The Gist
A young woman begins a trail of revenge to pay back the organisation that killed her father.
The Review
Once again audiences are being taken into the mysterious and violent world of John Wick (Keanu Reeves – Constantine) this time through the eyes of another member of the Ruska Roma – a young Kikimora assassin named Eve Macarro (Ana de Armas – No Time To Die).
Like many the questions I had going into this film – were does it expand the John Wick story, does it introduce us to a key new member of the Wick universe or is Ballerina just a quick cash grab with a tentative link to an established and popular franchise.
Screenwriter Shay Hatten (Army Of The Dead) begins this story with a young Eve watching her father be murdered by a shady character known as The Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne – The Usual Suspects) and members of his group known as ‘The Cult.’
At the time she is rescued by Winston (Ian McShane – Kung Fu Panda) and taken to the theatre owned by the Ruska Roma to train under the watchful eye of The Director (Anjelica Huston – The Witches) which is where years later she has her first meeting with the myth, the legend – John Wick.
His words to her spark something inside her and she decides to hunt down the Cult and get revenge for her father. While she is warned her actions will break the truce set between The Cult and the Ruska Roma she continues on with her thirst for vengeance.
As you may have picked up from that summary the plot for Ballerina is pretty thin – but that doesn’t make this a bad film. Far from actually because this is a film that will entertain from start to finish.
Credit has to be paid to both Hatten and director Len Wiseman (Total Recall) as they have delivered an action film that not only looks slick but is also creative. Many cinema fans say that no filmmakers are being inventive these days but that certainly isn’t the case here because many of the action sequences are original and will have even the most hardened action film fans are going to find themselves impressed.
After the initial flashback and plot set up Wiseman makes this an all action onslaught that matches the intensity of the other films in the franchise. The fact that much of the second half of the film feels like you are watching a 1980s or 1990s action film shows that these are filmmakers not afraid to buck the trend of modern day action films.
The biggest weakness of Ballerina is perhaps that the filmmakers have made Eve a little too much of a ‘superhero’. She is new to this game and to be honest barely makes it out of her first assignment alive but suddenly she clicks into her gear and can manage to take on multiple members of the Cult and avoid their hand grenades all while barely raising a sweat. Even the great John Wick himself has vulnerabilities so it seems a little unbelievable that Eve rarely looks like she is going to be defeated which also damages the suspense levels of the film as well.
That also does a disservice to Ana de Armas whose performance throughout the film is sensational. To say that she carries this film is an understatement. Grouped together with her scenes in No Time To Die this film shows why she is one of the best action stars in the world right now. If the team behind the John Wick franchise are smart they will instantly be writing her into John Wick 5 or announcing Ballerina 2. If they don’t she will be snapped up by another franchise and lost to this universe for good. That little flaw with the film though doesn’t get in the way of the fact though that Ballerina slots nicely into this franchise and expands the John Wick universe a little more.
With the introduction of new characters like Daniel Pine (Norman Reedus – The Walking Dead) and brand new storylines like the war that has now erupted between the Ruska Roma and The Cult where this could go is limitless and that should be an exciting prospect for all the fans of the franchise.
The Verdict
Ballerina is a brilliant little action film that reveals that the John Wick franchise has an exciting future ahead of it. Not only does it show that modern day action films can still be creative but also proves that Ana de Armas is one of the most commanding action stars currently on our screens.
No Comments