Jason Statham’sThe Beekeepermight’ve stung the box office in the best way possible and scored an impressive92% audience scoreon Rotten Tomatoes, but not everyone’s handing it a gold star —especially when it comes to realism. A former Navy SEAL has broken down the film’s intense hand-to-hand combat scenes, and while he gave major props to Statham’s choreography, the realism score? Brutal.
Directed byDavid Ayerand written byKurt Wimmer,The Beekeeperwas one of the early hits of 2024. The film features Statham as Adam Clay, a deadly ex-operative of a secret government agency called — you guessed it — the Beekeepers. After a cybercrime ring drives his friend to suicide, Clay launches a relentless, violent crusade for justice. The result is a slick,stylish action thriller that earned over$162 million worldwideand firmly planted itself as a real high point in Statham’s career. But whenDJ Shipley, a Navy SEAL with 17 years of experience, sat down with Insider to assess the film’s fight scenes, the verdict came with a dose of harsh truth — albeit wrapped in genuine respect for Statham’s talents.
“I don’t think they did a bad job moving. It’s quiet. They look very slow. They look very controlled. We call it 360/720, so it’s everything you can see, up, down, and all the way around. So as you’re looking into the hallway, you have to be scanning for everything, especially now… I will say that Jason’s fighting sequences, his choreography is second to none. There’s some subtle tweaks to make it more hyper-realistic if you did all that in real life. Would you survive it? No. So, I’d give it two out of 10.”
How Was ‘The Beekeeper’ Made?
Still, realism wasn’t the point. InThe Beekeeper, the action is heightened— a way to crank up the intensity around a surprisingly grounded theme: the predatory world of scam call centers and elder exploitation. As Statham’s Clay works his way up the chain of corruption, the fight scenes become a visual metaphor for one man tearing through a broken system.
Despite the Navy critique,The Beekeeperwasn’t carelessly made. Ayer reportedly brought in a retired FBI agent to consult on the movie’s structure and procedural aspects. Meanwhile, Statham, ever the committed performer, took the time to learn about beekeeping and trained hard for the film’s most demanding stunts — most of which he performed himself. And it paid off in one of his best-reviewed and highest-grossing movies.
The Beekeeperis streaming now on Prime Video.
The Beekeeper
Source:YouTube
