Last Updated on October 25, 2024 by
Canary Black is a 2024 Action Movie directed by Pierre Morel. The film stars Kate Beckinsale, Rupert Friend, and Ray Stevenson., with a runtime of 1 Hour 41Min, and was released on October 25, 2024.
Pierre Morel, a French director who worked for industry giants like Luc Besson started with the blockbuster hit of 2008, “Taken.” Many appreciated the movie for its action-packed scenes and the story that complemented it. It may have set the tone for Morel as a director that helped to build his subsequent movies like “The Gunman,” “Peppermint,” and Freelance, which was not such a success. Now he is back with a new one, the title of this album being ‘Canary Black,’ which also does not deviate from the familiar scheme of a trained character who comes across complex threats in the spy genre. This time around Kate Beckinsale has the role of the action heroine, but, once again, the screenplay by Matthew Kennedy provides nothing new for viewers and the direction by Morel seems to be rather uninspiring and routine. To sum up, although the topic “Canary Black” is dynamic, it is too unrealistic and clichéd to capture the audience’s interest.
The plot revolves around a woman named Avery (Kate Beckinsale) who is a loyal wife to David (Rupert Friend) as well as a strong CIA operative. Avery spends her time globe-trotting undertaking different tasks assigned by her boss – the Station Chief Hedlund, played by Ray Stevenson, who unfortunately passed away. They have a happy life in Croatia, but their quiet existence is shattered when David is kidnapped by a criminal who goes by the name Bresnov (Goran Kostic). Bresnov hires Avery to locate a hidden file named ‘Canary Black’ as it contains information needed to control the world. Determined to save her husband, Avery embarks on a perilous journey to find the file with Bresnov close on her heels. On her tail is Deputy Director Evans (Ben Miles), who harbors suspicions of Avery’s loyalty and aims to thwart her every attempt.
The movie begins with quite an intense and action-packed sequence in Tokyo where the audience gets to see Avery’s spy abilities. She is searching for a flash drive from some villains, and Morel captures all the usual dynamic and contemporary action scenes that are characteristic of films in this genre. However, the action scenes are way too unrealistic because Avery has almost supernatural reflexes, so she can dodge bullets and fight enemies. In “Canary Black,” this feeling is amplified by the fact that her almost superhero-like skills make it difficult to grasp the real consequences of her pursuit. Moreover, her American accent is not entirely convincing during some scenes where she spouts spy jargon, typical of someone who is at pains to fit the role.
It is not restricted to Japan; Avery goes back to Croatia just to celebrate her anniversary with David, who appears to be a sweet, but quite uninteresting man. Of course, their happiness does not last forever because the villains take David away, and it is the moment where Avery gives her greatest “Taken” moment, threatening the villains on the phone and stating that she will do everything for the sake of saving Bresnov.
You’d anticipate the thrill to rise once the stakes are raised, but “Canary Black” can be sluggish at times. Avery has to cope with the fact that the CIA is tailing her and this puts a lot of pressure on her friendship with Hedlund who doesn’t understand why Avery is willing to go against the law. Despite the movie’s attempts at developing obstacles for Avery, it becomes somewhat formulaic. She can climb tall buildings and handle armed criminals in a rather easy manner. In a particular scene, she even travels on a drone to access a restricted zone! However, these moments hardly feel new or thrilling. For example, when she goes to get assistance from an associate in the criminal world in a disco, she is harassed in her car as well as the safe house that he provides her with. She also teams up with Sorina (Romina Tonkovic), a young hacker who helps her out. We’ve seen all of this before in much better movies.
Despite this, “Canary Black” is not creative enough and there are strong characters that interfere with the potential twists. The fight scenes with the armed goons and the suspenseful scenes with the CIA look clichéd. The writer, Kennedy, does not do anything innovatively for the story and Morel is more or less copying action sequences from his other films. Consequently, even where there are action sequences in the movie, the general feeling they elicit is weariness.
The movie is somewhat weakened by this closing scene, which seems to hint at an ‘Avengers’ style follow-up to Avery’s story, indicating that more films in the series could follow. But the first movie is not as good as the fans have hoped for and after watching it, the viewers may get a feeling that they do not want to know more about Avery’s life. In conclusion, “Canary Black” tries to deliver a thrilling action-packed ride but does not deliver on its promise consistently.
Canary Black 2024 Parents Guide
Violence and Action: It has several massive action sequences that feature fight scenes, shootings, and attacks using other forms of weaponry. People fight with different types of criminals with guns and knives and use tactics that are unlikely to be effective but are presented as being very successful. Some scenes depict explosions and devastation including car explosions and collapsing buildings. Avery can outsmart bullets and enemies and singlehandedly eliminate them, which may tend to glamorize violence.
Language: The film contains scenes that depict characters using substances and getting drunk The film has instances where characters use sharp objects and threaten others. They can be verbal expressions such as profanities, obscenities, vulgarities, and other forms of expressions that are considered indecent by today’s standards.
Drug Use: In the film, a character is seen using a vape, which may potentially lead young people into glamorizing or normalizing smoking or drug use. While the implication of substance use appears in some scenes, it is tangential and not the central focus of the movie.
Romantic and Sexual Content: If there is any romance at all, Avery is portrayed with her husband and they portray affection towards each other. This does not negate love because their affection for each other is apparent but their physical relationship is not well emphasized. It contains some scenes that can be regarded as sexually suggestive, but sex scenes are not numerous; therefore, it is not as shameful as many other films belonging to the action genre.
Overall Suitability: The rating of the film is R which means that it is specifically targeted for adult audiences who would be able to comprehend violence, profanity, and other carefully discussed themes. These are some of the elements that parents should contemplate before they allow young audiences to watch the film. Therefore, it may be more appropriate for people above 14 years due to the action-packed storyline as well as the portrayal of secretive work.
