LIKES:
The Pace -The movie is like most Statham led movies, very loud and very fast, much like the theme of his series Crank.
-The Beekeeper doesn't pull its foot of the gas for much of the movie, and for those who love the adrenaline rush, you are in great shape to enjoy this film.
-It pretty much stays at a nice hundred miles an hour, but also takes time to reset for some faster paced setups to get you ready for the next mayhem to unleash on the screen.
-All in all, great for those with fleeting attention spans.
The Humor -Whether direct or indirect, I laughed a lot in this movie, so much so that it made me have some of the most fun in a film I have had.
-The Beekeeper has plenty of zingers to sting your funny bone, making you crack up with the way Statham dryly delivers a message, or Irons sarcasm and logic comes out like Scar.
-Poking fun at the government system and the political jokes were toned back, purposeful and nicely finessed to be very, very fun without being too much.
-And throw the character profiles being extremely goofy and adding an element of their own only helping further make the ordeal stupid fun and entertaining, alongside some of the stunts and finishes that just scream suspense of disbelief.
The Story To A Degree -It's got a better story than I anticipated, one that is simple, easy to follow, and perfect anchoring to the mishaps coming.
-The Beekeeper's story surprisingly has some decent character development to mix in, helping give some clarity to a few of the players in this weird game of extreme action chess.
-And there is a little bit of a nice "twist" to the mix that should help give a little more to the plot they are conveying, but not enough to trip or offset the main focus of this movie.
The Action Scenes On Many Moments -Perhaps the meat of the movie, the action is all about what most will be coming to see this movie for, and I'll say, it's fun to say the least.
-From the first bout on, Statham and the team get creative in just how much fun a special agent can have with the masses, providing lots of playgrounds to do battle on that help mix up the theme of the action at hand.
-Throw in the combat essentially changing hands to be one part martial arts, one part knife play, and many parts gunplay, and well, you have one heck of an arsenal to get invested into.
-And many of these movements have such rawness to it, a destructive bout of shots and editing to really give you everything action junkies want in a movie with such a hardened lead.
-This is where the sound and cinema work the most. Not in the beautiful shots of emotional wellness, or the beautiful backdrop, and backdrops. . -No, instead this time it's about pulling together and bringing the pure spectacle of elite ops vs. The world, and it accomplishes it in that Statham glory.
The Emotional Fulfillment -There are those movies that know how to deliver that shot and moment that just screams full satisfaction.
-To my surprise, the Beekeeper accomplished this for me, several of those moments captured in the perfect shot as the Statham gets that hit or kill that just makes you nod.
-It adds a little more to the violence, gives some depth to his character without words, and helps to give this movie just that bit of depth that other films in this franchise lose when it's all about mediocre presentation.
The Music -A nice little mix of genres, the music has some comedic aspects and energy as Clay journeys on his quest for vengeance.
-One part is song you will know, a blend of a lot of tracks that match the dynamic of the scene. While the other part is a typical Hollywood soundtrack of powerful instruments in the background to add that small oomph to the symphony of sound effects.
DISLIKES:
The Plot -It's nothing special and quite linear, good on many levels, but will get lost in the sea of action films that we have.
-There is little diving into most characters, it's quite lacking in terms of unique fervor, and the extra information just doesn't have the delivery that much of the John Wick series does.
-It's not what most are going for, but... given some of the legendary actions films have a bit more meat to their, I can't say I wasn't disappointed not to have more to the story.
It's Sort Of Ridiculous -To an extent, all action movies are ridiculous.
-But in this film, the movie's stunts are sometimes a bit too silly and extreme to not laugh and lose the respect and focus I had in the first part of the film.
-Throw in the unbalanced strength factors in this movie being quite wider than I like to see and the movie just breaches a story that sort of lacks that organization I like to see in movies like these that have that balance of comic awesomeness and reality edge.
Excessive Language -By this point I've become desensitized, but the language is annoying at times to the point that again, there are better phrases and words to use.
