Haters Be Damned: Jason Statham Is a Hollywood Treasure

They say life has certain inevitabilities—death, taxes, and Jason Statham opening up a can of whoop-ass. But for as long and as consistently as Jason Statham has demolished his enemies in movies, his talents have gone taken for granted by audiences and undersung—or dismissed—by many of his critics, who often see his films as same-y, predictable, or outright bad. With the release of his latest film, The Beekeeper, Statham should put any lingering doubt about his career to rest: He’s not only one of our greatest action heroes, but his ass-kicking skills are a vital joy of modern cinema.

To hear Statham called “underappreciated” may be surprising to you. His filmography has made more than a billion dollars, with Statham starring as the lead in several big action franchises. And he’s incredible in so many of them: In The Transporter, he gets oiled up in a parking garage and beats the crap out of a seemingly infinite array of enemies; in Crank, he fights an assailant while dangling out, and then falling out of, a helicopter, snapping his neck mid-air; and in The Meg, he punches a freaking shark in the face and lives to tell the tale.

But The Beekeeper is Statham’s career at its apex, a fun movie that shows off everything that has made him such a bankable, likable lead in Hollywood. Statham is Adam Clay, a man who (you’ll never guess) keeps bees. He lives a secluded life, renting a space in Eloise’s (Phylicia Rashad) garage so he can tend to his precious bees in peace. He’s very happy to be there: “I just want to thank you for putting up with me… and all of my bees,” Clay tells her. It’s a line that’s completely inane, but Statham delivers it with the confidence of a genuinely grateful man. That’s his M.O. as an actor: He’s always sincere, never above the material, and will always give his all—even in a film that’s hopelessly devoted to bee puns.

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