The Beekeeper

Last night I went to an early access IMAX screening of The Beekeeper and I had a lot of fun with it because it is the type of movie that I would have seen with my dad (he would have loved it).  Adam Clay (Jason Statham) practices his hobby of beekeeping and making honey on a farm owned by his neighbor and friend Eloise Parker (Phylicia Rashad).  When Eloise commits suicide, Clay discovers that she was the victim of a sophisticated phishing scam perpetrated by a vast criminal organization.  He vows revenge and, as Eloise's daughter FBI agent Verona Parker (Emmy Raver-Lampman) and her partner Matt Wiley (Bobby Naderi) investigate in his wake, they learn that Clay is a retired operative in a covert organization, known as The Beekeepers, with vast resources and no oversight.  When Clay's brutal quest for vengeance leads to Derek Danforth (Josh Hutcherson), a seemingly untouchable CEO protected by the former director of the CIA Wallace Westwyld (Jeremy Irons), he is forced into an epic showdown.  Statham (doing what he does best) executes thrilling fight choreography featuring single-handed combat against highly trained FBI agents, Navy SEALs, hired mercenaries, and secret service agents (sometimes all at once) with almost no dialogue other than a few witty quips (the bee analogy is a bit belabored but I have to admit that I laughed out loud at one reference).  The plot does descend into the ridiculous at times but Irons, who provides most of the exposition, plays it straight so I was completely riveted and Hutcherson is a lot of fun as the villain.  The action set pieces are completely over the top, especially an extended fight sequence in a long mirrored hallway, and they had my audience cheering out loud!  This was exactly what I was expecting and I thoroughly enjoyed it (I just wish I could have watched it with my dad).