Synopsis
“Canary Black” is an action thriller in which the Croatia is not only the location, but also an active part of the story, confirmed by the fact that it plays itself. The film was shot in Zagreb and Rovinj, with Rovinj serving as a counterpart to Tokyo, which speaks to the visual adaptability of Istrian cities. The story follows a CIA agent who, blackmailed by the kidnapping of her husband, must betray her own agency in order to save him. Racing against time, she runs away from both the CIA and the criminals, while Zagreb and Rovinj become the centres of spectacular chases and tense conflicts.
details
Original title: Canary Black
Year: 2024
Country of production: Great Britain
Production: Anton, MP Film Production, Off The Pier Productions, Sentient Entertainment
Directed by: Pierre Morel
Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Saffron Burrows, Rupert Friend, Ben Miles, Andrei Lenart, Emma Gojković, Dominik Čičak, Goran Kostić
Filming locations in Istria: Rovinj
Other locations: Zagreb
REVIEW
CANARY BLACK, directed by Pierre Morel, 2024
AN ELEGANT AGENT IN BLACK
After a dangerous Tokyo mission, CIA agent Avery Graves returns to Croatia to celebrate wedding anniversary with her husband David. The cold exterior hides a lonely woman who was shaped as a teenager by her mentor and the only person she truly trusts – the head of the CIA, Jarvis Hedlund.
Business success in Tokyo, together with the praises she receives soon fall apart because her husband David has been kidnapped. Unknown kidnappers want her to get an ultra-secret file called Canary Black, whose real nature is gradually revealed. That document is claimed to be hidden in a tooth of a prisoner kept by the CIA. Avery tricks the agent who is in charge of the prisoner and forcibly grabs the prisoner's tooth, but it is empty and she has no file.
Now, cut off from her team, she is left alone and must flee because her misguided actions have made her prey. The CIA thinks that she is a traitor, and the kidnappers believe she has the file. The Croatian secret service, together with the CIA, is after her. Avery reaches her contacts from the underground looking for help find the intelligence data wanted by the kidnappers. The time is running out, and David’s life is hanging by the thread. While being betrayed at every step of the way, Avery finds herself in a deadly race for a ransom which could spark a global crisis, and must find the file or the person to save the man she loves and survive the hunt.
This action thriller is a remake of “Taken”, also directed by Pierre Morel, in which a former CIA agent (Liam Neeson) chases the kidnappers of his teenage daughter, and later, in the sequels, those who kidnapped the main protagonist and his wife.
“Canary Black” revolves around a female spy with a very specific set of skills (according to some tests, Avery is highly tolerant to pain), who must save her kidnapped husband, who knows nothing about her job. The switch from a male protagonist into a female one brings improvement in numerous technological innovations and current events in the society, but the narrative feels generic. With several cheerful responses, where she reprimands her opponents for calling her a “bitch”, at the workplace, she spreads good mood and talks about current social issues. The end of the story resembles “Mr. & Mrs. Smith”, which again feels as something we have already seen.
Morel once again demonstrates his directing skills and skills regarding the timing of action scenes, especially in tense car chases down the streets of an unnamed European city, which were mostly shot in Zagreb and Ljubljana centre. The direction is dynamic, and the cast is functional. Beckinsale builds her character of a cold-blooded heroine well, while her strong jaw and determined gaze dominate. Most of the time, she speaks in an American accent, but when she disguises herself, she speaks in her native British.
The physically demanding fight scenes and daring stunt sequences – especially the scene in which Avery hangs from a massive drone which transports her to the top of the building housing the servers with the requested data – were performed by professionals, but in the medium and close-ups, Beckinsale runs, jumps, and engages in fights on her own. Despite the flying fists and bullets, her appearance remains almost intact, apart from several bruises or scratches, which hint at physical confrontations. Her mostly tight, functionally non-functional clothes and footwear – high heels that she runs in as if they were sneakers, tight jackets, and an elegant chocolate-coloured leather coat which she got from her husband for a wedding anniversary at the beginning of the film – look exceptionally good and are very effective, but she really moves unusually briskly in such an outfit.
Avery is far from an indestructible and all-powerful heroine who is truly going through an emotionally demanding and physically exhausting period in which she no longer knows who she can trust, and that is realistic and actually very effective. Visually, the film provides a consistent action backgrounds - shooting and explosions, mainly at night - in dark tones, with periodical flashes of orange and cold, neutral colours of urban ruins.
Everything looks very attractive, and the heroine whose actions we follow is fully developed character, who ultimately has an extremely non-sentimental reaction to new information about her husband, thereby demonstrating her resoluteness and unwavering stances and continuing to build the character of a strong feminist who rebels when her rivals call her names. The narrative cliffhanger at the end, when Avery receives a new job offer, promises sequels, which are already discussed. Thus, her sacrifice, effort, perseverance, and fight against evil finally receive real recognition, opening up new horizons, which is also part of building her character. This partly justifies her sleek look most of the time in spite of constant fights because she managed to accomplish much more than the aim she set for herself.
