While the first ‘John Wick’ was definitely a surprise, it was a revenge film with great action sequences that elevated the genre while still managing to show a lot of heart. Its sequels only upped the ante with even more fantastic action sequence and expanding an unbelievable world filled with assassins. By the second film, it had already embraced a sense of camp. Seriously, how many assassins can there be? But it never took itself too seriously, fully aware that what it offered was action that pushed the boundaries of what could be done within the genre.
‘Ballerina’ offers more of the same. The story is quite familiar. It’s a revenge tale set in the world of John Wick, promising a lot of hard-hitting action sequences with Ana de Armas front and center as the titular character. The film begins with our main character, Eve (played as a child by Victoria Comte), in hiding with her father (David Castañeda), but they are soon discovered. A major fight breaks out, and Eve learns she is being targeted by a man known as The Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne). Her parents were once part of a cult, and her father tried to take her away in hopes of giving her a normal life. However, no one leaves the cult. The Chancellor wants her back, but Eve’s father fights to keep her safe. He succeeds, but dies in the process.
Taken in by Winston (Ian McShane), she is brought to the Ruska Roma, her father’s “family,” and Eve decides to become one of their assassins and bodyguards. She trains and thrives, but during one assignment, she is attacked by another assassin and notices a tattoo on him that resembles those worn by The Chancellor’s men. When she confronts the head of the Ruska Roma (Anjelica Huston), she is told to stand down, as there is an uneasy truce between their faction and the cult. Naturally, Eve goes rogue to hunt them down and take her revenge.
Under the direction of Len Wiseman (of the ‘Underworld’ franchise and ‘Live Free and Die Hard’) and screenwriter Shay Hatten, ‘Ballerina’ doesn’t linger on the emotional aspects, relying instead on clichéd moments. It never truly explores Eve’s relationship with her father or the depth of their connection. These elements are taken for granted. The film also avoids examining the emotional conflict Eve might feel as she becomes a killer. This is not that kind of film. What it does show is the toughness Eve adopts as her past shapes her present: she’s cold-hearted killer who is quick on her feet and can take a punch.
Len Wiseman is very good with action. He allows us to see the brutality of each fight and frames the scenes so that we get the full range of motion with every punch and kick. It’s bloody, gory, and ruthless. With three other ‘John Wick’ films already released, Wiseman needs to find a way to keep things fresh and surprising, because at some point, it feels like we’ve seen it all. In this story, Ana de Armas’ Eve is not as seasoned as John Wick. She’s only months out of training, so she still makes mistakes. She gets beaten and takes hits, but the training montage early in the film shows us why she can recover so quickly. Sure, there are blows that no one should be able to get up from, but this is a ‘John Wick’ movie. Of course they get back up.
There is an attempt to frame the movie with a feminist lens. In a training sequence, Eve’s mentor Nogi (Sharon Duncan-Brewster) tells her that she always loses because a man will always have the physical advantage. She advises her to do whatever it takes to win: improvise, cheat, set the terms of the engagement, and never fight on their terms. She tells her to “fight like a girl.” And then, Eve starts to win. What’s funny is that, aside from this one bit of dialogue, we don’t actually see her do anything noticeably different from what she was doing before. Yes, she improvises, but so did John Wick. They even bring in Amy Lee of Evanescence to perform a song called Fight Like a Girl for the closing credits. It’s all fair and fine, but it doesn’t quite deliver the feminist perspective the film seemed to be aiming for.
What the film does show, however, is how hard Ana de Armas worked to make everything look fun, believable, and thrilling. She moves like a champ, and with the choreography, sound design, and strong performances, she really takes a beating. Yet she gets back up again and keeps going. That, in itself, feels more feminist than any contrived appeal meant to speak directly to the women in the audience.
The plot is pretty by-the-books and rather thin, but we’re not here to watch a film with a serious story. We’re here for the action, and the film delivers on that, hands down. There’s even an extended fight sequence with a flamethrower that turned out to be one of the most cinematic moments I’ve seen in an action film. It genuinely surprised me. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it, but I had a lot of fun. And I was nervous about Keanu Reeves returning as John Wick, but the way it was written didn’t take anything away from Ana de Armas. Instead, it helped show that Eve is not yet on John Wick’s level, but she could be. And since the film ends with an ellipsis, we know a sequel is likely if this one makes money. I’m all in for it.
My Rating:
Ballerina is now showing, serving up killer moves and nonstop action in the world of John Wick. Catch all the thrills on the big screen. Check showtimes and book your tickets here.
