THE BEEKEEPER : Tuesday 23rd January 2024.

I saw the MA15+ Rated 'THE BEEKEEPER' at my local multiplex earlier this week, and this American action thriller film is Co-Produced and Directed by David Ayer, whose prior feature film making credits take in the likes of his Directing debut in 2005 with 'Harsh Times' then 'Street Kings' in 2008, 'End of Watch' in 2012, 'Fury' in 2014, 'Suicide Squad' in 2016 and 'Bright' in 2017. This film was released in the US and here in Australia from the 11th January, has garnered generally positive critical reviews, and has so far grossed US$79M. 

The film opens up in rural Massachusetts and the rather grand looking country home of Eloise Parker (Phylicia Rashad), a retired schoolteacher who lives by herself, but she has a tenant in her barn, a man named Adam Clay (Jason Statham, who also Co-Produces here) who leads a quiet life as a beekeeper and who harvests the honey religiously. On this particular day, Clay is returning from another barn with a rogue hive he has bagged, and stops for a brief conversation with Eloise - thanking her for looking after him. 

She invites him in for dinner that evening. Later that same day, Eloise falls victim to a phishing scam and is robbed of over US$2M which belongs to a children's charity organisation she manages, and all of her life savings from several bank accounts. Devastated, she takes her own life with a pistol.

After Clay finds her body, he is immediately arrested by FBI agent Verona Parker (Emmy Raver-Lampman), Eloise’s daughter. After Eloise's death is ruled a suicide, Clay is released. Verona later tells Clay that the group that robbed Eloise has been on the FBI's radar for a while, but is almost impossible to track down, and even harder to get an indictment. She is pessimistic that they will ever be brought to justice even if they are found. Wanting justice for Eloise, Clay re-establishes contact with the Beekeepers, a mystery organisation, to find the scammers responsible.

Clay is later provided with an address for the scammers: a call centre known as UDG, run by Mickey Garnett (David Witts). Clay goes into UDG's building armed with two jerry cans of petrol, and after easily fending off the employees and taking down a handful of Garnett's men, blows up the building. Garnett informs his boss, technology executive Derek Danforth (Josh Hutcherson). Danforth orders Garnett to track down and kill Clay. 

Garnett and his thugs by chance locate Clay at Eloise's place and follow him to his barn, but not before shooting up his six beehives. There, Clay quickly kills them all except for Garnett, whose four fingers of his right hand he cuts off with a band saw before releasing him. Garnett in a panic and nursing his injured hand, calls Danforth while stopped at a bridge, informing him that Clay is just a beekeeper. Clay, having followed Garnett, kills him while Danforth listens over the phone, and then warns Danforth that he is coming after him.

Danforth talks with Wallace Westwyld (Jeremy Irons) about Clay. Wallace, the former head of the CIA, is currently running security for Danforth Enterprises at the request of Derek's mother, Jessica (Jemma Redgrave), and does everything in his power to keep Danforth out of trouble, out of prison and out of the spotlight. Concerned, Wallace contacts the Director Howard of the CIA (Minnie Driver) in the hope of stopping Clay. The Director contacts the Beekeepers, and learns that Clay has since retired from the organisation. However, a Beekeeper is sent to kill Clay, who catches up with him while he is refuelling his car at a petrol station. Following a vicious fight, Clay burns the agent to death, causing the petrol station to explode in the process. In the aftermath, the Beekeepers inform Director Howard who in turn informs Westwyld that they will remain neutral and not pursue Clay.

In the meantime, Verona and her partner, Matt Wiley (Bobby Naderi), have been closely following the trail of destruction left behind at the crime scenes. They determine that Clay’s next target must be the Nine Points Center in Boston, which is the central hub for all of Danforth's call centres around the world, including UDG. After informing FBI Deputy Director Prigg (Don Gilet) that Clay is a Beekeeper, they receive full funding without hesitation.

