There are certain actors who you just know what to expect from them. And Jason Statham is one such actor.

The British actor has stayed in his lane of playing the dry-witted action hero for pretty much his entire career now, and it has served him well.

And certainly his latest offering presents no surprises whatsoever, playing a killer with a conscience as he does.

Renting out a barn on a nice secluded property is Adam Clay (Statham). He pretty much keeps himself to himself, tending to a few hives and their bees, making honey. He’s made a friend of the land owner however, Eloise (Phylicia Rashad), who is pleased to have him around since she lives on her own.

One day she’s on her computer, and a message flashes up that her computer is infected with a virus, with a number for her to call to rectify the problem. Not being technically minded she calls the number, only to discover later, after they have emptied all her accounts, that it was indeed a scam.

This leads to a tragedy, one that Clay can’t let slide. He decides that he has to take matters into his own hands and have his revenge, which means him coming out of retirement as a beekeeper – a member of a secret organisation who serve up their own brand of justice – to put things right.

David Ayer has attained a certain kudos for writing two features early on in his career – The Fast and the Furious - the first and still most realistic in the long-running franchise - and the phenomenal Training Day, which remains a modern classic.

He’s been less successful as a director in his own right however, despite helming some interesting projects such as 2012’s End of Watch, 2016’s Suicide Squad and 2017’s Bright.

He left the writing duties for this film however to Kurt Wimmer, which was probably a mistake; Wimmer has made a career out of pretty much writing inferior re-makes, that include 1999’s The Thomas Crown Affair, 2012’s Total Recall and 2015’s Point Break. And when he does write original material, it turns out like last year’s Expend4bles did. And he maintains that poor level here, with what is an unbelievably bad story. But luckily for him, and all those involved, it falls into that rare category of being so bad it’s actually pretty entertaining.

It is a film that doesn’t ask if the dialogue needs extra cheese, simply adding it anyway, whether it’s needed or not, so much that it could well make you lactose intolerant.

For instance, the whole bee metaphor is seriously overused, poured on thick like a wet dream of Winnie the Pooh’s.

And yet it doesn’t really matter, because at its sticky sweet centre is Statham; the 56-year-old actor is at his action man best, taking on the world without breaking a sweat or smile. Yes the script is clanky, but Ayer knows what Statham’s fan base wants and serves up delicious portions of yummy violence. He even manages to get his leading man to attempt an American accent, but as we all know, as well as Statham himself, it’s not terribly convincing, which is why there was an out written for him by having him say his was born in the UK. Nice.

It’s not the only curious American accent however, as somehow classically trained thesp Jeremy Irons is involved, and it’s as if he’s competing with Statham for the worst American accent, and it’s a tough call between them.

There’s also a role for Minnie Driver, who is the only Brit who can do the accent, but it’s such a bit part, you wonder why she took it on.

It’s left to Emmy Raver-Lampman and Bobby Naderi, who play two cops, for comedic contributions, who are given the best lines, and who probably deserve their own spin-off show off the back of it.

All in all, it’s classic Statham, once again providing actions scenes with a real punch in a mediocre feature. The thing is, we probably wouldn’t have it any other way.