From The World Of John Wick: Ballerina Overview

Greater than two years after Keanu Reeves’ as soon as seemingly unkillable murderer final took to the large display screen in John Wick: Chapter 4, the hit motion franchise is again once more with a brand new cinematic journey: Len Wiseman’s From the World of John Wick: Ballerina. Within the time because the final installment, the franchise launched its first spinoff, Peacock’s The Continental, and put a number of extra initiatives into improvement. As a fan of the unique motion pictures, I confess that Ballerina excited me essentially the most, purely as a consequence of its very new heroine.

Does Ballerina reside as much as the excessive requirements set by the earlier motion pictures? Truthfully, probably not. However did I’ve time watching it? For positive. Ballerina is an fascinating film to debate as a result of, in some methods, you may actually really feel the ambition and pleasure of the artistic staff. There are such a lot of compelling concepts right here; the issue is that, quite than checking out the very best ones, author Shay Hatten ended up stuffing all of them in.

There have been stories relating to reshoots and the way concerned John Wick director Chad Stahelski was. At this level, I can solely consider Ballerina because it stands now, and whereas I think some components will not be for everybody, it actually makes for an interesting addition to the John Wick franchise. Chronologically, it slots in between Chapter 3 – Parabellum and Chapter 4, although it is in all probability finest to keep away from desirous about the specifics of that too arduous.

Ballerina Is Formidable – To A Fault

It Cannot Resolve What Variety Of Film To Be

As a prolonged prologue informs us, our new protagonist is Eve Macarro (Ana de Armas), who joined the Ruska Roma clan as a younger woman after her father (The Umbrella Academy‘s David Castañeda) was killed by a tribe of assassins. Equally to John Wick, Eve is pushed by vengeance, although it admittedly takes fairly some time for Ballerina to get to that time. For a film that is solely an hour and a half, an excessive amount of time is spent on different components of the plot earlier than we get to the crux of the story — and what in the end drives Eve.

Stated mission, by the best way, has little or no to do with the primary plot, however it does happen in a really cool membership. The John Wick franchise has at all times been one of the crucial trendy ones on the market, and Ballerina does meet that prime bar by means of its quite a few placing places, from the Prague Continental to a snow-covered mountainous village that turns into the setting for the third act.

Every place gives ample alternative for dynamic motion sequences, and it turns into an actual thrill watching how Eve adapts to every atmosphere. Her resourcefulness as a fighter is a spotlight, making for some creative and thrilling combat scenes. They gave me the identical exhilarating feeling as the primary John Wick motion pictures, even when they often lack the polish of these scenes.

Attractive visuals and high quality motion apart, Ballerina suffers from a little bit of an identification disaster. It could possibly’t inform if it desires to be an origin story, an easy revenge story within the vein of the primary John Wick, or a mythology-heavy franchise installment. Slightly than choosing a really particular lane, it makes an attempt to hit all three beats to various levels of success. Certain, it is cool to get a peek on the internal workings of the Ruska Roma and learn the way Eve was raised, however the aforementioned first project is extraneous, and the teachings Eve learns are strengthened in a heavy-handed means all through the remainder of the runtime.

Ballerina Takes Some Huge Swings In Increasing The John Wick Universe

It Largely Works, Thanks To Ana De Armas

Ultimately, Eve turns her sights on the group that focused her father, which is led by The Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne). For a protracted whereas, everybody treats this tribe as a horrifying cult that isn’t to be messed with. Everybody from The Director to a member of mentioned group, Norman Reedus’ underused Daniel Pine, refers to them in broadly ominous strains of dialogue that nearly will get foolish. If you must maintain telling us how terrible these persons are, are they not so terrible that we are able to determine that for ourselves? On the very least, it units excessive expectations for Eve’s inevitable collision with The Chancellor.

Eve’s introduction to their group injects some absurd hilarity into the film, however the humor finally runs the chance of turning into unintentionally ridiculous. Ballerina takes a extra over-the-top strategy to issues than the John Wick motion pictures do, and whereas the spinoff deserves an identification of its personal, it does considerably put it at odds with what we have seen earlier than. Even because it strains to be its personal factor, it is nonetheless acquired time for transient scenes with Winston and Charon (the late Lance Reddick, whose look is bittersweet, but comforting).

As for Baba Yaga himself, Ballerina trailers have already proven that Wick has a small function. His preliminary scene feels extra compelled than I would hoped, however a later sequence provides that desired rush of pleasure at seeing Reeves within the function as soon as once more. It reminds us that, on this world, nobody is healthier than him, however Eve may be very a lot minimize from the identical fabric. De Armas solidifies her standing as a bona fide motion star, throwing herself into every combat scene with a scrappy vitality that units her other than Wick. Above all else, I cherished getting the possibility to spend time with this character.

There are quite a few different John Wick initiatives in improvement, together with a derivative centered on Donnie Yen’s Caine, an animated prequel, and a fifth film with Reeves’ Wick. Ballerina proves that that is nonetheless a wealthy world with quite a few storytelling avenues. I solely fear that, if the brand new initiatives aren’t well-thought-out, this fastidiously constructed universe will start to disintegrate. There are plot holes right here that threaten to develop wider if a robust timeline and limits aren’t established.

Nonetheless, we’ll doubtless see extra of Eve sooner or later, as Ballerina leaves ample room for a sequel and there is little query that de Armas is as much as the duty of main it. Her first outing is basically a rush of violent, thrilling motion, entertainingly served up for the large display screen, however it is not with out its issues. I simply hope that if this killer will get to bounce once more, she’s higher served by a extra streamlined narrative.

From the World of John Wick: Ballerina arrives in theaters Friday, June 6.

From the World of John Wick: Ballerina

6/10

Launch Date

June 6, 2025

Runtime

125 Minutes

Director

Len Wiseman

Writers

Shay Hatten, Derek Kolstad

Execs & Cons

• Ana de Armas is a real motion star and able to main her personal John Wick film.
• The places are gorgeous and make for nice motion setpieces.
• It is a delight seeing Keanu Reeves as John Wick once more.

• The plot has means an excessive amount of on its thoughts, and a few sequences add little to it.
• The villains finally run the chance of being too foolish.