Canary Black’s “Shocking” Kali Twist Comes Too Late

Warning: Major spoilers for Canary Black below!Black Canary delivers a major twist involving the mysterious killer Kali during the third act – but it comes too late. Black Canary cast 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 such as Taken or The shooter who take famous dramatic actors like Sean Penn or Liam Neeson and make them punch and shoot their way out of trouble.

Of course, with his years of experience fighting vampires and werewolves in the Underworld saga, Beckinsale knows the action well. She also appears to Black Canary highlight, compensating for the story’s logical leaps or resorting to the genre’s cliché. Black Canary The ending makes the film franchise’s intentions very clear, with Avery deflecting the disaster and being recruited into a top-secret organization for her troubles. Of course, Avery also discovered that her husband David was secretly the mysterious Kali killer she spent years chasing..

Canary Black’s Kali Twist is too obvious

Maybe Kate Beckinsale’s Avery isn’t such a good spy after all

Avery is essentially a female Jack Bauer and can outsmart, outsmart, outsmart her opponents. Her only weakness is her love for David, which is exploited when Black Canary the villains kidnap him and give Avery a strict deadline to steal a secret MacGuffin for them. Viewers only see a few scenes of Avery and David in love before he is kidnapped, with co-star Rupert Friend spending most of the story off-screen. When the third act reveals that David was Kali all along, this twist has no shock value no way.

That’s because, by now, audiences who’ve seen more than one spy thriller will have discovered that there’s more to David than meets the eye. He’s a dream husband who feels too good to be true, and an actor of Friend’s caliber will have better things to do than spend an hour tied to a chair. More than that, this Kate Beckinsale action film gives so much importance to Kali from the beginning and how he is a total cipher that someone will inevitably be unmasked as the killer.

In short, most viewers will have considered David to be Kali long before Avery. If it’s not obvious from the introduction, Black Canary gives the audience plenty of time to figure out Kali’s revelation on their own. This puts the film’s main character in the unenviable position of being far behind the viewing public, making it seem like Avery isn’t quite the super spy she’s made out to be.

Revealing the truth about David earlier would have improved Canary Black’s story

A simple change could have increased Canary Black a few marks

The titular “Canary Black” itself is a genuinely inventive MacGuffin, and the third act effectively sells the apocalyptic stakes if Avery fails. Even so, the script resorts to many familiar tropes, which include the “twist” of David’s true nature. The scene where he saves Avery from certain death by showing off his badass assassin skills is played as a shock, but it simply feels like the Amazon original finally reached viewers.

Black Canary missed the opportunity to be more subversive in this aspect; Avery should have discovered the truth about Kali and her debt to the Russian gang much sooner. This would put her in the impossible position of saving a ruthless killer – who also happens to be the man she loves. It would have been an intriguing twist for her to go through with her rescue and steal Canary Black; partly to save her husband, but also because she needs answers about how genuine their marriage was.

Not only that, but if her CIA superiors had discovered that she was Kali’s wife, it would have made their tireless search for her seem more justified. Instead of, Black Canary wastes a lot of energy hiding a plot twist that many will have resolved on their own.

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Canary Black 2 Could Be an Even Darker Mr. and Mrs. Smith

In addition to Avery being offered a job by MC6 boss Mills (Saffron Barrows), she also had to accept her “husband’s” escape. After defeating the bad guys together, David/Kali begs Avery to run away with him, but she – understandably – claims that the trust between them is destroyed. He jumps into a nearby river to escape, but Avery discovering David’s wedding ring placed on a bridge in the final scene makes it clear he’s still out there.

This leaves a potential Black Canaryequel with an intriguing hook. It looks like Avery’s new job will basically make her a full-time assassin, so a sequel that shows her reuniting with David (or being forced to work with him) has some potential. Could be a darker approach Mr and Mrs Smithwhere Avery struggles with her conflicting emotions for David/Kali as he works to win her back – or sets her up for another betrayal. This certainly seems a less banal approach than Black Canary overly familiar plot, although time will tell if a sequel will happen.

Source: Rotten tomatoes