Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Pierre Morel
Cast: Kate Beckinsale, Rupert Friend, Ray Stevenson, Ben Miles, Goran Kostić, Jaz Hutchins, Romina Tonkovic, Saffron Burrows, Masayoshi Haneda 
Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins
Rating: NC16 (Some Coarse Language and Violence)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 24 April 2025

Synopsis: After an assignment in Tokyo, the dangerous CIA assassin Avery "Ave" Graves returns home in Croatia to celebrate her marriage anniversary with her beloved husband David Brooks. Ave is a lonely woman that was raised to be a CIA operative since she was a teenager by her chief and friend Jarvis Hedlund, the only person she trusts besides David. Out of the blue, David is kidnapped, and the kidnapper orders her to retrieve the Canary Black file that is hidden in the tooth of a CIA prisoner. She lures Agent Maxfield, who is responsible for the prisoner, but she does not find any file in the tooth. Now she is chased by the CIA that believe she is a traitor and has the Black Canary file; by the criminals who abducted David, since they also believe she has the file; and the Croatia Secret Service that has team up with the CIA to capture her. Meanwhile the clock is ticking, and David's life is in serious danger, and Ave needs to retrieve the Black Canary to save him.

Movie Review:

With no new instalment from the Underworld franchise in sight, Kate Beckinsale however is still bent on kicking asses and demonstrating her action-heroine vibes in this euro-action spy thriller from the director of Taken, Pierre Morel.

As predictable as it is, Beckinsale plays Avery Graves, an outstanding CIA operative who just came back from a “working” trip in Japan. You see, Avery is blissfully married to David (Rupert Friend) in Croatia and David is the ideal man every lady loves. He is handsome, charming, cooks and he even loves puppies! What David doesn’t know is his spouse just lethally killed a dozen men over a flash drive.

Soon, David is kidnapped and Avery receives a call demanding that she finds “Canary Black”, basically a file that can cause widespread cyberattack and hands it over or David dies. Thus Avery went on a rampage with help from her superior, Station Chief Hedlund (the late Ray Stevenson) and Sorina (Romina Tonkovic), a young hacker.

Apparently, there’s no question where Avery’s loyalty lies the minute she knew her beloved hubby is kidnapped. Betraying her country in an instant without taking a moment to find out the truth. That’s how trashy the story of Canary Black is. The screenplay by Matthew Kennedy is hardly convincing let alone delivers any form of suspense and excitement. The so-called diabolical scheme to cripple the entire world sounds like it’s recycled from any other spy movies out there. On the fun side, our small little island is mentioned and featured. Got to give it to Kennedy for the free tourism shoutout.

Pierre Morel hasn’t direct a worthy action thriller since the success of Taken. For a lack of a better description, Morel is simply going through the motions here. Despite the numerous gunfights, fisticuffs, a messy car chase and “Bouncing Betty”, none of the action sequences actually leaves you wanting more. There is nothing impressive or exceptional and Morel is content in delivering noisy sequences disguised as action overload.

At the age of 51, Kate Beckinsale is at best serviceable as the heroine. At times, she moves and sways like a dedicated trained agent though at certain junctures, the action choreography seems uninspiring and lazy that it makes you wonder if her stunt double is getting paid enough. Plausibility is also missing here as a scene calls for Avery to hang on for dear life on a flying drone to infiltrate a building. Maybe it works better elsewhere however it’s just silly and incomprehensible right here.

Originally shown on Prime video in selected territories, Canary Black is a cheap spy mishap shot in Croatia. The story is all too familiar especially the twist in the end. The globe-trotting, high-tech spy element is never convincing and Beckinsale herself looks too worn out to be dodging bullets and body blows. Give Selene back to us please.

Movie Rating:

(A phone-in effort from Morel and Beckinsale)

Review by Linus Tee

Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Pierre Morel
Cast: Kate Beckinsale, Rupert Friend, Ray Stevenson, Ben Miles, Goran Kostić, Jaz Hutchins, Romina Tonkovic, Saffron Burrows, Masayoshi Haneda 
Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins
Rating: NC16 (Some Coarse Language and Violence)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 24 April 2025

Synopsis: After an assignment in Tokyo, the dangerous CIA assassin Avery "Ave" Graves returns home in Croatia to celebrate her marriage anniversary with her beloved husband David Brooks. Ave is a lonely woman that was raised to be a CIA operative since she was a teenager by her chief and friend Jarvis Hedlund, the only person she trusts besides David. Out of the blue, David is kidnapped, and the kidnapper orders her to retrieve the Canary Black file that is hidden in the tooth of a CIA prisoner. She lures Agent Maxfield, who is responsible for the prisoner, but she does not find any file in the tooth. Now she is chased by the CIA that believe she is a traitor and has the Black Canary file; by the criminals who abducted David, since they also believe she has the file; and the Croatia Secret Service that has team up with the CIA to capture her. Meanwhile the clock is ticking, and David's life is in serious danger, and Ave needs to retrieve the Black Canary to save him.

Movie Review:

With no new instalment from the Underworld franchise in sight, Kate Beckinsale however is still bent on kicking asses and demonstrating her action-heroine vibes in this euro-action spy thriller from the director of Taken, Pierre Morel.

As predictable as it is, Beckinsale plays Avery Graves, an outstanding CIA operative who just came back from a “working” trip in Japan. You see, Avery is blissfully married to David (Rupert Friend) in Croatia and David is the ideal man every lady loves. He is handsome, charming, cooks and he even loves puppies! What David doesn’t know is his spouse just lethally killed a dozen men over a flash drive.

Soon, David is kidnapped and Avery receives a call demanding that she finds “Canary Black”, basically a file that can cause widespread cyberattack and hands it over or David dies. Thus Avery went on a rampage with help from her superior, Station Chief Hedlund (the late Ray Stevenson) and Sorina (Romina Tonkovic), a young hacker.

Apparently, there’s no question where Avery’s loyalty lies the minute she knew her beloved hubby is kidnapped. Betraying her country in an instant without taking a moment to find out the truth. That’s how trashy the story of Canary Black is. The screenplay by Matthew Kennedy is hardly convincing let alone delivers any form of suspense and excitement. The so-called diabolical scheme to cripple the entire world sounds like it’s recycled from any other spy movies out there. On the fun side, our small little island is mentioned and featured. Got to give it to Kennedy for the free tourism shoutout.

Pierre Morel hasn’t direct a worthy action thriller since the success of Taken. For a lack of a better description, Morel is simply going through the motions here. Despite the numerous gunfights, fisticuffs, a messy car chase and “Bouncing Betty”, none of the action sequences actually leaves you wanting more. There is nothing impressive or exceptional and Morel is content in delivering noisy sequences disguised as action overload.

At the age of 51, Kate Beckinsale is at best serviceable as the heroine. At times, she moves and sways like a dedicated trained agent though at certain junctures, the action choreography seems uninspiring and lazy that it makes you wonder if her stunt double is getting paid enough. Plausibility is also missing here as a scene calls for Avery to hang on for dear life on a flying drone to infiltrate a building. Maybe it works better elsewhere however it’s just silly and incomprehensible right here.

Originally shown on Prime video in selected territories, Canary Black is a cheap spy mishap shot in Croatia. The story is all too familiar especially the twist in the end. The globe-trotting, high-tech spy element is never convincing and Beckinsale herself looks too worn out to be dodging bullets and body blows. Give Selene back to us please.

Movie Rating:

(A phone-in effort from Morel and Beckinsale)

Review by Linus Tee