Wallace meanwhile coordinates a group of ex-special forces personnel, telling them that the Beekeepers are a clandestine organisation tasked with keeping the USA safe and that they operate above and beyond governmental jurisdiction. To have any chance at stopping Clay, he orders the group to secure the inside of the Nine Points Building, while the FBI places their own SWAT team around the perimeter. Despite the special forces’ leader's insistence that the employees should be removed from the building first, Danforth tells them to keep working. This allows Clay to quickly defeat the FBI SWAT team in close quarter hand to hand combat, and infiltrate the building, taking down the manager, who reveals to Clay and the FBI, after having multiple staples plugged into his hands and forehead, that Derek Danforth is his boss.

Verona advises FBI Deputy Director Prigg that Derek Danforth actually runs both companies and that both are owned by Danforth Enterprises, which is used by several US government agencies, including their own. Verona also brings up the point that not only will Clay attempt to kill Derek, but he may also kill Jessica, who just so happens to be the President of the USA, using the Queenslayer analogy from the science of beekeeping. Prigg gives them a blank cheque to take whatever steps and use all necessary resources to prevent Clay from finalising his mission, and then signs off to inform the President. 

Wallace, upset that Clay has again evaded being taken out, suggests that Danforth stay with his mother for the time being for his own protection and taking advantage of the Secret Service presence at her beachside residence over the coming weekend. Wallace hires a group of mercenaries, who with Danforth, all congregate at the President's beachside retreat for the weekend where she is hosting a lavish party. Close by to the entrance to the President’s residence, Clay climbs aboard the underside of a truck, switching places with a Secret Service agent in order to blend in at the party. Once inside the house, Verona notices Clay, who by this time has dispensed with his Secret Service gear and is more appropriately dressed, but as he is about to be shot at close range by one of Wallace's hired mercenaries, he activates several bombs he planted on Secret Service trucks as a distraction in order to track down Danforth in hiding in the house.

Inside the house, Prigg tells Jessica about her son's multi-billion dollar scam operations. Danforth reminds his mother that during her Presidential campaign, that she lagged behind in the polls in fifteen out of twenty key counties and needed funding to keep her campaign afloat. He used a CIA programme to locate wealthy financial targets and scam them out of their money. Jessica decides that if and when Clay approaches, she will tell him and the world the truth about her sons use of the programme. Enraged, Danforth kills Prigg and takes his mother hostage. Clay in the meantime fights his way to the President's office taking out anyone who stands in his way. He eventually reaches her office by blowing the door open, and is quickly followed by Verona and the rest of the FBI agents. Verona tries to discourage Clay from killing Jessica and Danforth, who attempts to kill his mother, but Clay shoots his in the head first killing him outright. Clay then jumps out of a nearby window. Verona having a clear shot of Clay as he heads across the garden, but she decides not to shoot him. They give a parting nod to each other and he flees the scene and swims away into the ocean with the aid of the scuba gear he had buried in the sand on the beach close by. 

With 'The Beekeeper' Jason Statham's Adam Clay does what he absolutely does best and that is wipe out the bad guys in all manner of inventive and creative ways, and ratcheting the body count up to the nth degree. David Ayer knows how to lay on the action spectacle, and does so with aplomb, but in the end the script is hardly going to win any literary awards, and the plot in run-o-the-mill and leave your brain at the door type stuff. That said, if you get past all the bee puns, including several references to 'protecting the hive', seeing Statham kick butt relentlessly and violently backed up by a strong supporting cast, and liked the premise of 'John Wick', 'Taken' and 'The Kingsmen' franchises, then this movie is for you, and you won't be disappointed. 

'The Beekeeper' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new at Odeon's this week : Thursday 11th January 2024.

The 81st Golden Globe Awards were held on Sunday 7th January at The Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills, California, USA and was hosted by Jo Koy, the American stand-up comedian and Actor.  The Golden Globes are presented for film and American television productions of 2023. 

Today, the Golden Globes recognise achievements in twenty-seven categories - fifteen in motion pictures and twelve in television. Those winners, grinners and also-rans in the feature film categories are as given below :-

* Best Motion Picture : Drama - awarded to 'Oppenheimer', beating out 'Anatomy of a Fall', 'Killers of the Flower Moon', 'Maestro', 'Past Lives' and 'The Zone of Interest'. 

