Movie · 2024 · Action, Crime, Thriller · 1h 46m · R · English
Curator score: 1.3/10 (500.3K ratings)
Expose the corruption. Protect the hive.
Overview
One man's campaign for vengeance takes on national stakes after he is revealed to be a former operative of a powerful and clandestine organization known as Beekeepers.
Ratings
Curator score: 1.3/10
IMDb: 6.3/10
Letterboxd: 2.73/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 71%
Metacritic: 53
TMDB: 7.3/10
Director
David Ayer
Production
Miramax, Cedar Park Entertainment, Punch Palace Productions
Cast
Jason Statham, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Josh Hutcherson, Jeremy Irons, Bobby Naderi, David Witts, Michael Epp, Taylor James, Phylicia Rashād, Jemma Redgrave, Minnie Driver, Don Gilet, Sophia Feliciano, Enzo Cilenti, Megan Le, Dan Li, Georgia Goodman, Derek Siow, Jay Rincon, Kojo Attah
Where to watch
Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
A loud, goofy, efficiently made revenge thriller that works best as a knowingly absurd Jason Statham vehicle. It’s carried by blunt-force momentum, scammer-targeting catharsis, and a few gleefully ridiculous turns, but the script is repetitive and the tonal seriousness keeps it from fully embracing its own silliness.
Best for
Viewers who want a fast, no-frills action movie with a simple vengeance setup
Fans of Jason Statham’s stone-faced, one-man-army persona
People amused by high-concept crime premises and shamelessly pulpy plotting
Audiences looking for a theatrical crowd-pleaser that plays like premium DTV action
Skip if
You want tightly written crime drama or emotional depth
You’re allergic to corny dialogue and heavy-handed mythology
You prefer action movies that feel grounded or self-aware
You need strong supporting characters or a fresh genre twist
Overview
The Beekeeper is the kind of movie that arrives with a straight face and a ridiculous premise, then doubles down until the absurdity becomes the point. Jason Statham does what he does best: move through rooms like a human battering ram, dispensing punishment with minimal fuss and maximum efficiency. The movie’s scammer-revenge hook gives it a contemporary edge, even when the plotting starts to feel like a series of escalations in search of a screenplay.
Worth noting
David Ayer stages the action cleanly enough, and the film has a brisk, disposable pleasure to it. But it also has the odd stiffness of a movie that wants to be mythic while constantly flirting with parody. The bee metaphors, the secret-organization lore, and the increasingly outlandish villainy all make for a watchable fever dream, though not always a coherent one.
Bottom line
If you’re in the mood for a theatrical action ride that’s more about momentum and attitude than logic, it delivers. If you want the genre sharpened into something smarter or more stylish, this one mostly buzzes around the target rather than landing a perfect sting.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Haunted Hippie (3★) · 5160 likes
This feels like a fake movie that would be playing in the background of a real movie
davidehrlich (2.5★) · 2980 likes
Here’s the beautiful thing about David Ayer’s “The Beekeeper,” which is essentially a “John Wick” ripoff starring Jason Statham as a former top-secret government assassin who violently unretires after someone kills his bees: If for some twisted reason you showed me this movie right after I’d woken up from a 10-year coma and told me it was opening in theaters that Friday, I might not have any idea what year I was in, but I would know — within five… more Here’s the beautiful thing about David Ayer’s “The Beekeeper,” which is essentially a “John Wick” ripoff starring Jason Statham as a former top-secret government assassin who violently unretires after someone kills his bees: If for some twisted reason you showed me this movie right after I’d woken up from a 10-year coma and told me it was opening in theaters that Friday, I might not have any idea what year I was in, but I would know — within five… more
esther (3★) · 2459 likes
my wife and i have a theater called the orpheum that we only go to in very specific circumstances. the presentation at this theater is always bad. the screens are scratched up and relatively small, and the projection is often framed so poorly that the bottom edge of the image will be splayed across the first few rows of seats. but since this theater is convenient to get to, we only go there when we want to see something that… more my wife and i have a theater called the orpheum that we only go to in very specific circumstances. the presentation at this theater is always bad. the screens are scratched up and relatively small, and the projection is often framed so poorly that the bottom edge of the image will be splayed across the first few rows of seats. but since this theater is convenient to get to, we only go there when we want to see something that… more
𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙢𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙩 (3★) · 1935 likes
This movie fucking sucks and I love it.
Make no mistake, The Beekeeper is very silly and to be clear, objectively bad and not taken seriously by anyone (including myself). Yet I can’t help myself but be greatly intrigued by this sort of sheer and utter bizarreness that I can’t stop thinking about. Something about this film FASCINATES me.
The film starts off pretty standard with a promising revenge plot set up in the first 10 minutes, but seems to escalate faster… more
Jade talks too much🎅🏻🎄 (5★) · 1769 likes
HELL YEAH!🤘🏻Jason Statham continues to save cinema and nobody thanks him!🏆
105 minutes of Statham killing phone scammers🔥☎️ & making ludicrous Bee Puns.🐝🍯 It’s an instant classic!😌