The review of The Beekeeper: the film with Jason Statham, in cinemas from January 11th, is one of those old action films, but updated.
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| Image Credit: Amazon MGM Studios |
“If I had to compare how deep you are to an art form, this is your Mona Lisa.” It is jokes of this type that dictated the line of old action films. Here, what we tell you in the review of The Beekeeper, the new film by David Ayer with Jason Statham out in cinemas on January 11th, is one of these films, obviously updated. Ever since Rambo appeared in 1982, cinema has tried to tell us about war outside of war, and the stories of common men who turn out to be perfect killing machines.
The meaning of films like these is played out every time on how perfect these machines are, on how much they manage to surprise us, and overcome their own limits and those of logic - and challenge the spectator's suspension of disbelief - every time, starting from the first Rambo emulator, Schwarzenegger's Commando, to move on to his heirs, The Equalizer, I Am Nobody and many others. Ordinary men who are not ordinary men. The Beekeeper also tries not to be just any film. It's an action film, a revenge movie, a film with Jason Statham. Try to surprise by raising the bar of action and amazement and with a good narrative twist. That's enough for two carefree hours.
The plot: Jason Statham is a beekeeper but in reality…
Adam Clay (Jason Statham) lives in the countryside and is a beekeeper by profession. When his neighbor, an elderly lady, takes her own life after being the victim of computer fraud, Adam believes that this is a profound injustice and decides to find the culprits and punish them. But Adam is not what he seems: he was a Beekeeper, a member of a secret organization, which is part of the Intelligence, but completely independent from the FBI and CIA. A loose cannon, uncontrollable. He will stop at nothing.
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| Image Credit: Amazon MGM Studios |
From Rambo to The Equalizer to I Am Nobody
Apart from the original dichotomy between the beekeeper's job and Beekeper's qualification as a special agent, and the idea of computer fraud, the story is actually nothing new: that of the former agent, or soldier, retired for life private company returning to action is now a well-known scheme. As we said at the beginning, from Rambo to The Equalizer to I Am Nobody (but we could go on forever) everything is played on contrasts and the strength of action. That is, on the gap between what the hero seems and what he is, and on the moment and way in which he will reveal himself.
And on his way into action. In this sense, The Beekeeper focuses on the safety and tranquility with which, without running any danger, Jason Statham's Adam Clay fights and defeats anyone. At times he almost seems like a superhero, almost like David Dunne, Shyamalan's Unbreakable. Obviously with a completely different mood, irony, and British understatement typical of the character. And it is precisely the irony, the hyperbole of some situations, that ensures that seen with the right mood, the film works.
The surprise that moves the film towards 24…
Among the original things in the film, is the particular relationship between two different forms of justice, opposing, yet with the same aim, to avenge the lady who lost her life. Adam is the way of operating outside of justice, and Verona, the woman's daughter, is the way of acting within legality. The Beekeeper, the maverick (or rather the maverick bee), and the FBI agent want the same thing, but they find themselves on two opposite sides. It is a small variation on the theme, as is the surprise that arrives three-quarters of the way through the film, and which shifts for a moment (but we don't want to reveal too much) the atmosphere of the film towards that of a series like 24.
Josh Hutcherson as a villain for the first time
There are also some surprises in the cast. For example, we find Josh Hutcherson (Peeta from The Hunger Games, most recently protagonist of Five Nights at Freddy's) in the role of a villain for the first time. His character, the leader of an IT company, is a sort of toxic hipster guru, he would be Mark Zuckerberg if he had gone over to the Dark Side. A side where there is also an elegant Jeremy Irons who seems to be there by chance but who does his job with class and elegance. Agent Verona is an intense and powerful Emmy Raver-Lampman, while, in a cameo, we are pleased to see a still beautiful and effective Minnie Driver, whom we met 25 years ago with Will Hunting. But there could be anyone on stage because the driving force is him, Jason Statham: bronze face, likable rogue, powerful and ironic at the right point. Yes, he is the last action hero.