"The Beekeeper" Looks Like The Most Jason Statham Movie Possible

The Rundown is a weekly column that highlights some of the biggest, weirdest, and most notable events of the week in entertainment. The number of items could vary, as could the subject matter. It will not always make a ton of sense. Some items might not even be about entertainment, to be honest, or from this week. The important thing is that it’s Friday, and we are here to have some fun.

One of the many things I appreciate about Jason Statham is how many of his movies tell you exactly what his character is doing right in the title. So, like, in The Transporter he is transporting. In Spy, he plays a spy. And in The Mechanic, he’s an assassin, which is apparently what some assassins call their work. (I also appreciate that I learn exciting new things like this from his movies.) And I am pleased to announce that this trend will continue with his next movie, The Beekeeper, from Suicide Squad director David Ayer.

There’s a new trailer for the movie out this week, and I swear I am going to post it here in a second, but first, look at some of these descriptions of this movie the various trade publications have used since it was first announced a year or two ago.

After saying goodbye to his fellow action stars with the recently released Expend4bles, it's time for Jason Statham to join a new organization with The Beekeeper. MGM shared the first trailer for David Ayer's upcoming action thriller that shows the star on a quest for revenge against the company behind a phishing scam. As a former member of the powerful and clandestine organization known as The Beekeepers, no mission he conducts will be without national stakes. It's quickly revealed that the corruption goes all the way to the top, and he's here to keep the hive in check.

Before he enacts bloody vengeance, Statham's character was a literal beekeeper helping an older woman tend to her hives and bring life back to the land around her home. When she falls victim to a phishing scam, however, she loses everything and takes her own life. A grief-stricken Statham responds by burning down one of the company's headquarters in the name of the woman he saw as family. The operation is far bigger than some low-rate scammers, but the big bosses at the top also realize they're dealing with no ordinary man. Statham's character is a classic rogue action hero as a former member of an organization that played by its own rules outside any military or police operations to keep everything in the country in balance.

In case Meg 2: The Trench or Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre wasn't enough bombastic Statham action for audiences, The Beekeeper promises even more. That means plenty of high-octane shootouts and close-quarters combat coupled with more ridiculous scenes like tying a bad guy to a car as it careens off of a bridge or using honey to light someone on fire. As he kills his way up the chain, it's clear the scam reaches all the way to the top of the government itself, and it's up to him to root out the corruption even if it means taking on the FBI and other U.S. operatives.