Hate to say it, but missing that Kurt Wimmer magic. Say what you will about the how technically "good" The Beekeeper was, its sense of humor about its own delightfully moronic premise of a former special ops guy trying to retire as a neighborly beekeeper only to be yanked back into being a sadistic slasher villain who exclusively haunts and kills predatory tech bros who are causing little old ladies to kill themselves (and the mercenary arms of the American deep state protecting them because one of them is Clinton Jr.) was well-served by Ayer doing borderline anonymous, DTV economy and brutality on a studio budget and the reliability of Statham doing his tough-guy sincerity despite the absurdity. They both treated it seriously enough that the violence still hit but never enough that you felt anyone was making anything other than something purely stupid, stilly and fun.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Stallone's script about a construction worker troop who takes down human trafficking sickos who kidnap his bosses daughter with his bare hands, which is about as generic and morose of an estranged conservative dad action fantasy as we've gotten since the Taken movies were doing numbers. One in which Ayer and Statham are more than happy to play in an ugly and boring of an undercover drug dealing procedural where he talks to a bunch of henchmen in funny outfits (and where the blue collar "working man" aspect doesn't come into play even remotely?) until the 1-yard line at which point the body count ridiculousness is finally indulged in an extended setpiece in what I think was supposed to be the Hostel version of Epstein island? But by then it's just far too little way too late.

Mildly enjoyed the Dropkick Murphys "The Boys Are Back" needle drop I guess, and the part where Statham threateningly pours another mans maple syrup for him.