Review: Ballerina
The World of John Wick expanded recently as Ana de Armas took center stage in the franchise’s first theatrical spin-off, Ballerina.
de Armas stars as Eve Macarro, whose father is killed by armed men when she is a young girl. She meets the manager of the New York Continental, Winston (Ian McShane), and joins the ranks of the Ruska Roma, training to be both a ballet dancer and a deadly assassin and following in the footsteps of the tribe’s most infamous member, John Wick (Keanu Reeves). Twelve years after first joining the Ruska Roma, Eve gains information about the people who killed her father and disobeys The Director (Anjelica Huston) and goes rogue on a personal mission of revenge. Compared to the increasingly complex machinations of the last two John Wick movies, Ballerina is much straightforward, but it still feels fully integrated into the world of The Continental and The High Table. It helps to have several returning cast members, including McShane, Reeves, Huston and the late Lance Reddick, who makes his final on-screen appearance here and the elements we’ve come to love that add to the flavor of the universe, like the Continental hotels around the world, the armories that function as wine tastings, the tattooed old-school female phone operators and the polite violence that permeates everything. Ballerina is much more sucessful as a piece of the John Wick universe than The Continental, the Peacock prequel series, which felt like it was lacking in the particular style and attitude that Ballerina and the main John Wick series has.
We got a taste of Ana de Armas in No Time to Die, and she fully blossoms into a badass action star here. It’s abundantly clear on-screen how much training she went through, as every fighting maneuver, gun-fu move, and her proficiency with a wide variety of weapons are entirely on display. She’s fully committed, and her physical performance is incredible, whether she’s winning or losing; she takes a beating throughout the movie. She also does a great job of showcasing a slightly different style of revenge compared to Keanu, whose rage is usually simmering beneath the surface and only occasionally bursts out. Being a younger and less veteran assassin, Eve is more raw and also has an added philosophical difference of seeing herself as a “kikimora”, who can protect or kill depending on the scenario, compared to the unstoppable death of John’s “baba yaga”, which comes into play when a kidnapped girl becomes a factor in her quest for vengeance. Gabriel Byrne is a formidable villain, leading the group that killed Eve’s parents, and Norman Reedus is an intriguing addition to the John Wick universe, offering a more complex and informal assassin compared to the likes of John and the others we’ve seen who serve The High Table. Speaking of John, Keanu is here and has a significant role that is more than just a brief cameo. He’s in it just enough to make the film feel firmly a part of the universe, but he doesn’t take over or overshadow de Armas. I appreciate that they maintain the power levels of the universe and don’t try to make Eve artificially better than him in some false sense of a “girlboss” situation, like some lesser movies might try to do. Eve is an incredible, deadly fighter, but John is John and maintains his position as the most lethal and powerful force in the Wickverse.
As you might expect from the John Wick universe, the action in Ballerina is top-tier. I don’t think it reaches the insane, genre-redefining heights of John Wick: Chapter 3 or John Wick: Chapter 4, but it is still overall fantastic. I do think that the action gets better in the second half of the movie. The first half features great sequences but it’s a bit familiar but in the second half the film delivers some genuinely innovative and creative sequences, like Eve putting ice skates on her hands and using them as handheld blade weapons or a flamethrower duel that I don’t think the likes of which has ever been seen before. As mentioned, de Armas delivers the action incredibly, and the choreography and visual style of the action feel like what you’ve come to expect from the John Wick series. De Armas’ physical differences from Reeves add a new, interesting dynamic to the proceedings.
With Ana de Armas firmly stepping into the spotlight and a steady balance of fresh ideas and familiar flair, Ballerina proves there’s still plenty of bloody, balletic life left in the world of John Wick.