-The F and MF terminology is their bread and butter of the movie, so if you have a sensitivity for these words, avoid this movie at all costs or be ready expletive city.
-It's lazy writing at times, but it sells, and at times they nail the timing and make it worthwhile.
Some Violence Hard To Watch -There are many moments that desensitized people like me can handle with no issues and laughing at the pure bliss of excitement.
-And then there are some moments that are going to be hard, cringeworthy stabs, carving, and a few other means that are going to be hard to watch.
-Though it doesn't hit the levels of Hostel or Saw, it may still be something to be wary of given some of the finishing moves Statham brings with it.
An Element Of Action.
-Mainly a lot of invincibility/superman complexes for much of the movie that can lead it to be a bit boring.
-Wick, Olympus has Fallen, James Bond, and more take hits and come close to taking hits, which adds excitement, fun, and that danger sense.
-The BeeKeeper though doesn't do this much of the movie, meaning the spectacle and finishes carry the excitement rather than the threat to our antihero. Had they cleaned that up a bit, it might have added even more to the mix.
The VERDICT: The BeeKeeper is a smash hit when it comes to the mindless action and fun of watching a one man army take out the bad guys. Very fast, very exciting, and holding enough merit to build a foundation that will give a meaning to the chaos and violence you are watching. Comedy helps add some pizazz to the mix, a little relief to the darker undertones that go well with the action. Add in the sense of justice and some engaging action that really helps this movie thrive and excel in the promised entertainment the trailers sent in their advertising. And with the simplicity comes the limitations of story, the stupid antics that are hyperbolic feats of super human levels, and some rather one sided antics that can be a bit stale. Throw in some hyper language use and some hard to watch moments, and you round out this movie to some Statham fun that is familiar, a tad stale, and dare I say a bit too familiar to be unique and engaging. Still, this one is worth a trip to the theater for just the fun times, and definitely one worth watching at home.
My scores: Action/Thriller: 7.5 Movie Overall: 7.0.
The Pace -The movie is like most Statham led movies, very loud and very fast, much like the theme of his series Crank.
-The Beekeeper doesn't pull its foot of the gas for much of the movie, and for those who love the adrenaline rush, you are in great shape to enjoy this film.
-It pretty much stays at a nice hundred miles an hour, but also takes time to reset for some faster paced setups to get you ready for the next mayhem to unleash on the screen.
-All in all, great for those with fleeting attention spans.
The Humor -Whether direct or indirect, I laughed a lot in this movie, so much so that it made me have some of the most fun in a film I have had.
-The Beekeeper has plenty of zingers to sting your funny bone, making you crack up with the way Statham dryly delivers a message, or Irons sarcasm and logic comes out like Scar.
-Poking fun at the government system and the political jokes were toned back, purposeful and nicely finessed to be very, very fun without being too much.
-And throw the character profiles being extremely goofy and adding an element of their own only helping further make the ordeal stupid fun and entertaining, alongside some of the stunts and finishes that just scream suspense of disbelief.
The Story To A Degree -It's got a better story than I anticipated, one that is simple, easy to follow, and perfect anchoring to the mishaps coming.
-The Beekeeper's story surprisingly has some decent character development to mix in, helping give some clarity to a few of the players in this weird game of extreme action chess.
-And there is a little bit of a nice "twist" to the mix that should help give a little more to the plot they are conveying, but not enough to trip or offset the main focus of this movie.
The Action Scenes On Many Moments -Perhaps the meat of the movie, the action is all about what most will be coming to see this movie for, and I'll say, it's fun to say the least.
-From the first bout on, Statham and the team get creative in just how much fun a special agent can have with the masses, providing lots of playgrounds to do battle on that help mix up the theme of the action at hand.
-Throw in the combat essentially changing hands to be one part martial arts, one part knife play, and many parts gunplay, and well, you have one heck of an arsenal to get invested into.
