From the World of John Wick: Ballerina

From the World of John Wick: Ballerina. For the sake of this review I am simply calling this film, BALLERINA. Obviously the full title helps people know what they are in for, and pulls in the John Wick fans. Ana de Armas plays Eve, a young woman we didn’t even know we knew from John Wick 3. Eve is on a bloody quest to find the people who turned her world upside down when she was a child, an event that placed her on the path she is now on. One of killing. If you are tuning in for a huge dose of Wick you won’t get it. But when you do, it is cheer worthy.

Synopsis: An assassin trained in the traditions of the Ruska Roma organization sets out to seek revenge after her father’s death. | Rated R for strong/bloody violence throughout, and language. | 2h 5m

This one starts off rocky and will have you worried about the next 2-hours of your life. Luckily it finds its footing quickly and once it does you can buckle up for an action packed ride. Eve is an interesting character and one that benefits greatly from the Wick world. If not for her ties and the movies use of that world it might come across as just another mid level assassin film. But having her live and breath with characters and places we know so well makes her endearing and part of a bigger club.

Audiences have come to expect a high body count and loads of weapons in this franchise. And Ballerina delivers. What we don’t need is just the same old fights and gun play. What would be the purpose? We could just rewatch a Wick flick. Thankfully Eve has a fighting style that is her own and you will soon find out she gravitates to a certain type of killing style that is quite explosive. She has to learn to fight unfair if she is to succeed in this line of work. The enemy is bigger and stronger, so she has to be smarter and creative.

Let’s talk about that enemy. Here we meet a cult led by an enigmatic and ruthless man named – on trend with the franchise – simply The Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne). He has an entire army of men, women and children. They inhabit a village in Prague where Eve must go to get answers. In doing so she runs the risk of being ejected from the Ruska Roma and the safety of The Continental. The one thing Eve does better than fight is ignoring the rules. So off she goes. This is when the film really kicks it in gear and gives us what we came for. Body count.

I am a huge fan of Ana de Armas and offer her a lot of grace here. She is fine in the role but at times the acting and accent get a tad cringe. This is a character who wanted to dance, not be a killer. So we believe the innocence and at times frailty she shows. But she is also determined and focused. These are the moments that Armas really stands out. Plus, she does fight well. There are rampant rumors that much of the film was reshot – which delayed its release almost a year – in order to ramp up the action sequences. That was probably a smart call. Had the fight scenes not been as they were the film would have had little to fall back on. Even the appearance of Baba Yaga would not be enough.

John Wick appears just enough. Any more and it would have been a John Wick movie with the Ballerina. It was the perfect amount of screen time to get us on our feet and allow Eve to stay forefront. Wick could be the most well crafted character ever and here we get so much of what makes him special. As always Keanu Reeves offers it up splendidly.

You like guns? This one has guns. Lots of big guns. There is a character we meet named Daniel Pine (Norman Reedus) who has an incredibly loud one. I will not say much about his character or history in order to avoid spoilers. I will only say that Reedus looks like he just walked off the set of The Walking Dead which makes me wonder if that is just him. He looks the same way he did a decade ago. It is a style that fits wonderfully in a film like this. We don’t get a huge dose, but like Wick, it is a blast to watch.

There are other familiar characters here to ground us in the world. The Director (Anjelica Huston) of the Ruska Roma who we met in JW3. Winston (Ian McShane) and Charon (Lance Reddick) too. This was actually the final role for Lance Reddick before his unexpected death. Speaking of John Wick 3 I suggest watching it right before seeing Ballerina. It is fun to watch how they weave the early parts of this one with the scenes from JW3. It gives you the sense that this film was taking place at exactly the same time that one was.

Ballerina is rated R for dang good reason. Lots of carnage in this one. And the way Eve goes about it makes it even more intense and jaw dropping. Though it makes some mistakes along the way fans will still want to see this one, and will enjoy it. I look forward to watching it again and adding it to my JW collection. Accents and all.

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Matt Mungle

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