller The Beekeeper, which will see his character Adam Clay set out to get revenge on a phishing company responsible for his friend’s death. The buzzworthy thriller was first announced in 2021, and now it’s set to hit the big screen on January 12. Let’s see what critics are saying about it.
Alongside Jason Statham, The Beekeeper’s cast includes some big names, including Emmy Raver-Lampman, Josh Hutcherson, Jeremy Irons, Minnie Driver and Phylicia Rashad. So what do critics think? Let’s start with CinemaBlend’s review of The Beekeeper, which our own Eric Eisenberg rates 2.5 stars out of 5. He says there’s plenty of room in the cinematic landscape for stupid-but-fun movies with preposterous premises and silly dialogue, but bad choices hold this one back from reaching the “good bad” film it should be. He continues:
David Rooney of THR agrees with the above assessment, noting that The Beekeeper could have been a lot of fun with a director more willing to tap into the inherent humor of Clay’s almost superhuman bad-assery. Rooney writes:
Mae Abdulbaki of ScreenRant rates it 3 stars out of 5, saying Jason Statham brings an unhinged quality to Clay that helps the critic to forgive the “extremely thin” story that would never work if it tried to take itself too seriously. Abdulbaki says:
John Nugent of Empire calls The Beekeeper “absolute bee-movie trash,” saying not even Jason Statham can elevate the bad dialogue and sloppy action sequences. Nugent gives the movie 2 out of 5 stars, writing:
Cameron Frew of Dexerto rates it 3 out of 5 stars, saying The Beekeeper doesn’t skimp on the violence and eventually becomes a fairly watchable action flick, albeit a “shamelessly, giddily batshit bonkers” one. For instance, the critic says:
It sounds like if you’re down for corny, pun-filled dialogue and action that doesn’t let reality stand in its way, this might be a good option — though a couple of critics warn that David Ayer’s film could have embraced those qualities in a more fun way. If you want to check out The Beekeeper, you can do so starting Friday, January 12, and be sure to also take a peek at our 2024 movie calendar to start planning your next trip to the theater.