Review: The John Wick franchise is alive and kicking with Ballerina

[Karlston]

With her fierce performance, Ana de Armas proves she's well up to the task of carrying on the Wick legacy.

Credit: Lionsgate

 

Ana de Armas shone in the original Knives Out (2019) and as one of the best Bond girls in recent memory in No Time to Die (2021). She proves herself a fierce and lethal adversary against a cultish syndicate in the new film Ballerina—excuse me, From the World of John Wick: Ballerina. (Why, Lionsgate? Just... why?) I love them all, but this is probably my favorite John Wick film since the original in 2014 (which may never be surpassed).

 

(Mostly mild spoilers, and a couple of significant reveals below the gallery. We'll give you a heads-up when we get there.)

 

Chronologically, Ballerina takes place during the events of John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum. As previously reported, Parabellum found Wick declared excommunicado from the High Table for killing crime lord Santino D'Antonio on the grounds of the Continental. On the run with a bounty on his head, he made his way to the headquarters of the Ruska Roma crime syndicate, led by the Director (Anjelica Huston), where he was trained as an assassin. The Director also trains girls to be ballerina-assassins, one of whom is Eve Macarro (Ana de Armas). We see snippets of these events from Eve's perspective in Ballerina, just to establish the continuity.

 

Like Wick before her, Eve is driven by a personal vendetta: the brutal murder of her father when she was still a child by highly trained and heavily armed assassins. Winston (Ian McShane) brings her to the Ruska Roma, where Eve excels at her training as a "Kikimora," serving as an assassin or a bodyguard, as the situation requires.

 

Soon she's racking up kills like a pro—until she's forced to take out a group of counter-assassins and recognizes their arm brand. It's the same mark as the group that killed her father. The Director warns Eve that this is a rogue group of lawless cultists and orders her not to pursue the matter. But vengeance will be Eve's, no matter the cost, as she hunts down the cultists and their enigmatic leader, the Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne). Will the Ruska Roma turn on one of its own for disobedience? Do you really need to ask?

 

Ballerina has all the eye-popping visuals, lavish sets, and spectacularly inventive stuntwork one would expect from a film set in the John Wick universe. It's more tightly plotted than recent entries in the franchise, and the globe-trotting locations make narrative sense; it's not just an excuse for staging a spectacle (not that there's necessarily anything wrong with that).

 

[WARNING: A couple of significant spoilers below. Do not proceed if you haven't seen the film.]

 

This was Lance Reddick's final appearance as the concierge Charon.

Lionsgate

 

Anjelica Huston returns as Director of the Ruska Roma crime syndicate.

Lionsgate

 

Norman Reedus plays a mysterious man named Daniel Pine.

Lionsgate

 

Eve seeks revenge for the killing of her father.

Lionsgate

 

Face off: the syndicate sends their best to take out Eve.

Lionsgate

 

As always, the fight choreography is perfection. Eve is smaller than most of the men she takes on, but that doesn't make her any less deadly, particularly when she's more than willing to fight dirty—and pretty skilled at making lethal weapons out of, say, a random pair of ice skates. A fight scene with dueling flame throwers is one for the ages. It's a genuine shame that Ballerina's highly skilled stunt team isn't eligible for the new Oscar category honoring stunt work.

 

I do have a couple of minor quibbles. While any appearance of Keanu Reeves' Wick is always welcome, it's not clear why the Ruska Roma would send him to take out Eve when she defies direct orders. This all occurs during the events of Parabellum, and we've already seen Wick "punch his ticket" with the Director to escape New York City with a contract on his head. Are we supposed to believe that he found time during all those Parabellum shootouts for a brief stopover in a remote alpine village to engage in a spot of target practice?

 

The other quibble is more of a missed opportunity. One of the Chancellor's minions is an assassin named Lena (Catalina Sandino Moreno), who turns out to be Eve's long-lost sister. But their reunion is short-lived. Once the Chancellor realizes Lena will balk at killing her own sister, he gives the order to take them both out, and Lena dies protecting Eve. I understand that John Wick movies are about the violence, but giving this character and her connection to Eve a bit more time to develop would have given Ballerina a bit of emotional depth. Lena deserved to be more than momentary cannon fodder. On the whole, however, Ballerina is an immensely entertaining and action-packed addition to the franchise.

 

From the World of John Wick: Ballerina is now playing in theaters. The finale leaves things open for a sequel, and I think de Armas (and Eve) deserve the chance to continue their story. Here's hoping.

 

 

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