From the World of John Wick: Ballerina review

FROM THE WORLD OF JOHN WICK: BALLERINA: 

ANA DE ARMAS DANCES AND SLAYS HER WAY THROUGH GOOD JOHN WICK SPIN-OFF! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

LIONSGATE

Ana De Armas in Ballerina

 

            Ana De Armas (Knock Knock, Knives Out, No Time to Die) transforms herself into a much deadlier dancer than Natalie Portman from Black Swan in Ballerina, the fifth installment of the John Wick film series and spin-off revolving around a new assassin in the Baba Yaga’s world. This marks the first John Wick film not to be directed by Chad Stahelski though he serves as a producer here with directing duties going to Len Wiseman (Underworld 1 and 2, Live Free or Die Hard, Total Recall (2012)). 

            I was looking forward to this movie when it was announced, I loved the original four John Wick movies and will gladly hail them as some of the best action films of the past ten years so, I was interested in seeing an installment where Keanu Reeves wasn’t the main focus. However, Len Wiseman doesn’t exactly have a great track record as a director, but I’ve enjoyed some of his work before like Live Free or Die Hard despite the film being neutered with a PG-13 rating and the first Underworld is an entertaining guilty pleasure movie to me. 

            But this marks Wiseman’s first directing effort since his abysmal remake of the Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi classic, Total Recall in 2012 and the first project with his name attached to it since 2016’s Underworld: Blood Wars(The fifth Underworld movie). So, is the world of John Wick able to rejuvenate Len Wiseman’s career after various ups and downs? The answer is yes. 

            I’ll be upfront and say this isn’t a perfect film and out of the John Wick movies this is the weakest, but I was entertained throughout and a lot of that is because of Ana de Armas’ performance. I like many other people thought she was a standout in the last James Bond movie, 2021’s No Time to Die and wanted to see more of her well… here she is, don’t let it bomb audiences! 

            The film is set in-between the events of John Wick: Chapters 3 and 4 and follows Eve Macarro (Armas) who after seeing her father get killed by assassins led by cult leader, The Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne-Miller’s Crossing, The Usual Suspects, Hereditary) as a child begins training in the assassin traditions of the Ruska Roma under The Director (Anjelica Huston-Prizzi’s Honor, The Witches, The Addams Family 1 and 2; reprising her role from John Wick: Chapter 3). However, Eve goes rogue and starts her own bloody manhunt to get revenge on The Chancellor for murdering her father, killing everyone in her way in the process.

            The film also stars the late Lance Reddick (White House Down, Oldboy (2013), One Night in Miami…) in his final film appearance reprising his role as Continental concierge Charon, Norman Reedus (The Boondock Saints 1 and 2, Blade II, The Walking Dead) as Daniel Pine, Catalina Sandino Moreno (Maria Full of Grace, Paris, je t’aime, A Most Violent Year) as Lena, Ian McShane (Deadwood, Coraline, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) reprising his role as Continental owner Winston Scott, and Keanu Reeves (Bill and Ted trilogy, The Matrix franchise, Sonic the Hedgehog 3) reprising his role as John Wick. 

            Overall, Ballerina doesn’t quite take the John Wick franchise anywhere new, but it’s an entertaining entry in the series with spectacular action and a magnificent lead performance by Ana De Armas. Coming off of Keanu Reeves who has mad charisma, I found Ana De Armas very endearing in this movie as a woman on a similar revenge quest as Reeves’ John Wick but isn’t as skilled or near-indestructible as he was and needs to learn to use her weaknesses to her advantage in combat. 

            I had no doubt that she’d be great in the movie even after a little skepticism with the director initially, but Ana De Armas carries the film and kicks ass while looking good doing so. 

            As with the previous John Wick movies, the action is great though it doesn’t reach that next-level height thatJohn Wick: Chapter 4 achieved (That overhead shootout sequence in the burning building), but they’re still a lot of fun to watch. Lots of gunfire, blades slashing, fistfights, people exploding via grenades, and there’s even a really creative sequence involving a flamethrower and a fire hose that’s honestly my favorite action scene in the film. 

            The movie does do a lot of winks to the audience with nods and references to the John Wick films like another boogeyman comparison (Because John Wick is the Baba Yaga), showing clips from John Wick: Chapter 3, and previous cast members making cameos to the point where it almost becomes John Wick: Chapter 3.5 during the climax which kind of affects the continuity. But they’re usually very quick and don’t take the focus away from Ana De Armas, it’s clearly fan-service. 

            The plot isn’t anything special and almost comes off as a loose remake of the first John Wick except replace the dog with Ana De Armas’ father. Whereas the later John Wick movies fired on all cylinders with non-stop and brutal action, this is more of a set-up to motivate this character to go on the revenge killing spree, exactly like Keanu Reeves in the first film and takes its time to get to the high-octane action and over-the-top violence the franchise is known for. 

            It’s a familiar scenario that boils down to how captivating the lead character is in said scenario and thankfully, Ana De Armas’ Eve Macarro stands her ground. I guarantee if she didn’t work in this, the entire movie wouldn’t have worked. 

            I slightly lowered my expectations with this movie since it’s very rare for a spin-off movie to live up to the original film(s) that inspired it aside from maybe Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, but Ballerina is a solid summer action film and worthy addition to the John Wick franchise. What the film lacks in originality, it makes up for in spectacular action scenes and a compelling lead performance by Ana De Armas that legitimately got me curious to see movies based on other characters in the John Wick universe with guns… lots of guns!