Film Review - From the World of John Wick: Ballerina
Images courtesy of Roadshow Films.
It’s very clear that the John Wick films are fuelled by one theme: vengeance. Well, not only vengeance—thanks to the enormous success of the franchise, what was once a B-movie action film starring an almost retired Keanu Reeves has blossomed into one of the coolest series of shoot-em-ups ever made and an absolute cash cow. As with anything cool and lucrative in Hollywood, cinema-goers are often worried when a movie studio announces a spin-off film of such a beloved franchise—and rightfully so. With that in mind, does Ballerina tiptoe into the series with grace and class, or fall by the wayside of everything that makes John Wick so great?
Ballerina has everything you would want in an action film. From gruesome kills to genre-defining set pieces, there is little that distracts from the high-octane thrills. Like any John Wick movie, it has its flaws; very few audience members should expect the wittiest dialogue, seamless storytelling, or realism, but you can expect a touch of feminism, long and outrageous action sequences, unique world-building, and, of course, John Wick (Keanu Reeves).
Taking place during the events of John Wick 3, Eve Macarro (Ana De Armas), a ballerina at the Ruska Roma, pledges to hunt down the men who killed her father when she was a child, identifying them by the ‘X’ scar on their wrists. While on a mission, Eve discovers a man with the scar she had seen when she was a child and hunts down a known member of the tribe, Pine (Norman Reedus), who seeks refuge in the Continental, throwing her headfirst into a tale of discovery and, hopefully, success. Rather than seeing an already fully formed killer, like John Wick in the first film, Eve starts from the beginning and fumbles her way up the ladder to becoming an assassin, and with her physical hindrance of being petite, she works to her strengths to grapple and defeat men larger and stronger than her by any means necessary (usually being a crotch shot to momentarily incapacitate even the strongest of men)—a sentiment that rings far more realistic than a character like Black Widow in the MCU.
Closer to the end of the film, the true inventiveness of the spin-off comes to life when Eve has a one-on-one flamethrower fight with the henchman of the adversarial force. What could have been a dumb but fiery (pun intended) action sequence turns out to be the coolest of the movie as they shield themselves behind walls and tables to avoid being burnt to a crisp. The scenes move with incredible pace and always seem to remind you that this is an action film by creating some outrageous kills, leaning into the humorousness of the situations instead of emphasising their brutality—like having Eve slam an axe into an assassin’s face being played for a laugh, or Eve and a cook slamming plates on each other’s heads while looking for the gun buried underneath a pile of crockery on the floor.
As with any spin-off, it’s difficult not to compare what you are watching to the original; needless to say, Ballerina embraces this challenge by continuing to change the form of what we know the world to be, innovating its tropes and style. There’s not much more fun than watching a good John Wick flick, so if you are in the mood for a good shoot-em-up, Ballerina is the perfect film to catch before a busy exam period!
Ballerina is screening in cinemas now. For tickets and more info, click here.