Ballerina Twirls with Death in a Rather Chaotic Ballet
Image Courtesy of Lionsgate
By Luis Zonenberg
Despite the loss of the legendary action icon over two years ago, the franchise continues to go on and cleverly branches out in style! With this being the first theatrical spin-off for the John Wick franchise, I was absolutely thrilled to see what Chad Stahelski and company would devise this time. Now, while it might not quite reach the heights of its predecessors, the film is still pleasantly unconventional and is worth talking about here.
The story focuses on the deadly Eve Macarro (Ana de Armas and Victoria Comte) in her quest for vengeance after the loss of her father. After being attacked by an assassin while finishing a contract for the Ruska Roma, she finds herself targeted by a mysterious cult under the iron fist of someone called the Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne). After uncovering the ties between them and the death of her father, Eve’s quest only becomes more complicated when she becomes targeted by the Baba Yaga himself, John Wick (Keanu Reeves).
The story itself is pretty messy and gets very convoluted as it goes on. I do respect that they don’t make Eve a John Wick knock-off and give her an interesting backstory all her own. She makes for a very engaging protagonist, but the overall mystery and intrigue surrounding it is built on shaky ground. This makes the twists and reveals feel less satisfying and instead only leave more questions with no real answers in sight.
The editing too often felt very kinetic and choppy, almost like it was stitching scenes together to create a frankenstein-like hybrid of a movie. This was most evident in the first half of the picture, but I did notice a general improvement throughout the rest of the film. Once the major action-set pieces took center stage, the editing matched the energetic urgency of the scene and brilliantly knew to keep it to very minimal shot changes and let the audience take in the action in all its glory.
The performances were thoroughly engaging, with Ana de Armas proving to be a cunning and charismatic lead as Eve Maccaro. She easily carries the movie, with other supporting newcomers like Norman Reedus and Gabriel Byrne also bringing in some pretty entertaining performances as well. It was also nice to see Keanu Reeves return to the role of John Wick for a small amount of time, with his suave demeanor and cool precision still making him a formidable opponent even in a supporting role.
The photography was spectacular to witness as well, kicking into full gear whenever an awesome action sequence took to the stage. The film makes its predecessors proud with having the camera brilliantly staged to follow the action as it unfolds, making for a swift and smooth ride viewers can feel immersed in. It also knew when to kick back and deliver some nice sweeping landscape shots as well, elevating the otherwise less than stellar script.
Considering this is a John Wick film, I do want to take a moment to address the action scenes here. The franchise is known for its rather kinetic and grand action-set pieces and this film is no exception! The filmmakers take full advantage of the assignment and make the action so entertaining to watch, with the absolute highlight being the chase sequence towards the climax which involved a set of dueling flamethrowers!
If this were under any other set of hands, the film would probably have been okay at best. But because this film was thankfully in the hands of Chad Stahelski and company, they helped elevate the action and performances to a new level that makes it so much more entertaining to watch. While the titular character’s story may not be anything that impressive, Ballerina boasts a deadly pirouette in a rather bloody fun dance number.
Ballerina is now playing in theaters.
Rating: ★★★ ½ of five
