From the World of John Wick: Ballerina
by Hope Madden
Who are the greatest female action heroes? Ellen Ripley, obviously. Beatrix Kiddo makes a good case for herself. Viola Davis cut one badass figure in G20 last year. Let’s not forget Atomic Blonde.
Ana de Armas is the latest to throw her hat in the ring — her tutu on the stage? — as Eve, orphan turned assassin in From the World of John Wick: Ballerina.
Why is she a ballerina? No idea. Zero actual narrative reason for it. But how much of Ballerina are we going to hold to that high a standard of logic?
Ironically, director Len Wiseman’s action choreography is less balletic than what we’ve come to expect from the franchise. It certainly lacks the elegant choreography that delivered the bloodshed in John Wick 4. But what Ballerina lacks in grace it makes up for with brute force. Most of the action sequences (most—not all) are on a smaller but more brutal scale than the norm for the series. This has much to do with Eve’s fondness for hand grenades.
The result is a colorful, messy but impressive bit of action.
The spectacle is still there, as is the fun mythology where essentially every third person on the planet is secretly a highly trained assassin bound to rules and consequences set by the High Table.
Ballerina remains true to that mythology. Keanu Reeves makes an appearance, as do Anjelica Huston, Ian McShane, and the much missed Lance Reddick. We visit the Continental, and the film even expands the legend to include a snow globe like little town of killers.
The spinoff film fits into that legacy, of course, because it’s the spawn of the same writing team. Derek Kolstad, who penned even the 2014 original, and Shay Hatten, who joined the project for its 2019 third installment, stay within the confines they set for the universe, just changing perspective by delivering a different killer’s POV.
So, they’re true to the idea, if not the timeline. Funny how we’re willing to suspend disbelief when giant flamethrowers are involved, but some fuzzy math with dates on the calendar is troubling.
The plot is irrelevant, which is lucky because it’s pretty trite and overused. Vengeance over a puppy? That was new. You killed my father, prepare to die? I feel like I’ve heard that one. So, the colorful shell feels pretty empty, but sometimes pretty colors are enough.
