Directed By Len Wiseman

Starring – Ana de Armas, Keanu Reeves, Ian McShane

The Plot – Assassin Eve (de Armas) trained in the traditions of the Ruska Roma organization sets out to seek revenge after her father’s untimely death.

Rated R for strong/bloody violence throughout, and adult language.

From the World of John Wick: Ballerina (2025) Official Trailer – Ana de Armas

POSITIVES

After four action packed films and a finale with an abundance of finality, it seemed like we would never see the world of John Wick again, but where there’s still money being bled from a popular franchise, there’s still opportunity, and “Ballerina” feels like a more than worthy successor, with many of the series’ vital pieces still holding relevance to this prequel. Despite Chad Stahelski stepping down from the director’s chair, this time serving as a noteworthy advisor to the production, Len Wiseman does a more than effective job at not only conjuring the vast variety of world-building to this criminal underbelly, but also supplanting a far more artistic flare to the movie’s presentation, making it transpire with personality in every spellbinding shot. While the editing schemes are a bit more abrasive this time around, the trance score and intoxicating neon nightscapes really ignite so much taboo beauty to balance the abundance of ferociousness that we’re feeling throughout so much blunt force devastation, helping the transition between directors to feel all the more seamless, especially in the movie’s expansion through more of the origin story of those elite few who are recruited young to kill. When you think about it, John Wick was already a killing machine once some bumbling buffoon murdered his dog, but Eve’s journey into danger is covered every step of the way, and as a result we don’t so much have an unstoppable killing machine that was Wick, but rather a relatable humanity in vulnerability that showcases the growing pains of such a dangerous industry. This might sound boring to some seeking a impenetrable boogeyman, but Eve’s bodily abuse throughout an onslaught of mercenaries effortlessly conjures tension and uncertainty to scene dynamics that call to them so voraciously, and through that resiliency elicits the heart of the character that keeps her road to vengeance a very personal feeling one, attaining investment and empathy from the audience in the character, purely on the means of her will to continuously get back up, against all overwhelming odds. While these elements are impactful to the movie’s integrity, it’s ultimately the action that packs auditorium in droves with carnage candy seeking moviegoers, and to that comparison I can gratefully state that “Ballerina” is just as brutally unforgiving and riveting as its previous installments, with razor sharp fight choreography, exceptional special effects work, and a variety of conceptual set pieces that satisfy in spades towards making me squirm in my seat. Helping to this appeal is the aforementioned vulnerability factor of Eve, which certainly helps keep the fights continuously balanced among its struggle for dominance, but the intricacies of the sound design, with enveloping heft and circumstance, breed an intensity for devastation that captivates on even the grandest of scales, bringing with them an echoing entrancement that deserves to be experienced in the loudest auditoriums involving the single most definitive speakers that money can buy. For my money, the very best are those involving grenades, especially in the claustrophobic confines of some of the various settings, but a third act firefight involving a flamethrower simply cannot afford to be missed, in terms of its spectacle astonishing the surreal for what’s capable between stunt work and computer-generation, speaking volumes to the level of quality that keeps this from ever feeling like typical fifth installments to franchise that look to cut corners creatively. Speaking of creative, I have a couple of nagging issues with the screenplay, but where I appreciated its outlines was particularly during the opening act, where ample time and opportunity are taken to flesh out this installment’s brand new protagonist, to offset the hinderance of this franchise essentially starting from scratch all over again. Wick’s limited involvement will undoubtedly be this film’s biggest challenge among its die hard audience, but we come to understand Eve on a painfully traumatic level that makes it difficult to not invest firmly in her plight, all the while encompassing this tragically underlining element of kids with impressionable minds being trained to kill from an early age, that takes this film down its darkest corridors where the previous Wick-led efforts didn’t dare to tread. The tragedy certainly comes out in Ana de Armas’ gravitationally transfixing performance, enacting a palpable energetic angst among her bouts with physicality that make her a certified action star in the making for future projects outside of this franchise. Ana’s breathtaking beauty are only surpassed by her character’s ability to think fast on her feet, and considering the film responsibly doesn’t make her this powerfully strong protagonist capable of throwing around the bodies of those who weight a hundred pounds or more than her, it requires Eve other ways to unload the assets of what she brings to the tale, and between stunning speed and overwhelming emotionality, she harvests an unforgiving edginess that is far more expressive than John Wick, in turn allowing the character killer to stand out for her own compelling reasons of originality. As for Reeves, he undoubtedly steps seamlessly back into the role once more, but I loved that the predicaments outlined him as an antagonist of sorts for Eve’s mission, allowing us to see him for once from the other side of the moral coin, bringing with it the persisting menace that allows us to feel what so many others felt against him, as a means of us investing so prominently in Eve’s path to redemption.

NEGATIVES

In terms of underwhelming circumstances, the script is pretty simplistic and conventionally derivative of so many other films before it, resulting in some defined predictability that the script attempts to deviate from with a last minute twist that did nothing in terms of emotionality or pay-off to the story. Part of the problem is that it’s wasted on a character who merely had only a scene or two of screen time throughout the movie’s two hour duration, so they don’t feel important enough to shake the movie’s foundation, but a greater emphasis is paid to the way this shocking development is enacted in the depths of the scene it accommodates, feeling like a tacked-on studio implemented afterthought that ultimately leads to nothing throughout the rest of the film, and one that I wish was omitted entirely from the movie’s finished product, as it ultimately feels like a desperate attempt to imbed some shock and memorability to a film that stands on its own without it. Some can look at the standard faire of the screenplay and think appreciative of material that doesn’t challenge it in ways that force them to invest more thoroughly, but I saw this film as a chance to separate itself from the rest of the franchise, a tragic waste of an opportunity that it never comes close to attaining, particularly in its need to feel like so many other films outside of this franchise. Beyond this, those expecting ample time alongside Keanu Reeves’ John Wick should check their expectations at the door, as this is every bit a glorified cameo that even an hour after the movie, I still don’t think was absolutely needed in this film. I say that because Wick doesn’t add much of concrete value to the expansion of the storytelling, appearing once during the opening act, and then never again until the third act, where the advertised showdown between Wick and Eve becomes apparent, albeit with an entirely one-sided ass kicking contest of a conflict that left more to be desired in utilizing Eve’s evolution as a contract killer. What’s even more distracting is where the movie places Wick’s efforts this time around, compared to other films, leaving more questions than answers within the logic of what was previously established, which now changes how I felt about one particular film, and not for the better. Finally, the film’s overwhelming lack of logic finally feels like it has reached a boiling point with its character’s supernatural capabilities, especially one with the remarkable ability to walk off a grenade being set off right in front of him. I certainly never come to the John Wick franchise to debate logic or realism, but as to where “John Wick 3” merely flirted with this sentiment by having the titular protagonist walk off falling off of a building onto a car, “Ballerina” full on obliterates it, with blunt force trauma to characters that feel like ticklish hinderances, instead of lunges that should put them in a hospital, making it difficult to properly materialize stakes in a movie where characters have a remarkable way of healing

OVERALL
“Ballerina” makes up for in stunning action sequences of vitriolic vengeance what it lacks in dramatic depth or storytelling originality, and while it doesn’t measure up as consistently as its Wick-led predecessors, it’s still an entertaining side quest that further fleshes out the uniqueness and magnetism of this taboo underworld of dangerous mercenaries. Ana de Armas capably and comfortably fills the immense shoes of the Babayaga before her, with a killer performance that never misses, and with some of the series most enticingly executed action set pieces, provides an explosive entrance to the summer movie mindlessness that is best experienced in the loudest auditorium possible

My Grade: 7.5 or B