Review: Ballerina

Directed by: Len Wiseman

Written by: Shay Hatten

Starring: Ana de Armas, Anjelica Huston, Gabriel Byrne, Lance Reddick, Norman Reedus

Rating: [4/5]

Spin-offs within an established universe rarely lead to the same desired results of stories already told. Something crafted to glean off another project that worked on its own usually does not lead to strong results. That very fear existed in the concerns for Ballerina, but Len Wiseman mightily surprises in this John Wick spinoff that displays the potential on display for continuing to tell stories within this rich universe. 

With her father killed at a young age by a cult of assassins, Eve (Ana de Armas) gets taken under the wing of the Ruska Roma family, where she learns and applies her trade as an assassin, ballerina, and a bodyguard when called upon. Now with all of the necessary skills to enact revenge, she seeks out those who killed her father but runs into many roadblocks along the way, including the very people who took her under their wing. 

Of the many things the John Wick films accomplished, they crafted a world of assassins with a respectable set of rules in the way they navigate. It became the perfect breeding ground for the Baba Yaga to thrive in four excellent films. Plenty of room remained for more stories, but you run the risk of diluting the product if not centered on John Wick. Luckily, Ballerina succeeds by its own merit while sprinkling in some of what we’re accustomed to in this world.

The two big questions surrounding this film centered on whether Ana de Armas could step in and lead her own action vehicle and how much or little they would utilize John Wick. The marketing sure made it clear he would appear in more than one instance. It did surprise me just how much he featured throughout this film, but not to the detriment of the film, as Eve, as a character, stands out on her own. This is helped along by the continued excellence these films have always hung their hat on, which is fight choreography and the creativity displayed in those sequences.

It’s important these sequences work because this film, like other John Wick films, does not worry itself with creating a compelling narrative. Eve navigates the entire story with a simple goal: enacting revenge on those who killed her father. Nothing about this story stands out in a narrative sense, but when we get to the fight sequences and the continued world-building, it delivers an excellence we have come to expect, and it made for such an enjoyable film. 

So many action sequences stand out throughout the film, from something as innocuous as the plate scene to the banger of the flamethrower sequence; each of these instances has a memorable component to it. Once we get to this remote town full of cultists, the film then turns into this smorgasbord of danger for Eve as she must navigate a foe at every corner, which ensures this film peaks in its third act. A feat not many action films actually deliver even if the natural flow of a narrative should do just that.

While everyone knows the importance of fight choreography, an undoubtably critical component in pulling it off comes from the lead and Ana de Armas got the opportunity here. Stepping in and following the work of Keanu Reeves would never be an easy task, but Ana fits right like a glove. She sells the physicality a role such as this one demands and thrives on landing every blow and taking every hit from her enemies. Everything this role needed, Ana stepped in, which then made her interface with Keanu in the few scenes all the better. At that point we have two established assassins on the same battlefield ready to wreak havoc in the only way they know how. Casting Ana in this role proved to be a masterstroke, and hopefully she gets the opportunity to do more within this universe because it certainly worked well on this occasion. 

Delivering everything one could want in a John Wick movie, Ballerina gives us another familiar story of revenge but through the experience of a female assassin navigating this world and how it differs from someone like the Baba Yaga. Through this film, we see plenty of action, brutal fight choreography, and just enough of a narrative to get us from the beginning to the end. Len Wiseman does a strong job here in the directorial chair after spending the majority of his career making movies with his ex-wife in Underworld. If anything, he proves he enjoys working with women action leads, and this feature stands out as his very best. A joyful experience showing that this world of John Wick has such a richness that could invite even more assassins to get the opportunity to tell their stories as long as the fight choreography delivers in the expected manner.