THE BEEKEEPER (2023)
Label: WBDHE
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: R
Duration: 105 Minutes 36 Seconds
Audio: English Atmos with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 2160p Ultra HD Widescreen (2.39:1)
Director: David Ayer
Cast: Jason Statham, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Josh Hutcherson, Bobby Naderi, Minnie Driver, Phylicia Rashad, Jeremy Irons
Actioner The Beekeeper (2024) stars Jon Statham (The Meg) as a beekeeper Adam Cayton who rents the barn of retired school teacher Eloise Parker (Phylicia Rashad, The Cosby Show), who is swindled out of her life saving by a phishing scam run by evil crypto-bro Derek Danforth (Josh Hutcherson, Tragedy Girls). Distraught by her financial ruin Eloise commits suicide and her body is found by Adam, who swears vengeance on those who defrauded the nice lady he rented the barn from - that's pretty much the whole story. Unluckily for the crypto-bro fraudsters Adam is not just an angered beekeeper but a retired member of the clandestine government assassin program called the "Beekeepers", he's a veritable one-man army of unstoppable badassery, and that old lady meant a lot to him, plus they killed his beloved bees - yup, they're all fucked.
A fairly formulaic and threadbare actioner for sure, but Statham delivers near non-stop action and violence once his kill-spree starts, decimating the fraudsters starting with a call center run by money-grubbing minion Mickey (David Witts, TV's Manhunt), setting the call-center on fire, and working his way up the fraudster food chain from there. It turns out that the crypto-bro Danforth has a direct connection to the highest ranking government office in the land, and a former CIA protector/fixer by way of Wallace Westwyld (a slumming it for a paycheck Jeremy Irons, Dead Ringers) who uses every tool at his disposal to deter Adam's pursuit of Danforth, including a FBI S.W.A.T. team, a band of former elite military mercenaries, and a successor Beekeeper.
It's a Statham actioner so you know there's gonna be loads of him delivering straight-faced, bone-breaking ass-kicking with some occasional wry one-liners thrown in, he's extremely good in this sort of role and he delivers the good here from start to finish. Statham himself takes up most of the air in the flick, but they do try to stuff it with inconsequential side characters that are largely ineffective and/or unnecessary, including the Eloise's daughter Verona (Emmy Raver-Lampman, The Umbrella Academy), who turns out to be an FBI agent, and her comic-relief partner, as well as a CIA director played by Minnie Driver (GoldenEye) - all of whom barely register.
What we're here for is what we get, non-stop devastating action, with Statham as a comically unstoppable one-man killing machine who douses fraudster call centers in gasoline and set them on fire, cuts off fingers, straps crypto-bros to trucks and send them careening off bridges, blowing up gas stations and brutally beating and slicing through swaths of highly trained and well-armed military and tactical response teams like a hot knife through room temperature water - largely without a weapon, it's almost like he has superpowers. A totally ridiculous John Wick-esque slice of slick, escapist action entertainment that had me happily munching on my popcorn from start to finish. I was highly entertained by The Beekeeper, this is definitely recommended.
Audio/Video: The Beekeeper (2024) arrives on 4K UHD + Digital from Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment in 2160p UHD framed in 2.39:1 widescreen with HDR Implementation. It's a gorgeous presentation with vibrant colors, deep inky blacks and superior depth and contrast. The stylized visuals and explosions galore makes great use of the WGC color-grade to embolden primaries, making for a wonderful viewing experience, highlighting the slick lensing by cinematographer Gabriel Beristan (Blade II). Likewise the 7.1 (Atmos core) surround delivers a terrific audio experience that is bold, visceral and chock full of atmospherics and piercing exchanges of gunfire and explosions, plus a pulse-pounding score by David Sardy (Zombieland) and Jared Michael Fry, the former of whom I fondly remember from 90's noise-rock band Barkmarket, who to this day are so underrated. If you are a fan of aggro noise-rock and stuff like the Amphetamine Reptile (AmRep) roster you shoudl seek them out.
Criminally we get zero extras for this release aside from a digital copy of the film. The single-disc UHD/Digital release arrives in a black keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork and a slipcover with the same key artwork.
Special Features:
- Digital Copy
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