Rating: 3.5/5
Synopsis:
The John Wick franchise gets an additional spinoff after “The Continental” TV series. This time we follow Eve, an assassin trained in the ways of the Ruska Roma organization. After she witnesses her father’s murder, Eve dedicates her life to becoming a warrior. She plans to take her revenge against the organization who murdered her father. If she attempts this, she will disrupt years of stability between her organization and the other. What is Eve willing to sacrifice to execute her vengeance?
Positives:
I went into “Ballerina” with some skepticism since I was more critical of “John Wick 4” than others. The franchise as a whole has some of the greatest action sequences imaginable but has always lacked a strong narrative. “Ballerina” mostly continues that trend, providing more excellent action sequences while the story takes a backseat. I’ll admit I enjoyed the film more than expected though. The reason people come to these movies is to see John Wick (in this case Eve) kick the snot out of A LOT of bad guys. Ana de Armas makes the most of her opportunity, providing some really good hand to hand combat while having a similar motivation as Wick. Both protagonists seek vengeance against someone who disrupted their peace. What I enjoyed about Eve’s character is that we get a larger glimpse into her past than we did to Wick’s originally. We understand her sentiment and her journey through the Ruska Roma to acquire this skillset. The story doesn’t get bogged down in exposition, instead moving quickly into the action once Eve’s backstory is established. Tight pacing and a good balance of material work in the film’s favor.
Once the action gets going, it doesn’t stop. I saw the film in a Dolby format, elevating the intensity of the gunshots, explosions, and hand to hand combat. The sound mixing is excellent like the rest of the franchise. We are treated to a handful of incredible battles between Eve and the nameless bad guys. The standouts were the grenade sequence and flamethrower exchange. The sound shot off of the screen during these scenes. Loved it! I also appreciated that the filmmakers directly address Eve’s smaller stature compared to her likely opponents. She is encouraged to fight dirty and utilize whatever she can find as a weapon in order to gain the upper hand on a larger/stronger opponent. Credit to the filmmakers for avoiding the standard girlboss trope that’s present in a lot of modern movies. Eve earns her stripes and differentiates herself from John Wick nicely. Of course, fans will be giddy to see Keanu Reeves make a brief appearance in the film, getting to have a short but fun battle towards the end of the film with Eve.
Negatives:
As much as I enjoyed “Ballerina”, it has some of the same drawbacks as the rest of the “John Wick” franchise. The main issue casuals will find with the film is that the story is quite thin. We get the introduction to Eve and the villain, but after that the film is balls to the wall action. Sure, the fighting is fun…but I kept wondering why it all matters. I suppose one could interpret the film as “Eve goes to get bad guys who wronged her…forget the rest”. The muddled mythology of the franchise is also prominent. There are a handful of assassin organizations that are expanded upon here. It’s still not totally clear what some of the rules of this world are. Alliances and history is not well explained but we know something is there. I enjoy the blueprints of the “John Wick” mythology but they are only explored at arms length.
But the single greatest issue with the film is how the story cuts corners for Eve when she is in the middle of a fight. Sure, she has a good skillset to counter the baddies…but there are too many conveniences that allow her to escape. There are a handful of instances where a villain had beaten her, but due to their gloating and overconfidence, Eve manages to get out of the problem and win the fight. It became preposterous at a certain point. John Wick didn’t seem to have these issues, so seeing the filmmakers resort to using tropes and ridiculous ways to get Eve out of a sticky situation grated on me throughout the film.
Conclusion:
“Ballerina” is a good example of strong action mixed with muddled storytelling. Fans of the “John Wick” franchise already know this by now so they’ll likely enjoy the film as is. But casuals might find their enjoyment limited due to the basic story. Plus, the corner cutting to get Eve out of difficult situations drove me crazy. That being said, the action provides some of the craziest, most brutal violence the franchise has to offer. Ana de Armas slides into Eve’s character nicely, embracing the challenge of going toe-to-toe with Keanu Reeves. Check this one out in a Dolby format to experience the intensity of the action but don’t expect the story to be particularly memorable.
