The Beekeeper compels you to join Jason Statham’s hive

polygon.com:

A January Jason Statham action movie titled The Beekeeper comes with the weight of expectations. “Beekeeper” must have a double meaning. The movie must be littered with tongue-in-cheek bee puns and references. The action must be fun and creative, ideally with bee-centered hijinks. And above all, the movie must be ridiculous, but with a straight face that hides the knowing wink behind the curtain.

Good news: The Beekeeper checks all of those boxes.

I enjoyed the movie when I first watched it, but it has grown on me since, like honey in a comb. Yes, some of the major plot points don’t make a lick of sense, including the character death that sets the whole plot into motion. And half of the cast isn’t quite on the level of tongue-in-cheek action fun as Jason Statham and Jeremy Irons (dutifully following Michael Nyqvist’s example from John Wick as “Guy who tells the petulant villain how extremely fucked he is”). But if you’re looking for breezy January genre fare, you could do a lot worse.

The basic premise pits Statham’s Adam Clay, a retired badass living a life of quiet beekeeping, against an evil call center who scammed someone he cares deeply about. As Clay investigates (and destroys) those responsible for the scheme, he uncovers a deep conspiracy (and more people to destroy).

The Beekeeper opens with a credit sequence filled with bee imagery — bee footage, art, and more — and on first appearance, Clay is in full beekeeping get-up. That should prepare you for the onslaught of bee quips and references to come.

A selection of bee jokes and references in The Beekeeper : 

But the movie has more than bee humor. The fight scenes are great, designed by action maestro Jeremy Marinas (John Wick: Chapter 4) and making great use