Jason Statham first caught everyone’s eye when director Guy Ritchie cast him in 1998’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and then Ritchie’s follow-up two years later with Snatch. But it was his portrayal of Frank Martin in the 2002 film The Transporter that catapulted him to international fame and he became synonymous with adrenaline-pumping action films.
Since those early years the British actor has starred in over 50 movies.
Now, with The Beekeeper, he is back and doing what he does best—playing a tough and uncompromising character in another generic action thriller. Critics and audiences have mostly welcomed the now 56-year-old’s effort with The Beekeeper, which is a serviceable (but super violent) action-flick directed by David Ayer and penned by Kurt Wimmer.
Statham is also credited as one of the producers of the film, which also stars Emmy Raver-Lampman, Josh Hutcherson, Minnie Driver, Phylicia Rashad, and Jeremy Irons.
See below for a sampling of reviews for the film.
JUDGEMENT
“Look, the trailer for The Beekeeper will tell you whether it is a film you want to see or not. All I can add is that it’s made with a bit of wit and energy, that Jason Statham is by far the best of the pack who are available to headline a film like this. And that the cinematography—which is unexpectedly gorgeous at times—is by 78-year-old veteran Gabriel Beristain, who has worked with David Mamet, Derek Jarman and Guillermo del Toro.” Graeme Tuckett, Stuff
“But Statham, with his shapely shaved dome, cultivated stubble, lantern jaw, perennial look of mild irritation, and Cockney snarl, endures for a reason. He has enough charisma to make a quilted beekeeping outfit look macho, and he tells the “boundary-setting-with-vehemence” stories that make men connect, deep-down, with their warrior forefathers, remember what their traditional male role in life is, and laugh in appreciation. The Beekeeper is a grade-A Statham B-movie, full of B-grade bee one-liners, that doesn’t take itself too seriously.” Mark Jackson, The Epoch Times
“It’s both easy and difficult to be a Jason Statham fan. Easy, because you always know what you’re going to get: He isn’t going to play a 17th-century dandy, a divorced dad struggling to make ends meet while working at a Costco in Queens, or an alcoholic German playwright. Difficult, because the movie industry’s screenwriters don’t seem to respect Mr. Statham as much as I do. If a script makes its way to him, chances are it comes with a certain level of ridiculousness, and that level tends to oscillate in a tight range between “utter” and “unacceptable.” He’s at his best in Buster Keaton mode, maintaining a stone face while comic chaos engulfs him.” Kyle Smith, Wall Street Journal
“When Jason Statham’s name is above the credits, you know you’re not about to watch a Jane Austen adaptation. He seems civilised enough at the start of David Ayer’s film though, as his character Adam Clay tends to his beehives and exchanges warm words with his elderly neighbour Mrs Parker (Phylicia Rashad). He makes honey, but you suspect that’s not his main talent, and when Mrs Parker takes her own life after being robbed in a phishing scam, Clay decides to make the villains pay. So begins a dogged trail of revenge that starts at a suburban call centre and stretches all the way to the White House (don’t ask).” Paul Whitington, Irish Independent
“Statham’s character is darn near invincible once more, which means The Beekeeper lacks the kind of stakes that elevate generic action films. The bee metaphors prove as relentless as our hero and could make a great drinking game depending on the player’s liver. Bee careful. Director David Ayer (End of Watch, Sabotage) knows how to choreograph bone-crunching action, and even horror fans might flinch when the Beekeeper buzzes through an army of foes. The first act shows the cruelty of the various scam centers, led by charismatic goons who watched too many infomercials in their youth. That sense of outrage eventually fades, and suddenly we’re wondering why our Beekeeper is slaughtering people who aren’t evil and are just doing their jobs. Hmmm.” Christian Toto, Hollywood in Toto
“Statham is as gruffly convincing as he usually is (though it’s 20 minutes before he’s even allowed to kick any ass), but the action scenes are horribly inconsistent: fine in the hand-to-hand stuff, sloppy elsewhere. It’s all wildly over-edited and wildly over-lit, too, like the worst of Michael Bay’s vices, and it’s very hard to care about any of the fights, given we know so little about any of the characters: just The Stath, grimly dispatching faceless, endless bad guys with impunity, as is his wont. If that’s all you’re after, you should be satisfied — but you do have to put up with quite a lot of stuff about bees, too.” John Nugent, Empire
