“The honeybee has always had a special relationship with humanity. A sacred relationship. Why? No bees, no agriculture. No agriculture, no civilization. Our nation is not unlike a beehive, with its complex systems of workers, caretakers, even royalty. If any of the beehive’s complex mechanisms are compromised, the hive collapses. Someone, a long time ago, decided that a mechanism was needed to keep our nation safe — a mechanism outside the chain of command, outside the system. It’s one mission — to keep the system safe. Beekeepers are given all resources, empowered to act on their own judgment. For decades, they have quietly worked to keep the hive safe. That is, until now. It appears that a retired Beekeeper has gone off program, and is acting in what he mistakenly believes is the hive’s best interest.”
On its surface, The Beekeeper seems to be another mindless action film featuring a retired assassin or skilled operator forced out of retirement to right an injustice. Granted, those themes are central to the overall story; however, in my opinion, the film embraces those themes and provides a measure of excitement and substance to a premise that could have easily become basic. For me, I’d put the film up there with another one of my favorite Jason Statham movies, Homefront. And yes, it is not lost on me that both films feature a retired character who is forced to come out of retirement and take action. For me, in both films Statham’s characters have intrigue. Specifically in The Beekeeper, Statham’s character background is merely hinted at. We know that he was an elite operative. We know his organization operated independently and with a measure of impunity. Beyond that, not much is known about the group. It is left open for interpretation. It also doesn’t hurt that the cast also includes the likes of Jeremy Irons, Josh Hutcherson, Emmy Raver-Lampman, and Phylicia Rashad.
In case it needs clarifying, Statham character is that aforementioned Beekeeper who has supposedly gone off program. However, whether that is true is up to interpretation. Initially, Statham’s Adam Clay is living an anonymous existence, having moved on from his old life and previous occupation. Just caring for bees. However, when someone important to him is scammed and driven to harm, he is compelled to take action. As he works his way up the ladder to those responsible, he uncovers a wide-reaching conspiracy that extends into the highest level of the government.
Meanwhile, the film also includes a subplot that follows Raver-Lampman as a federal agent investigating Clay’s actions. Given her character’s personal stake in the case, this creates an intriguing contrast between her character and Clay’s. Their roles are seemingly reversed. Given her personal stake, it would expect that it would be her character who would be the one who goes off reservation, and Statham’s character obligated to stop her in order to preserve the system. As is, it gives Raver-Lampman’s character depth, as she is pulled between her personal vengeance and professional oath as a federal agent. Not only did this add depth to the character of Agent Verona Parker, but it also gave the film layers by presenting the moral dilemma as to which protagonist is truly in the right.
My one negative note would be the showdown between former Beekeeper Adam Clay and active Beekeeper operative Anisette, who was sent to kill him. This fight could have been a great sequence, but it ended up being a display of gratuitous violence that contradicted what is supposed to be the mandate of the Beekeeper program. They are allegedly an above top-secret program that quietly worked to keep the hive (i.e. the nation) safe. Therefore, the wholesale destruction of a gas station and use of vehicle mounted automatic weapons with civilians in the crossfire undermines that idea. I love the idea of the showdown to see how Statham’s character measures up against his successors. It could have given the film a wonderful old-school versus new-school dynamic. It’s the execution that I could jive with. As is, I would have much rather the Beekeepers remain anonymous, much like they did following this confrontation.
Video
The Beekeeper is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.39:1. The ultra-high-definition image presentation is arrived at with an HEVC codec at an average of 55 mbps. Expect a finely detailed and rather shiny transfer here. There aren’t any extras on the disc, so the entire bandwidth is dedicated to giving you a smooth image. Of course, the film is digital from the source and a 2K intermediate master. So you could make the agreement that this is really an upconvert, but that doesn’t really mean you don’t get all the detail and contrast that the HDR-10 can offer. Close-ups offer a ton of detail if not a lot of texture. Black levels are tight and inky and provide a wonderful level of shadow definition. In fact, at times it’s almost too perfect. There’s absolutely that digital sheen to it all, and it pretty much fits the material here. The explosions offer nice contrast and vivid colors at times. For the most part we’re talking a pretty much reference level of color. Not really much for filters or even a lot of color correction. What they went for here was a purely natural look to it all.
Audio
The Dolby Atmos audio presentation defaults to 7.1. The film is rich in surround textures. The subs come alive during the almost exhausting action scenes, and dialog manages to punch through perfectly fine. There’s some nice ear candy in the rears, and the subs also help to add nice depth to even the dialog, particularly Statham’s. The score delivers some manic moments but surprisingly settles nicely into the background when called for.
Special Features
There are no bonus features and no Blu-ray copy of the film.
Final Thoughts:
The film makes great use of the hive motif, applying the principles of the hive and concepts of the hive to human society, the most notable one being the concept of a “queen slayer”, which is utilized for a pivotal twist and turning point for the film. The execution of this plot device was without a doubt my favorite of the film. It compelled me to do research after the film to learn if this idea was true or not, which is what you want a movie to do: leave a lasting impression that stays with you after you leave the theater. The Beekeeper’s ability to do so with me is a testament to its success as a film.
Parts of this review were written by Gino Sassani
