‘From the World of John Wick: Ballerina’ Review
Stars: Ana de Armas, Keanu Reeves, Ian McShane, Anjelica Huston, Gabriel Byrne, Lance Reddick | Written by Shay Hatten, Derek Kolstad | Directed by Len Wiseman*
Taking place between the events of John Wick 3: Parabellum and John Wick 4, this spin-off action thriller is nominally directed by Len Wiseman, although it’s worth noting that John Wick director / fight co-ordinator Chad Stahelski reportedly reshot the majority of the movie over three months of reshoots. Suffice it to say that the film’s action sequences have a very Stahelski-esque feel to them, either way.
The film begins with a prologue sequence, in which a young girl named Eve (Victoria Comte) witnesses her father being murdered by a squad of goons under the command of The Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne). Eve is subsequently taken in by Continental Hotel owner Winston Scott (Ian McShane), who takes her to a ballet school run by the Director (Anjelica Huston), where she trains to be both a dancer and a deadly assassin. Twelve years later, Eve (now played by Ana de Armas, replacing the actress who played Eve in Parabellum) is working as a killer for hire, under the protection of the Continental. However, when her latest target (Norman Reedus as Daniel Pine) ends up giving her a lead on the whereabouts of the Chancellor, Eve sets out on a violent revenge quest and essentially ignites a gang war in the process.
It’s fair to say that Ballerina is something of a mixed bag. The central story is extremely weak, amounting to nothing more than a revenge plot without adding anything to the franchise overall, or even taking advantage of its more interesting elements. Similarly, Eve’s character is so underwritten that it’s almost insulting – we don’t even get a sense of her thirst for vengeance, which seems a little remiss of the script, given that that’s the whole point of the story. On a similar note, the script continually introduces potentially interesting elements (such as Reedus’ character, or Catalina Sandino Moreno as Lena, an assassin working for the Chancellor) and then fails to do anything worthwhile with them. This is especially frustrating because it ultimately undermines the film’s only genuine opportunity to evoke emotion.
With so little to work with on the page, Ana de Armas does her best, and she’s certainly convincing in the physically demanding fight sequences, but her character ends up being disappointingly one-note throughout, even when, for example, she has to look after a young child. Elsewhere, even McShane – so wonderful in the previous movies – feels like he’s on autopilot this time round, though it is moving to see the late Lance Reddick again, in his final screen appearance, and Anjelica Huston makes a distinctive impression as the Director.
The main event, performance-wise, however, is the Keanu Kameo. Reeves appears in the film twice as John Wick, and there’s a tantalising moment where it looks like Eve – who has been trained to “fight like a girl”, which mostly translates as hitting guys in the unmentionables – might kick Wick in the dick, but that sadly doesn’t quite happen. Still, at least he sticks around long enough for his appearance to be worthwhile.
As for the fight sequences, they are terrific fun throughout, being simultaneously inventively staged, visually stunning and exhilarating to watch. Highlights include a spectacular, extended sequence involving a pair of high-power flame-throwers, an amusing bit of business involving a pile of plates and a gun under one of them, and a beautifully shot and lit sequence that takes place in a single shot, with Eve dispatching several goons with a samurai sword.
However, in addition to the key set-pieces, there are also a number of little side details that add extra elements of fun, whether it’s a brilliantly shot and edited visual gag involving someone being repeatedly hit with a TV remote, Eve’s propensity for making guys explode in some form of another (complete with low-key but enjoyable splatter effects) or just the way she walks back through a fight location retrieving her knives from all the corpses she’s stacked up.
On top of that, the alpine location for the film’s third act makes a nice change from the streets of New York, and cinematographer Romain Lacourbas gets good value out of the various snowy locations. There’s also a suitably propulsive score from Tyler Bates and Joel J. Richard.
In short, Ballerina is an enjoyable and frequently inventive punch-up-slash-revenge thriller, provided that a) you don’t think about it too much, and b) you’re not expecting much in the way of character development, humour or emotion. File under “forgettable Friday night fun”.
***½ 3.5/5
From the World of John Wick: Ballerina is in cinemas now.