* Best Motion Picture : Musical or Comedy - presented to 'Poor Things', beating out 'Air', 'American Fiction', 'Barbie', 'The Holdovers' and 'May December'.

* Best Motion Picture : Animated - awarded to 'The Boy and the Heron', beating out 'Elemental', 'Spider-Man : Across the Spider-Verse', 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie', 'Suzume' and 'Wish'.

* Best Motion Picture : Non-English Language - awarded to 'Anatomy os a Fall', beating out 'Fallen Leaves, 'Io capitano', 'Past Lives', 'Society of the Snow' and 'The Zone of Interest'.

* Cinematic and Box Office Achievement - presented to 'Barbie', beating out 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3', 'John Wick: Chapter 4', 'Mission : Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One', 'Oppenheimer', 'Spider-Man : Across the Spider-Verse', 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie' and 'Taylor Swift : The Eras Tour'.

* Best Performance in a Motion Picture - Drama : Actor - presented to Cillian Murphy for 'Oppenheimer', beating out Bradley Cooper for 'Maestro', Leonardo DiCaprio for 'Killers of the Flower Moon', Colman Domingo for 'Rustin', Barry Keoghan for 'Saltburn' and Andrew Scott for 'All of Us Strangers'.

* Best Performance in a Motion Picture - Drama : Actress - awarded to Lily Gladstone for 'Killers of the Flower Moon', beating out Annette Bening for 'Nyad', Sandra Huller for 'Anatomy of a Fall', Greta Lee for 'Past Lives', Carey Mulligan for 'Maestro' and Cailee Spaeny for 'Priscilla'. 

* Best Performance in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy : Actor - awarded to Paul Giamatti for 'The Holdovers', beating out Nicolas Cage for 'Dream Scenario', Timothee Chalamet for 'Wonka', Matt Damon for 'Air', Joaquin Phoenix for 'Beau Is Afraid' and Jeffrey Wright for 'American Fiction'.

* Best Performance in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy : Actress - presented to Emma Stone for 'Poor Things', beating out Fantasia Barrino for 'The Color Purple', Jennifer Lawrence for 'No Hard Feelings', Natalie Portman for 'May December', Alma Poysti for 'Fallen Leaves' and Margot Robbie for 'Barbie'. 

* Best Supporting Performance in a Motion Picture : Actor - presented to Robert Downey Jnr. for 'Oppenheimer', beating out Willem Dafoe for 'Poor Things', Robert De Niro for 'Killers of the Flower Moon', Ryan Gosling for 'Barbie', Charles Melton for 'May December' and Mark Ruffalo for 'Poor Things'.

* Best Supporting Performance in a Motion Picture : Actress - awarded to Da'Vine Joy Randolph for 'The Holdovers', beating out Emily Blunt for 'Oppenheimer', Danielle Brooks for 'The Color Purple', Jodie Foster for 'Nyad', Julianne Moore for 'May December' and Rosamund Pike for 'Saltburn'. 

* Best Director - presented to Christopher Nolan for 'Oppenheimer', beating out Bradley Cooper for 'Maestro', Greta Gerwig for 'Barbie', Yorgos Lanthimos for 'Poor Things', Martin Scorsese for 'Killers of the Flower Moon' and Celine Song for 'Past Lives'. 

* Best Screenplay - presented to Justine Triet and Arthur Harari for 'Anatomy of a Fall', beating out 'Barbie', 'Poor Things', 'Oppenheimer', 'Killers of the Flower Moon' and 'Past Lives'. 

* Best Original Score - awarded to Ludwig Goransson for 'Oppenheimer', beating out 'Poor Things', 'The Boy and the Heron', 'The Zone of Interest', 'Spider-Man : Across the Spider-Verse' and 'Killers of the Flower Moon'. 

* Best Original Song - presented to  'What Was I Made For?' from 'Barbie' by Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell.

