Ballerina Movie Review

“Ballerina” is a rage-focused, executioner narrative that doesn’t waste time getting to the violence and killing, that’s for sure. It never really stepped away from it, either. ​

There’s an opening fight sequence that takes up more time than most action films use in their entire run time! It lasts long enough to forget you’ve yet to see even one credit. I know that’s nothing new these days, but sometimes it comes as a pleasant surprise. However, nothing new is the theme of the film. That being the case, you’ll still love it, even though it is stuffed so full of the good stuff you tire of it pretty quickly.

The backstory is that young Eve Macarro’s father is killed during said battle. She gets the pleasure of watching him die. She is then taken away to be raised and trained by the Ruska Roma, quenching the thirst of John Wick fans in the process. Set between John Wick: Chapter 3 and John Wick: Chapter 4, this spinoff has a winning storyline once it gets into the second half, that is. Our Eve is played by the nimble-bodied actor Ana de Armas, the supposed ballerina who’s in school studying under the firm director (Anjelica Huston). She’s taught ballet, hand-to-hand combat, shooting, martial arts…, and everything a girl could need to get by in this world. Yes, ballet is essential, but her training in munitions so she can be a top assassin gives your eyes what they crave.

De Armas handles the excruciating choreography with ease. And you can’t take your eyes off of her. Cinematographer Romain Lacourbas (The Witcher) helps create an atmosphere around the exceptional beauty of our heroine’s every move. I’m not going to lie; the movie is predictable as hell. You’ve seen your main characters walk in slow-motion to loud music through nightclubs before. Still, with hers, the music is really good and knowing her gun-carrying stroll is for her first real job, you root for her and foam at the mouth to see what she’ll do.

There’s a formula at play here, one that always works in the John Wick franchise: once you are taught the rules, you live by them. There are extreme consequences if you break them. The death of the father Eve loves so much causes her to do just that. Now we’re in familiar territory, and it’s just style from director Len Wiseman (Underworld, Live Free or Die Hard) along with your taste that halts or welcomes it from here on out.

Our ballerina isn’t perfect, and her attitude toward life isn’t as streamlined as Wicks’s, but it’s their differences that make them such a joy to watch. Especially when they share screen time. Wiseman uses Wick just enough to have him introduce the world to this new assassin. He isn’t over or underused. It’s just right and enough of a tease to whet the appetite. Regarding the action, I’ve mentioned the martial arts and the gunplay, but there’s something new to tell you about. The use of a flamethrower! I never knew I needed a dangerous flamethrower dance before. It was unexpectedly magnificent, as was seeing Wick himself. But what I truly liked was that there was hardly a break from the excitement at all. She can’t get a break! All was satisfying but seeing her in her inevitable faceoff with the Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne), the man who turned her into the warrior of death she has become, will, in every way imaginable, leave you wanting more. John Wick fan? Action fan? Ana de Armas fan? You’ll want to see this movie immediately, if not sooner. Another reason is that it was Lance Reddick’s final role. I bow my head as I say this; not a bad one to go out on.