TL;DR – It is a perfectly serviceable film with some highlights, but it feels like it is starting to make the same mistakes that all the John Wick films are currently doing.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to view this film.

Ballerina Review –

When I first watched John Wick back in 2014, I knew that I was watching something special, but I never knew the world we were going to find as things expanded. Well, we have had four films and one middling TV series. However, now it is time to branch out and see the other stories that exist in this vast world. Today’s entry is the first attempt to pull that off, and so it is time to see how well they made it work.  

So, to set the scene, Eve Macarro (Victoria Comte) was living with her father, Javier (David Castañeda), in a mansion by the sea. However, one night, evil comes from the water, and while her father fights valiantly, he is not able to save both of them. Thankfully, Eve has a guardian angel in Winston Scott (Ian McShane), who brought her to her family, the Ruska Roma, controlled by the Director (Anjelica Huston). Here, Eve is given a choice, and after many years of training, Eve (Ana de Armas) is now ready to enter the world and take revenge on those who crossed her.   

Even since I watched Ana de Armas in her sequence in No Time to Die, I knew that she would be fantastic in this role, and I was absolutely correct. She brings all the power that she has to this role, and it works so much better because of this. Like most revenge films, it lives and dies on whether you care about the protagonist, and here you do. She also fits very well into this world because they are building on the iconography of John Wick: Chapter 3, which might be the best in the series so far. Playing with that dual role of protector and avenger gives an interesting spin to the role.

In addition to this, the film has a lot of interesting ideas that it plays with. While it would get into spoilers to fully explain the main antagonists in the movie, what I can say is that how they are conceptualised was an interesting twist to the world and does improve the third act, which needed that boost. Of all the different organisations that have been presented in the John Wick Universe, the Ruska Roma was probably the right choice to focus on, and I would have liked a bit more of that before we went off on the solo journey. From a narrative perspective, there is very little shift from what you have seen in the past, so if you have watched any John Wick film, then you will know exactly where the story will go.

When it comes to the action, which is the core of this franchise, things become a bit hit-and-miss. There were some action sequences, like the opening flight and brawling in the club, that hit just as hard as any of the fights you have seen in the franchise. They also have a sequence that is as original as the fire shotgun from John Wick: Chapter 4. However, there were a couple of scenes where you felt some of the gears grinding and enough of the setup where you felt like you were watching the sausage get made. One noticeable example is the worst digital car I have seen in a while, that completely undercuts one of the best scenes in the film. It is such a disconnect, that I wonder if it is issue between the original work and the re-shoots. Also, much like some of the later John Wicks, some of the action scenes outstay their welcome in ways that lessen their impact.      

In the end, do we recommend Ballerina? While I am not sure, it has reached the heights of its competitors. It does a good job of broadening the John Wick Universe and highlighting Ana de Armas. If nothing else, it gave us one more time to witness Lance Reddick, and I would recommend it for that alone. Have you watched Ballerina? Let us know what you thought in the comments below. If you liked Ballerina, we would recommend to you Kill.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 

Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Ballerina
Directed by – Len Wiseman (& Chad Stahelski)
Screenplay by – Shay Hatten with Rebecca Angelo, Lauren Schuker Blum, Emerald Fennell, Michael Finch & Len Wiseman
Based on – Characters created by Derek Kolstad
Music by – Tyler Bates & Joel J. Richard
Cinematography by – Romain Lacourbas
Edited by – Jason Ballantine
Production/Distribution Companies – Summit Entertainment, Thunder Road Films, 87Eleven Entertainment & Lionsgate
Starring – Ana de Armas, Anjelica Huston, Gabriel Byrne, Lance Reddick, Norman Reedus, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Ian McShane, Keanu Reeves, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Choi Soo-young, Victoria Comte, Robert Maaser, Doohong Jung, Waris Ahluwalia, David Castañeda, Abraham Popoola, Ava McCarthy, Juliet Doherty, Marc Cram, Rila Fukushima & Magdalena Šittová,  
Rating  – Australia: MA15+; Canada: 14A; Germany: 18; New Zealand: R; United Kingdom: 15; United States: R