Honey monster ‘‘
Clay is a former member of a government-sanctioned kill squad codenamed the Beekeepers. They “protect the hive” from threats to national security. According to Clay’s unwavering moral compass, Danforth and everyone in his chaotic orbit, including former FBI director Wallace Westwyld ( Jeremy Irons) must be neutralised.
Cue thrilling fight sequences, which draw heavily on Statham’s extensive martial arts training. When the Derbyshire-born hard man communicates with fists and feet, Ayer’s picture is curiously compelling.
Unfortunately, Statham’s avenging angel repeatedly sermonises about the scourge of heartless online predators.
The script forgives his questionable American twang during an early exchange
When Statham communicates with fists and feet, Ayer’s picture is more compelling
Brisk editing energises the race sequences while screenwriter Mark L Smith mimics a cox at the stern, maintaining a steady rate of knots with touching scenes of self-empowerment, diluted romance and heavy-handed class warfare.
Frustratingly, the thinly written female characters exist solely to support men’s ambitions and cheer from the sidelines.
Composer Alexandre Desplat’s twinkly piano-led score complements chocolate- box images of perfectly synchronised oars scything through rippling water bathed in sunlight.
Clooney hits each predictable emotional beat and builds to a crowd-pleasing finale that teases the possibility of Team USA’S scrappy upstarts humiliating German Chancellor Adolf Hitler (Daniel Philpott) on a global stage. A small battle against fascism before a devastating war. with the teacher’s grief-stricken daughter, played by Emmy Raver-lampman. “There’s some British Isles hiding in your accent,” she observes cutely. Genuine emotion is much harder to find.
Screenwriter Kurt Wimmer’s ear for natural, flowing dialogue must be prone to infection as verbal exchanges sound clunky. Like Hutcherson randomly referencing Martin Scorsese’s 1990 mobster flick in an instruction to one of his goons to kill Clay: “Get a wrecking crew together and go Goodfellas on him!”
The body count escalates in propulsive and graphically violent action sequences.
On-screen repartee between Statham and Raver-lampman falls flat but Irons is a veteran at boo-hiss pantomime villainy and he chews scenery with gusto.