The director behind the action movie smash hit Taken, Pierre Morel, returns with another action-packed thriller, Canary Black, which is now available to stream on Prime Video. After so successfully transforming acclaimed actor Liam Neeson into the go-to aged action hero, Morel now joins forces with Underworld star Kate Beckinsale for another tale of a highly trained operative on a dangerous solo mission.
You can check out the official synopsis for Canary Black below, which possesses all the necessary ingredients for a no-nonsense action thriller.
“A top CIA operative, Avery Graves, is blackmailed by terrorists into betraying her own country to save her kidnapped husband. Cut off from her team, she turns to her underworld contacts to survive and help locate the coveted intelligence that the kidnappers want. Betrayed at every turn, she must rely on her cutting-edge training and primitive fighting skills in a deadly race to deliver a ransom that could trigger a global crisis.”
Directed by Pierre Morel and written by Matthew Kennedy, Canary Black stars Kate Beckinsale as a CIA agent on the run alongside Rupert Friend (Obi-Wan Kenobi, Hitman: Agent 47), Saffron Burrows (The Bank Job), Ben Miles (Andor), Goran Kostić (Taken), Michael Brandon (Episodes), and Charles Nishikawa (Touch). The movie marks one of the final movies of actor Ray Stevenson, best known for roles in the likes of Punisher: War Zone, Thor, and Rome, who sadly passed away on 21 May 2023, aged 58.
This Is Far From Kate Beckinsale’s First Foray Into Action Movies
Canary Black is far from Kate Beckinsale’s first foray into the world of action movies. The actress has swung swords and fired bullets aplenty in the likes of Van Helsing, the Total Recall remake, and the much-loved action horror franchise, Underworld. Beckinsale has now starred as the vampiric, werewolf hunting “Death Dealer” Selene across multiple installments in the Underworld series. The last audiences saw of the character and her dual pistols and leather ensemble (the whole franchise is delightfully noughties in its approach) was in 2016’s Underworld: Blood Wars, which sees Selene still fighting to find a way to end the conflict between the Lycans and the Vampires.
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The movie is now available to stream.
While the Underworld franchise is far from being a critical darling, it has garnered a pretty passionate fanbase. Unfortunately, Beckinsale does not think we are likely to see another installment with her in the lead, though the director behind the very first movie, Len Wiseman, did reveal last year that a reboot is now in the works.
“There is a fashion that is in the works. I can’t talk about it, but there is a future to Underworld for sure.”
But, fear not, as Kate Beckinsale has several thrillers and action movies in the pipeline. The upcoming thriller The Patient stars Beckinsale alongside Ryan Phillippe and follows a man who wakes up in a hospital with no memory. Issued a life he doesn’t remember, he begins to suspect he’s being manipulated. The Canary Black star will also lead the action thriller Stolen Girl, which follows an American woman who has spent more than a decade tracking down her daughter after she was abducted and taken to the Middle East by the child’s father.