415 - The Beekeeper

Eavesdropping at the Movies

As José describes, the Expendables films set Jason Statham up as the logical inheritor of the action hero crown formerly held by Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Van Damme and so on - and true to his status as such, Statham has many rubbish films under his belt. The Beekeeper is the latest, in which we learn of a programme of state-sponsored vigilantes - the Beekeepers - who act on their own terms, when something goes awry, to protect the hive that is the USA. That the film is trash doesn't mean it's not fun, and Mike had a good time with the story's daftness, the obviousness with which its cogs turn, and the action, which, while far from brilliant and heavily reliant on sound effects, is also intense and entertaining. José decries the film's politics, dumbness, and use of British actors in so many of its American roles. Recorded on 16th January 2024.