The Beekeeper tends to his own hive

Jason Statham releases a steady diet of B-grade action flicks, but every once in a while, he stars in a movie that’s a cut above his usual fare (see also: Wrath of Man). A couple years ago, one such film emerged, The Beekeeper, which is just the right combination of bonkers premise and stellar action, becoming an instant fun-action movie fave. Now, a sequel is on its way, aptly titled The Beekeeper 2.

The Stath is back as Clay, and honestly, I did not remember the character’s name. He is just the Beekeeper. But this time, rather than fight the coked-up son of the president doing wire fraud on elderly victims, the Beekeeper is taking on his own as the Beekeeper organization has gone rogue and is attempting to seize control of the government. I mean, in the last film the First Son was behind a massive fraud scheme, so like, maybe the Beekeepers have a point?

Regardless, this time it’s drone-on-drone crime, complete with plenty of bee-related puns in the dialogue. The first film was written by Kurt Wimmer, who also wrote the 1999 Thomas Crown Affair, Law Abiding Citizen, and Salt, and was directed by David Ayer. The sequel, though, is written by Umair Aleem, who co-wrote Extraction, one of those highly suspect, low-budget Bruce Willis action flicks made before his retirement due to dementia. The sequel is also now directed by Timo Tjahjanto, one half of the Indonesian filmmaking duo The Mo Brothers.

I feel dumb even admitting it, but I am a little concerned about how a creative switch up will impact the sequel. The Beekeeper is ridiculous, but it is grounded in an actual truth, that wire fraud and phishing scams disproportionately target the elderly and no one is doing anything about it. Based on the trailer, the sequel looks completely divorced from reality. But it DOES have Pom Klementieff stabbing a guy in the nuts, so maybe The Beekeeper 2 will be a winner after all.