The Beekeeper and 4 More Wild Action Movies Made by David Ayer

David Ayer began his career as a screenwriter and gained recognition for his work on Training Day, the first installment of Fast and Furious, and other stories about criminal showdowns on the streets.

In the first half of the 2010s, Ayer established himself as a talented director with the tough films End of Watch and Fury, but then stumbled with the underwhelming Suicide Squad.

Now, the director has rehabilitated himself with his action film The Beekeeper, and we are talking about four more films that are worth watching.

1. End of Watch, 2012

A police action movie about two partners patrolling the criminal streets of Los Angeles. Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena play ordinary cops who find themselves in extreme situations, from encounters with street gangsters to drug lords.

Instead of common genre clichés, End of Watch immerses you in the guts of real events and everyday shifts. Ayer's movie looks like Lethal Weapon was given a hand-held camera and sent into the field.

Realism, tragic intonation, and the use of mockumentary style in the police genre made End of Watch a truly innovative action film and Ayer's greatest creative achievement.

2. Fury, 2014

It is April 1945, and victory over the Germans is within reach: the Allies are advancing confidently deep into enemy territory, and the resistance they face is weakening by the day. However, this does not mean that the Allied forces will not lose many more men on the way to victory, and many soldiers realize that death is just around the corner.

Fury is the heroic story of a tank battle between the American Army and an SS battalion that clashed on the Western Front in 1945. The naturalism of the battle, as well as the pacifist pathos of exposing the horrors of war, made Fury an ode to the professionalism and courage of tank drivers.

3. The Beekeeper, 2024

The longtime icon of the genre, Jason Statham, teamed up with David Ayer to create one of the best action movies of this year so far. Statham's character, the silent beekeeper Adam Clay, once served faithfully in the national security service, but retired.

One day, Clay's neighbor and only friend, Eloise, a sweet but trusting retired schoolteacher, is conned by telephone scammers. The woman loses all her personal savings and two million dollars from the pension fund her colleagues entrusted to her. Clay finds the lifeless body of his neighbor, who could not bear the grief, and immediately uses all the skills he has acquired over many years of service to identify and punish the villains.

4. Harsh Times, 2005

Hard Times introduced the world to David Ayer, a fan of crime stories and chronicles of the Los Angeles ghetto. Christian Bale, single-handedly playing the drama of a former Army Ranger, made Harsh Times a spectacular performance. Jim Davis' dream of joining the Los Angeles Police Department is shattered by his difficult personality, his craving for crime, and aggravated by post-traumatic stress disorder.

Crime realism, psychological nuance, and masterful work with a handheld camera – the film sets the tone for the topics Ayer would explore in his subsequent films.

5. Street Kings, 2008

Ayer's second film developed his interest in crime topics into a full-fledged director's universe. Corruption in the police force, street crime and gangs in Los Angeles – Street Kings tells the story of Detective Ludlow, who seeks justice with unconventional, harsh methods.

The murder of his partner and the death of his wife embitter the cop, who at one point challenges the police system itself.

The screenwriting experience of Training Day, which made Ayer famous, is evident in this thoughtful and effective drama starring Keanu Reeves and Forest Whitaker, in which the actors' chemistry is almost more effective than the gripping plot.