Canary Black's “shocking” Kali twist comes way too late

Warning: Major spoilers for Canary Black below!Canary Black delivers a big twist in the third act with the mysterious assassin Kali – but it comes far too late. Canary Black Casting Kate Beckinsale as CIA agent Avery, who is forced to go rogue to save her kidnapped husband David (Rupert Friend). The film is the latest thriller from director Pierre Morel, who specializes in action thrillers Taken or The shooter who take famous dramatic actors like Sean Penn or Liam Neeson and get them out of trouble with punches and shots.

Of course with her years of experience fighting vampires and werewolves in the Underworld Beckinsale is no stranger to the action saga. She also turns out to be that Canary Blacks Highlight to compensate for the story's logical leaps or to resort to genre clichés. Canary Blacks The ending makes the film's franchise intentions very clear: Avery has averted disaster and is recruited by a top-secret organization to solve her problems. Naturally, Avery also learned that her husband David was secretly the mysterious assassin Kali, who had hunted her for years.

Related

Every film recorded is rated

Liam Neeson's action thriller Taken was so popular that it spawned two sequels, although they didn't always live up to the excitement of the original.

Canary Black's Kali twist is way too obvious

Maybe Kate Beckinsale's Avery isn't such a great spy after all

Essentially a female Jack Bauer, Avery can outscore, outpace, and outclass her opponents. Her only weakness is her love for David, which is exploited Canary Blacks Villains kidnap him and give Avery a strict deadline to steal a secret MacGuffin from them. Viewers only see a few scenes of Avery and David being in love before he is kidnapped. Co-star Rupert Friend then spends most of the story off-screen. When it becomes clear in the third act that David has been Kali all along, this twist isn't shocking whatever.

Because by this point, viewers who have seen more than one spy thriller will have discovered that there is more to David than meets the eye. He's the dream husband who feels too good to be true, and an actor of Friend's caliber will have more to do than spend an hour tied to a chair. What's more, this Kate Beckinsale action film makes so much of Kali and his utter cipher the subject of it right from the start that someone will inevitably be revealed as the murderer.

In short, most viewers will have mistaken David for Kali long before Avery. If it is not immediately clear from his introduction, Canary Black gives the audience too much time to figure out the Kali revelation for themselves. This puts the film's main character in the unenviable position of being far behind the audience, giving the impression that Avery isn't quite the super spy she's made out to be.

Revealing the truth about David sooner would have improved Canary Black's story

A simple change could have improved Canary Black by a few points

The titular “Canary Black” itself is a truly inventive MacGuffin, and the third act effectively sells the apocalyptic stakes when Avery fails. Still, the script falls back on too many familiar tropes, including the “twist” of David’s true nature. The scene where he saves Avery from certain death by showing off his badass assassin skills comes as a shock, but just feels like the Amazon original Finally caught up with the audience.

Canary Black missed a chance to be more subversive in this regard; Avery should have found out the truth about Kali and his debt to the Russian gang much sooner. This would have put her in the impossible position of having to save a ruthless murderer – the man she loves. It would have been an interesting twist for her to go ahead with his rescue and steal Canary Black; Partly to save her husband, but also because she needs answers about how much of her marriage was real.

Not only that, if her CIA superiors had learned that she was Kali's wife, their relentless pursuit of her would have proven more justified. Instead, Canary Black Wastes a lot of energy hiding a plot twist that many probably figured out on their own.

How Canary Black's sequel tease sets up a more interesting film

Canary Black 2 could be an even darker Mr and Mrs Smith

Not only did Avery get a job offer from MC6 boss Mills (Saffron Barrows), but she also had to come to terms with her “husband” running away. After defeating the villains together, David/Kali begs Avery to run away with him, but she – understandably – states that the trust between them is broken. He jumps into a nearby river to escape, but When Avery spots David's wedding ring on a bridge in the final scene, it becomes clear that he is still out there.

That leaves potential Canary Black sSequel with an intriguing hook. It sounds like Avery's new gig will essentially make her a full-time assassin, so a sequel where she reunites with David (or is forced to work with him) certainly has potential. It could be a darker version Mr and Mrs Smithin which Avery battles her conflicting feelings for David/Kali as he works to win her back – or prepare her for another betrayal. This certainly seems like a less hackneyed approach Canary Blacks The plot is all too familiar, but time will tell if there is a sequel.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes

Avery Graves, a CIA agent, must betray her country to save her husband, relying on underworld contacts and her elite skills to prevent a global crisis.

director

Pierre Morel

Release date

October 24, 2024

writer

Matthew Kennedy

Pour

Kate Beckinsale, Rupert Friend, Saffron Burrows, Ben Miles, Goran Kostic, Jaz Hutchins, Ana Cilas, Emma Gojković, Igor Pečenjev, Andrei Lenart, Romina Tonković, Luka Alagić

Character(s)

Avery Graves, Elizabeth Mills, DCIA Nathan Evans, Agent Maxfield, Abby, Evans Assistant, Hostage Agent, Niklaus, Sorina, Laszlo Stoica

Duration

103 minutes

Expand