Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		0.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.0

The Beekeeper 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Honey bunches of bullshit.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III April 23, 2024

Within the first 10 minutes of David Ayer's comically bad action-thriller The Beekeeper, I knew the highest score it could possibly get -- barring some sort of miracle -- was a 3/5, and by the 20-minute mark it had dipped even lower. Something funny happened after that: my critic's brain temporarily shut off and I found myself kinda enjoying this impossibly goofy but at least fast-moving film in spite of its glaring flaws which include terrible dialogue and acting, awful writing, and a bottom-shelf appearance that made me wonder where exactly its $40M budget went.

Sadly, The Beekeeper's chance at a "so bad it's good" free pass was very short-lived: despite a little bit of base-level enjoyment here, there's just way too much WTF to consider this stinker anything but a pathetic attempt to kick-start Warner Bros.' belated answer to John Wick. For starters, the plot's so thin it's almost invisible: beekeeper Adam Clay (Jason Statham) lives a peaceful life on the property of elderly Eloise Parker (Phylicia Rashad), who one afternoon is phished out of her life savings -- not to mention a charity she manages that's valued at $2M -- and hastily decides to take her own life. Adam's the first one to find Eloise's body and, after a misunderstanding with Eloise's potty-mouthed FBI agent daughter Verona (Emmy Raver-Lampman), begins an immediate and bloodthirsty quest for revenge as he climbs up a surprisingly long ladder to punish those directly responsible for the targeted scam.

See, Adam's apparently also a retired member of a secret elite vigilante group known as "Beekeepers", which means it's super easy for him to kick all kinds of ass well into middle age. His brutal, efficient confrontations with anyone and everyone in his way -- which include a slew of well-trained law enforcement agents, out-of-shape employees, and two comic book-style mercenaries presented like bosses in a video game, most of which Adam cuts through like butter -- immediately bring to mind, yes, John Wick... but more specifically its increasingly silly follow-ups, all of which arrived long after the original film's somewhat grounded story at least built a solid foundation. Here, The Beekeeper feels like its own ridiculous sequel right away; one that has no time for any whiff of realism, logic, or even an emotional M.O. other than "scammers are bad and deserve to be murdered for it". Throw in all kinds of bad bee puns, a handful of terrible supporting characters, and C-grade production design and you've got a recipe for mediocrity.

One look at The Beekeeper's surprisingly decent box-office returns tells me that I'm in the minority, and I'd imagine that plenty of famished action fans might have even found its weaknesses to be strengths. From a "back-to the-80s" perspective, the film's almost ruthless efficiency and over-the-top everything at least ensure you won't be bored... but I'd argue that genre enthusiasts deserve a lot more than the meager combined efforts of director David Ayer and writer Kurt Wimmer, whose last films (The Tax Collector and Children of the Corn) were two of the worst things I've seen this decade. The Beekeeper carries over just about everything I disliked about both of those and its only secret weapon is Jason Statham; he does his usual "brooding badass" thing here, and that -- combined with the vicious fight scenes -- might just be enough to make it worth your while. But considering its lateness to the party and almost unforgivably bad fundamentals (which even manage to fall behind last year's Meg 2: The Trench, also starring Statham), The Beekeeper asks it audience to overlook an awful lot of nonsense for a small plate of action movie table scraps.

Given its decent box office success we'll probably see Beekeeper 2 in 2026 or so, and perhaps it'll retain this film's modest strengths while hopefully abandoning some of its lesser elements. There's certainly room for some growth and several unanswered questions like "how do FBI agents as bad as Verona keep their jobs?", and "was Jeremy Irons that hard up for a paycheck?" Maybe time will soften my opinion of The Beekeeper... but for now, I'll recommend WB's new home video editions of the film to established fans only: there's nothing here but a great A/V presentation, which is honestly kind of shocking for any modest box-office success that managed to earn a UHD release.

The Beekeeper 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

NOTE: These screenshots are sourced from the Blu-ray edition, available separately and reviewed here soon.

"At least it looks good" might be damning with faint praise, but that overused sentiment certainly applies in this case: The Beekeeper doesn't exactly feature ambitious production design or an appearance nearly as sleek or polished as John Wick, though what's here looks basically as good as possible on Warner Bros.' smooth and refined 2160p/HDR10 transfer (no Dolby Vision) that has absolutely no problem running at a high supportive bit rate with just the 100-minute film on a dual-layered (66GB) disc. Fine details are extremely impressive under the right conditions, with occasional tight close-ups of Statham's character showing all the creases, stubble, and surprisingly minor injuries obtained during his violent quest. Colors are nicely saturated and often remain true to life, with other stray moments leaping into more surreal territory like a neon-tinged encounter with one particularly pissed off fellow Beekeeper at a remote gas station. Similar lighting sources, as well as stray explosions and colorful costume details -- not to mention the scammer's HQ, which is lit like a night club -- are likewise visual standouts, but nothing here falls short of "very good" thanks to the solid handling of contrast levels, the aforementioned HDR10 grading, shadow detail, and of course disc encoding, which doesn't appear to suffer from any obvious defects such as macro blocking or banding. As is the custom for most modern Warner Bros. UHDs, this is solidly impressive work that brings the big-screen experience home.

The Beekeeper 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Beekeeper's Dolby Atmos mix offers pretty standard but nonetheless enjoyable sonic delights, featuring crisp dialogue flanked by ample surround activity and an occasionally hefty presence for low-end effects. Action scenes heat up nicely with plenty of directionality, although the Atmos-exclusive height channels are used somewhat sparingly and generally reserved for subtle atmospheric touches and even pieces of the original score. It's pretty standard territory for this genre, all things considered... so while The Beekeeper's sound design won't win any points for originality, it admittedly does a solid enough job replicating the true theatrical experience.

Optional English (SDH) and Spanish subtitles are also included during the main feature.

The Beekeeper 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a standard keepcase with poster-themed cover artwork and a matching slipcover. A Digital Copy is also tucked inside. Shockingly, no extras of any kind have been included.

The Beekeeper 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

David Ayer's The Beekeeper obviously isn't high art... and even within the narrow boundaries of the "revenge thriller", it does the bare minimum to string together its efficient and brutal fight scenes. Characters, action, dialogue? They all run a distant second and feel more "guilty" than "pleasure", so newcomers will have to overlook a lot of nonsense to get what they came for. Warner Bros.' separate 4K and Blu-ray editions offer capable A/V merits, but the surprising complete lack of extras makes either option for established fans only -- others should try before they buy.