For all the details of this years Golden Globe's ceremony including the TV awards, you can go to the official website at : https://goldenglobes.com/

Turning the attention then back to this weeks four new movies coming to a big screen Odeon near you, we kick off with an American comedy drama film that sees a a cranky history teacher at a remote prep school who is forced to remain on campus over the holidays with a troubled student who has no place to go. This is followed by a man’s personal journey of vengeance which takes on national stakes after he is revealed to be a former operative of a powerful and clandestine organisation. Next up we turn to an American musical comedy offering that sees a high school newcomer who becomes a hit with the Plastics, an A-list girl clique at her new school when she makes the mistake of falling for the ex-boyfriend of the alpha Plastic. And closing out the week we have an animated comedy film about an American family who moves into Canterville Chase, a stately countryside mansion that has been haunted by the ghost of Sir Simon De Canterville for 300 years.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the four latest release new films as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release or as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the week ahead.

'THE HOLDOVERS' (Rated M) - is an American Christmas comedy-drama film Directed by Alexander Payne, whose previous feature film making credits take in the likes of ‘Election’ in 1999, ‘About Schmidt’ in 2002, ‘Sideways’ in 2004, ‘The Descendants’ in 2011 and ‘Downsizing’ in 2017. This film saw its World Premiere screening at the Telluride Film Festival at the end of August last year and was released in the US on 27th October. It received positive reviews and has grossed US$21M. It was named one of the top ten films of 2023 by the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute, and has received so far 53 award wins and another 130 nominations including three nominations at this years Golden Globe Awards.

Set in 1970, the film follows a bad-tempered history teacher Paul Dunham (Paul Giamatti) at a remote New England boarding school who is forced to chaperone a handful of students with nowhere to go during the Christmas break. He soon forms an unlikely bond with a brainy but damaged troublemaker, Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa) and with the school's head cook Mary Lamb (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), a woman who just lost a son in the Vietnam War. 

'THE BEEKEEPER' (Rated MA15+) - this American action thriller film is Co-Produced and Directed by David Ayer, whose prior feature film making credits take in the likes of his Directing debut in 2005 with 'Harsh Times' then 'Street Kings' in 2008, 'End of Watch' in 2012, 'Fury' in 2014, 'Suicide Squad' in 2016 and 'Bright' in 2017. Here, Mr. Clay (Jason Statham, who also Co-Produces here) is a former operative of a clandestine organisation called 'Beekeepers'. After his friend and neighbour dies by suicide after falling for a phishing scam, Mr. Clay sets out to exact revenge against the company responsible. Also starring Minnie Driver, Jeremy Irons and Josh Hutcherson. The film is released Stateside this week too. 

'MEAN GIRLS' (Rated PG) - is a musical comedy film Directed by Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. in their feature film Directorial debut, from a Screenplay written by Tina Fey, and based on the Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was based on Mark Waters's 2004 comedy film, both written by Tina Fey. Here new student Cady Heron (Angourie Rice) is welcomed into the top of the social food chain by the elite group of popular girls called 'The Plastics', ruled by the conniving queen bee Regina George (Renee Rapp) and her minions Gretchen Wieners (Bebe Wood) and Karen Shetty (Avantika Vandanapu). However, when Cady makes the major misstep of falling for Regina's ex-boyfriend Aaron Samuels (Christopher Briney), she finds herself then prey and in Regina's crosshairs. As Cady sets to take down the group's apex predator with the help of her outcast friends Janis 'Imi'ike (Auli'i Cravalho) and Damian Hubbard (Jaquel Spivey), she must learn how to stay true to herself while navigating the most cutthroat jungle of all - high school. Also starring Tina Fey (who also Co-Produces) and Tim Meadows who reprise their roles from the original film, and Jon Hamm. This film is released in the US this week too. 

'THE CANTERVILLE GHOST' (Rated PG) - this animated comedy film is Directed by Kim Burdon and Robert Chandler in their feature film Directorial debuts. The film tells the story of a modern American family that moves to their recently purchased country home, Canterville Chase in England, only to find it is haunted by a ghost. Effectively, Sir Simon de Canterville (Stephen Fry) has been haunting the grounds of Canterville Chase successfully for over 300 years, but he meets his match when he tries to scare out the new arrivals. Also starring the voice talents of Hugh Laurie, Imelda Staunton, Freddie Highmore and Toby Jones. 

With four new release movie offerings this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere at your local Odeon in the coming week.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-