-And many of these movements have such rawness to it, a destructive bout of shots and editing to really give you everything action junkies want in a movie with such a hardened lead.
-This is where the sound and cinema work the most. Not in the beautiful shots of emotional wellness, or the beautiful backdrop, and backdrops. . -No, instead this time it's about pulling together and bringing the pure spectacle of elite ops vs. The world, and it accomplishes it in that Statham glory.
The Emotional Fulfillment -There are those movies that know how to deliver that shot and moment that just screams full satisfaction.
-To my surprise, the Beekeeper accomplished this for me, several of those moments captured in the perfect shot as the Statham gets that hit or kill that just makes you nod.
-It adds a little more to the violence, gives some depth to his character without words, and helps to give this movie just that bit of depth that other films in this franchise lose when it's all about mediocre presentation.
The Music -A nice little mix of genres, the music has some comedic aspects and energy as Clay journeys on his quest for vengeance.
-One part is song you will know, a blend of a lot of tracks that match the dynamic of the scene. While the other part is a typical Hollywood soundtrack of powerful instruments in the background to add that small oomph to the symphony of sound effects.
DISLIKES:
The Plot -It's nothing special and quite linear, good on many levels, but will get lost in the sea of action films that we have.
-There is little diving into most characters, it's quite lacking in terms of unique fervor, and the extra information just doesn't have the delivery that much of the John Wick series does.
-It's not what most are going for, but... given some of the legendary actions films have a bit more meat to their, I can't say I wasn't disappointed not to have more to the story.
It's Sort Of Ridiculous -To an extent, all action movies are ridiculous.
-But in this film, the movie's stunts are sometimes a bit too silly and extreme to not laugh and lose the respect and focus I had in the first part of the film.
-Throw in the unbalanced strength factors in this movie being quite wider than I like to see and the movie just breaches a story that sort of lacks that organization I like to see in movies like these that have that balance of comic awesomeness and reality edge.
Excessive Language -By this point I've become desensitized, but the language is annoying at times to the point that again, there are better phrases and words to use.
-The F and MF terminology is their bread and butter of the movie, so if you have a sensitivity for these words, avoid this movie at all costs or be ready expletive city.
-It's lazy writing at times, but it sells, and at times they nail the timing and make it worthwhile.
Some Violence Hard To Watch -There are many moments that desensitized people like me can handle with no issues and laughing at the pure bliss of excitement.
-And then there are some moments that are going to be hard, cringeworthy stabs, carving, and a few other means that are going to be hard to watch.
-Though it doesn't hit the levels of Hostel or Saw, it may still be something to be wary of given some of the finishing moves Statham brings with it.
An Element Of Action.
-Mainly a lot of invincibility/superman complexes for much of the movie that can lead it to be a bit boring.
-Wick, Olympus has Fallen, James Bond, and more take hits and come close to taking hits, which adds excitement, fun, and that danger sense.
-The BeeKeeper though doesn't do this much of the movie, meaning the spectacle and finishes carry the excitement rather than the threat to our antihero. Had they cleaned that up a bit, it might have added even more to the mix.
The VERDICT: The BeeKeeper is a smash hit when it comes to the mindless action and fun of watching a one man army take out the bad guys. Very fast, very exciting, and holding enough merit to build a foundation that will give a meaning to the chaos and violence you are watching. Comedy helps add some pizazz to the mix, a little relief to the darker undertones that go well with the action. Add in the sense of justice and some engaging action that really helps this movie thrive and excel in the promised entertainment the trailers sent in their advertising. And with the simplicity comes the limitations of story, the stupid antics that are hyperbolic feats of super human levels, and some rather one sided antics that can be a bit stale. Throw in some hyper language use and some hard to watch moments, and you round out this movie to some Statham fun that is familiar, a tad stale, and dare I say a bit too familiar to be unique and engaging. Still, this one is worth a trip to the theater for just the fun times, and definitely one worth watching at home.
My scores: Action/Thriller: 7.5 Movie Overall: 7.0.