The John Wickfranchise has been successful due to two things: The hyper-violence inflicted by its protagonist, and its star, Keanu Reeves, who has used a bare minimum of words to create a great antihero. Trying to capitalize on its popularity, Lionsgate — the studio behind the franchise — has made Ballerina, a spin-off focusing on a character inspired by another minor character from John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.
That convoluted set-up is the first of a variety of missteps for the film. An opening scene introduces the audience to a young Eve (Victoria Comte), who gets taken in by a criminal group known as the Ruska Roma after her father is killed. The bulk of the film takes place 12 years later when a now-adult Eve (Ana de Armas) is finishing her training as a ballerina/assassin-for-hire, led by The Director (Anjelica Huston).
Hungry to prove her worth, Eve starts going out on various jobs. One of those jobs puts her in the orbit of the group responsible for her father’s death, and she dedicates herself toward finding the leader known as The Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne) and exacting revenge. Oh, and for funsies, the film — set between John Wick 3 and 4 — also brings in Wick himself to juice the action.
Directed by Len Wiseman and written by Shay Hatten (who’s written the last two John Wick films), the film is at its best when the filmmakers are going all-in on the action. Like all films in the series, the actual body count soon becomes negligible, with the film more interested in how inventively Eve can slaughter everyone in her path. And there are some creative methods employed, including ice skates, hatchets, and — most memorably — a flamethrower.
What Wiseman and Hatten are not able to do, however, is make us care about Eve herself. The main John Wick films got increasingly complicated, but they were tolerable because of how compelling a character Wick was. There’s no such connection with Eve, and for all her personal tragedy, she might as well be a faceless person. A lack of explanation as to why Ruska Roma is training women as ballerinas — you know, the title of the movie — only underscores how little the filmmakers cared about creating a good story.
Consequently, despite plenty of gory kills, the film is actually quite boring to watch play out. The film goes through the paces of having Eve take on all-comers, but the end result is never in doubt and most of the action runs together. The inclusion of Wick into the story feels like an afterthought, whether it actually was or not. It also has the unfortunate effect of comparing a character fans know and love to one who hasn’t been given a chance to establish herself.
Although her character as a whole is lacking, De Armas shows that she can easily handle the physical aspects of the role. The 37-year-old actor is oddly asked to play a 24-year-old (or so), but she mixes it up with the best of them. Byrne makes for a so-so new villain, while Reeves, Huston, Ian McShane, and Lance Reddick (making his final film appearance after passing away in 2023) all reprise their roles well.
Ballerina has the look and feel of the four previous John Wick films, but it fails to be as compelling of an action film as any of them. True, it has just as much violence as fans have come to expect from the series, but its lead character is one that never reaches the level of John Wick, and it doesn’t seem like the filmmakers even tried to accomplish that goal.
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Ballerina opens in theaters on June 6.
