There are different types of movies in the world. there’s the kind that attracts critics and film snobs, and they debate the merits of a lot of films no one will ever watch again. too many of those people don’t understand the appeal of something like The Beekeeper, which is one of the dumbest movies I’ve seen in terms of plot, but it was also oddly a blast to watch. Jason Statham clearly wanted his own John Wick style franchise, and David Ayer was happy to oblige. The upside is that this movie has audio description by Jedidiah Barton and the team at Deluxe. Barton’s narration is so good here. The action is absurd and over the top, and he’s getting all of it.
The movie starts simply enough, with Statham playing a literal beekeeper that is working on the property of a retired teacher (Phylicia Rashad), until one day her identity is stolen, and she kills herself. Her daughter happens to be in law enforcement, so she comes by to start an investigation, but little does she know, her mom had this beekeeper. And he does not fuck around. Turns out, being a beekeeper is more than just a hobby, it is actually his secret society that works outside the normal world to restore order. So he uses his connections to track down those responsible for identity theft, and hold them accountable. This hilariously goes as far as humanly possible, with Josh Hutcherson playing the main villain, but Jeremy Irons popping up as a guy hired to protect the bad guy.
I suppose it is possible to not enjoy this. but, I don’t understand those people. This is just pure fun, from start to finish. It’s like watching one of the good Fast and Furious films, and knowing how improbable everything is, and doing it anyway. This is so silly, but I’d watch more of these. And the audio description is perfect. There’s this one scene where these retaliatory hitmen are sent after the beekeeper and he is in a workshop/barn, and Barton highlights all these shots taken of all these tools that could kill someone. It’s like watching one of those slasher movies, and seeing the thing you know is about to be a set piece by the killer. Then, Statham comes along and earns his rating.
Not a perfect film, not even technically a good film artistically, but it was a blast, and I need more movies like this with excellent audio description.
Final Grade:B+
